To tell the story, Henriette draws primarily on Amélie's diaries, translated into French from the original Italian and quoted amply throughout the text, supplemented by Henriette's historical commentary and oral family tradition. The first volume describes Amélie's youth as a Neapolitan princess maturing amidst the tragic and tumultuous era of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, her marriage to Louis-Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, and her early years as a wife and mother in Sicily. In 1814, the fall of Napoleon makes possible the return of the exiled Bourbons to France. The second volume discusses Amélie's life under the Bourbon Restoration (1814-1830), during the reign of Louis XVIII.
I was deeply impressed and touched, both by Amélie and by Henriette. Both appear to have been very noble, refined souls, of profound faith and ardent charity, all too often afflicted by suffering and tragedy. I had very much wanted to write a fuller review of Henriette's account, but it is quite subtle and complex, and there are too many aspects to cover in a single post. Instead, over the next week or so, I will be doing a series of posts on different themes in the work and sharing some of my favorite passages. Meanwhile, I leave you with these lovely portraits of Amélie and Henriette, and Henriette's beautiful dedication of her first volume. It brought tears to my eyes:
Dedié
tendrement et douloureusement
à la mémoire de mon bien-aimé Frère,
ALBERT Ier, ROI DES BELGES
qui m'a encouragée à publier ces pages.
Il a poussé jusqu'au sublime
l'esprit du devoir
que notre arrière-Grand'Mère légua
à sa descendance.
Dedicated
tenderly and sorrowfully
to the memory of my beloved Brother,
ALBERT I, KING OF THE BELGIANS
who encouraged me to publish these pages.
He elevated to the sublime
the spirit of duty
that our great-Grandmother bequeathed
to her descendants.
2 comments:
"translated into French from the original Italian" Were the diaries indeed originally in Italian? If La Jeunesse says so, I must have missed it. From what I can tell Marie Amelie's mother, Maria Carolina Queen of Naples, at least, wrote and spoke mostly in French. An interesting book either way.
Hi JK,
Welcome !
Yes, Marie Amelie originally wrote the diaries in Italian. But you are right, Maria Carolina favored French and her children were raised with it as well.
Post a Comment