Author: Sandra Gulland
First Published: June 2008
Publisher: Harper Perennial
480 pages (paperback)
For my next historical novel, I decided to read one on France, since I seem to be stuck in the England/Tudors era a lot. I am trying to branch out a bit more, but it’s a little hard when the his-fic royalty sections in stores are usually just full of Tudors novels. I want to learn more about famous French royalty, and this book has to do with one of the most famous French kings, King Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King. Well, to be more precise, it is about one of his most famous mistresses, Louise de la Vallière. My knowledge of French royalty is extremely small, and thus, I had no idea what to expect going into this novel.
In Mistress of the Sun, we start off with a very young Louise, only four or five years old, and we follow her throughout her life in court. She is the daughter of a knight, just barely passing for nobility. She is an obedient daughter, spirited and cheerful. However, when her father mysteriously dies and the horse Louise was training, Diablo, disappears, her life takes another course. Lousie’s mother marries a marquis, elevating the family status a bit, and Louise is able to become a waiting maid for Princess Marguerite, one of King Louis’ cousins. When Marguerite herself is married off, Louise finds herself employed by Princess Henriette, King Louis’ sister-in-law.
Rumors spread that King Louis and his sister-in-law are a lot more intimate than they should be. Louise, being chaste and humble, tries not to pay too much attention to such things, until she learns that the King and Henriette have devised a plan where King Louis will pretend he is fancying Louise. That way, he can see Henriette all the time but everyone will think he is just wanting to see her waiting maid. This upsets Louise greatly, to be used this way. After an unexpected confrontation, Louise discovers that the king really does have his eye on her, and that he is simply best of friends with Henriette, but the older generation just doesn’t understand that men and woman can be nothing more than friends (that’s his explanation, anyway; Louise eats it up).
And so begins a lengthy relationship between Louise and King Louis, the both of them so in love with one another. Louise knows what she is doing is wrong, but she cannot help herself. She has fallen in love with a king, though she wishes the two of them were only ordinary people; Louise has no interest in kingly favors or wealth or power. She simply wants to be with the king. But as it was in those times, mistresses of kings do not last forever, and Louise finds herself betrayed and hurt in the end.
This novel was amazing! I loved it from beginning to end. I think what really got me was Louise’s character. Usually the mistresses of kings are stereotyped as “that other woman”, the “harlot”, the “whore”, etc. It’s usually someone with seductive charm and has some skills in manipulation and whatnot. In my own experience, even if the mistress is the main character of the novel, she could still be characterized this way. Louise, however, is the opposite. She’s not exactly naive, believes in true love and she truly loves King Louis. One of the quotes I remember is her saying that she loves Louis, but she does not love the king. The fact that Louise is in this relationship with Louis purely out of love is so heartbreaking when you consider the social ramifications of that time period. She has to sacrifice a lot for him, including her morals which she held so dearly but for him, had to acknowledge that she was a fallen woman.
From this novel, I feel that Louis, too, was deeply in love with Louise. And when he was with her for the first four or five years or so, he was quite loyal to her (excepting when he had to perform his duty with his queen). He was really generous to her too, making her a duchess in her own right and things like that. When he moved on from Louise, I felt that was tragic because she is/was probably the only person who loved him for him, and not because he was this powerful king. It was sad that he did not recognize that.
I also really liked the fictional subplot with Louise and her horse Diablo. I liked it because it was an interesting way to show Louise’s demon in her heart, so to speak; her sins. Another reason I liked it is because this is historical fiction after all, and I enjoy little creative liberties like this; these literature devices that can really enhance a story.
This was a wonderful book that I heartily recommend!
My Rating: 5/5
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