Review - The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court by Michelle Moran

The Second Empress by Michelle Moran is the story of Marie-Louise of Austria, the eighteen-year-old princess who became Napoleon Bonaparte's second wife and the mother of the tragic King of Rome. The novel's cover immediately suggests some of the conflicts of the story. A lovely Marie-Louise is at the fore, and observing her or shadowing her is a dark-haired woman who is also wearing a crown. As I read the story, the mystery I pondered is this mysterious woman the Pauline, Napoleon's sister, or his first empress Josephine? My conclusion from the novel is that the specter haunting Marie-Louise must be Pauline. Pauline is deeply possessive, perhaps obsessive where her brother is concerned. She dreams of marriage between siblings in the style of the Egyptian pharaohs. With her selfish conniving she serves as a compelling antagonist to the self sacrificing Marie-Louise. I would have liked more involvement by Josephine, the woman who never stopped loving Napoleon, even though she was unfaithful to him and he cast her off.

This is no love story. Marie-Louise has been raised to loathe and fear the man to whom she has been given in marriage. While attractive, Marie-Louise is not fashionable and petite in the style of Josephine, whom Napoleon greatly admires. It seems that all her husband does admire about her is her fertility and her sense of duty. He trusts her so much that he names her regent during his ill fated Russian campaign. Then, there is the Count Von Neipperg, the man who becomes Marie-Louis's lover and the father of her other children. Moran gives readers the sense that these two had a great love affair that is thwarted when she is sent off to France to marry the emperor. She is willing to make this sacrifice of her great love and her family in order to preserve the safety of her homeland. Still, with von Neipperg, at least in this story, it seems like out of sight is out of mind. Marie-Louise seems more concerned about getting her dog than being with this man. Once Napoleon has been exiled, Marie-Louise finally takes the leap of faith and casts off the shackles of her unwanted marriage to be with the man she loves.

This is an interesting read, though Moran does seem to focus too much on the debauched Pauline. Maybe the title has multiple meanings and refers also to the destiny that Pauline actually desired, though I am not sure that this is historically accurate. Marie-Louise, herself, remains elusive. I was left to wonder how this young woman felt being more or less demanded to serve as a broodmare for the man whom she had been raised to most loathe and fear. In the end, this novel raised more questions in my mind than it answered.