Retail Therapy: Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland

Set in seventeenth century France, Mistress of the Sun is an opulent treasure of a historical novel. In it, author Sandra Gulland pulls off a difficult balancing act: The novel is both impeccably researched and gorgeously written. (As a long time reader of the genre, they usually strike me as being tipped one way or the other. Not so here.)

Mistress of the Sun is the story of Louise de la Vallière, nicknamed Petite because of her diminutive size. However, what Petite lacks in physical stature, she makes up in spirit—Petite was noted in history for her skills as a courageous horsewoman. On top of that, she’s also mistress to Louis XIV, which requires a different sort of courage.

Think it’s easy being mistress to the Sun King? Think again. Petite enters the court of Louis an innocent teenager, but succumbs to royal love-at-first-sight after the couple meets cute in a park. Initially they hide their affair through complicated disguises and discrete assignations. But Petite’s love for Louis forces her to make (to my mind) unimaginable sacrifices that go way beyond her personal moral code—hiding pregnancies under tightly-bound corsets, giving away their children to be raised by others. Even her mother disowns her.

Eventually Louis takes his romance with Petite public, which leads to a suspenseful “third act” that presents all sorts of questions about superstition, religion, and consequences. The court of the Sun King is a complicated place of ever-shifting alliances, where little is as it seems, especially to the pure-hearted Petite. Ultimately, Petite is forced to make a heartrending choice that will determine the remainder of her life. The denouement of this choice is presented in a tear-inducing coda that I adored (and won’t give away here).

Lest you think this is yet another voluptuously detailed romance, there’s a lot of nuance and dry wit here too. Gulland is a master of observation, and at defusing the ridiculousness of royalty. I found myself laughing out loud at some of her passages:

The King scanned the room with his eyes, his expression masklike. With calm dignity, he received the passionate adulation. A woman at the back slumped to the floor and was efficiently whisked out of the room. (Petite gathered that swooning happened rather often.)”

Though Mistress of the Sun is primarily the story of Louise’s life as this king’s mistress, it’s also a recounting of how Louis shaped his mythos into becoming the larger-than-life Sun King we recognize from history; and how this affected his relations with those he loved and was loved by in return, such as Petite. We are fortunate to share in this adulation. Highly recommended!

illustration: “Louis XIV with Louise de la Valliére in the Bois de Vincennes” by Jean Frederic Schall.

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Author Sandra Gulland will be interviewed here about her experiences writing Mistress of the Sun in tomorrow’s Creativity Friday. On top of that, we’ll be giving away a copy of Mistress of the Sun. Details will be posted here tomorrow! However, if you can’t wait, you can buy it here from Amazon.

• Filed under retail therapy, reviews + press | One Response

Doomed Queens wins first place….

…. for design and production at the New York Book Show in the quality paperback category! I guess they liked those paper dolls.

The New York Book Show is chaired by the Bookbinders’ Guild of New York. It honors the best designed and manufactured books of the previous year. Check it out here. Oh, and if you haven’t visited yet, there’s a new Doomed Queens promotional site at AsktheQueens.com.

And in other royal news, guess who’s crowned herself princess of all she surveys? Take special note of the marabou glass slippers. Très charmant!

(Not to worry, Ariel fans: Thea still considers herself a mermaid too.)

• Filed under be-mused, publishing, queens, reviews + press | 4 Responses

Last call: Publishing 101 workshop and Tarot Salon. And more.

This week is about to jump into high gear for me. Thursday, I’m doing a radio show for Tarot by Misha. On Friday, we’re holding our bimonthly Tarot and Psychic Salon at the gallery here in Brooklyn. At the gallery on Saturday, I’ll be offering a Publishing 101 workshop. Finally on Sunday, we’re holding Thea’s fourth birthday party. (Yes, my little mermaid daughter turned four this week! Where did the time go?) On Monday, I’ll catch up on rest.

The Publishing 101 workshop is almost fully booked. But there are still a few spaces left, for anyone who’s procrastinated on registering. Right now, I’m coordinating and organizing all my materials for the workshop — I have so much information to share that it’s a matter of deciding what’s most pertinent. I think it’s going to be a fun afternoon!

Here’s the info for the gallery events:

Friday, March 20, 6 – 9:30 pm
TAROT AND PSYCHIC SALON
Free admission and refreshments.

In time for the Spring Equinox, the seer’s salon is back — and ready to answer any questions you might have for the new season. This time we’re adding a masseuse to the mix, who will offer chair massages. Reading prices vary by reader. No reservation required.

Saturday, March 21, 2 – 4:30 pm
PUBLISHING 101
$40. Includes materials fee.

• Filed under blogs we read, events, publishing, publishing 101, queens, reviews + press, studio and gallery, tarot and oracles | One Response

Doomed Queens (and me) on Fascinating Authors

I was recently interviewed by Penny Sansevieri over on Fascinating Authors. We talked about DOOMED QUEENS — and it was a lot of fun!

A little about Fascinating Authors:

Fascinating Authors is syndicated to over twenty-seven podcast directories and has featured some of the hottest authors and was one of the first Internet sites dedicated solely to podcasting your favorite (and soon to be favorite) authors. Join us as we bring bestselling novelists, industry experts, new and exciting writers directly to your desktop.

Check out the podcast here. (BTW, the podcast is about 10 minutes long.)

• Filed under be-mused, queens, reviews + press | 5 Responses

My gallery gets Yelped!

Here in Brooklyn, our children’s Valentine’s Day art workshop was featured as a Yelp “On the Radar” pick-of-the-week. Scroll down here to see our listing. Yay us!

What’s Yelp? Yelp is a review site that specializes in local businesses and events. It bills itself as “the ultimate city guide that taps into the community’s voice and reveals honest and current insights on local businesses and services on everything from martinis to mechanics.” And apparently little studio-galleries-that-could.

BTW, if you’ve been to one of our gallery events and want to Yelp us up, we’d love it. We already have two reviews, but could always use more — reviews really do help to get the word out about what we’re doing here. Click here to add your contribution or read already posted reviews.

(And yes, we do have a “surprisingly big bathroom.” It’s painted a Tuscan brick color to minimize the size.)

Click here to read about our upcoming events for February 13 and 14th, including the children’s Valentine workshop. Oh, and here’s a peek at our current exhibition, “Along the Lover’s Path.” On Creativity Friday, I’ll be posting an inside look at creating it, mess and all.

• Filed under be-mused, events, reviews + press, studio and gallery | 2 Responses