The Exchange of Princesses

June 1, 2015
Thomas' latest (Farewell, My Queen, 2003, etc.) illuminates an obscure corner of Western European royal history: the bartering of child brides and grooms. In 1721, Mariana Victoria, the 3-year-old infanta of Spain, is married by proxy to King Louis XV of France, then only 11. The two are first cousins, descendants of the Spanish and French branches of the Bourbon dynasty. Mariana Victoria, with her cherished Carmen-Doll and a magnificent entourage, journeys to France, where she will live at various royal palaces (Versailles is her least favorite). The architect of this union, the Duc D'Orleans, Louis' uncle and regent until the king attains majority at 13, has sweetened the deal by adding his own daughter, Louise Elisabeth, to the mix-she is sent to Spain to marry her second cousin Don Luis the Prince of Asturia, Mariana's half brother and heir to the Spanish throne. Louise is 12, Don Luis, 14. Thomas skillfully extracts dramatic moments from the ponderous mechanics of nuptial diplomacy. On arrival in Spain, the French ambassador, Saint-Simon, gets lost in Alcazar, the mazelike royal palace of King Philip V, and detests Spain's pervasive "[stink] of olive oil." On Pheasant Island in the river Bidasoa, the princesses meet while crossing the border in opposite directions. Mariana finds an unlikely mentor in the shrewd, 70-year-old Princess Palatine, the regent's mother. Even more than most royal arranged marriages, these two unions seem doomed from the start. Not only must consummation of Louis and Mariana's marriage be put off for several years, threatening the succession (which is one reason D'Orleans, next in line for the throne, favored the match), but Louis prefers men anyway. Louise also prefers her own sex and has physical and mental health issues, including an exhibitionist streak. The infanta, though articulate beyond her years, seems to have stopped growing. Although the narrative pace is that of an intricate multipanel tapestry, the characters are brought to life in all their frailty. Cullen's translation ably mirrors Thomas' arch, scandalmongering style. A meticulous and vivid chronicle.

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September 15, 2015

In 1721, the debauched regent of France decides to marry 11-year-old Louis XV to the four-year-old daughter of Spain's Philip V, also marrying his own roguish 12-year-old daughter to the heir to the Spanish throne. This exchange of princesses is delivered with cool-eyed cinematic detail--not surprisingly, as Thomas's Prix Femina-winning Farewell, My Queen became a film, as this book will be. VERDICT A brightly polished portrait of royal pomp and custom for historical fiction fans with big-picture tastes.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2015
Best known for Farewell, My Queen (2003), an intimate glimpse of Marie Antoinette's last days, Thomas has crafted a pointed and witty novel that sheds light on two eighteenth-century princesses trapped by familial obligations and the capricious whims of the court. On January 9, 1722, two corteges unload and swap their passengers at Pheasant Island, a neutral point in the Pyrenees region. To ally their quarrelsome countries, 12-year-old Louise Elisabeth of Orleans, one of the many neglected daughters of France's regent, will marry the Spanish heir, Luis, while Luis' half-sister, Mariana Victoria, an adorable three-year-old who clings to her dolls, is sent to France to wed the adolescent Louis XV. Could a more perfect symmetry be imagined? Thomas ironically observes. Writing in a formal style, she highlights the absurdity of royal ceremonies and the cruel circumstances that abandon these girls to their fates and deny them anything resembling a real childhood. Excerpts from authentic, little-known letters and documents add to the reading experience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)