Denise

In life, being honest and idealistic and free from a spirit of malice, she reckoned her problem without taking scandal into account. And scandal has a way of catching up with those who disregard its power.

I first came across this book early this year. I had been looking up something about a song by Florence and the Machine with the same title as this book. I put the book on my tbr shelf after discovering it. I also discovered that there was a movie version of this book and I watched it a month or two ago. I really enjoyed the movie and it made me want to read the book even more. After reading the book, I wish I would have read the book before I saw the movie. I just had a certain picture in my mind as to how I thought the book would be and while it was a good book it was a bit different than my expectations.

Rachel Field wrote this book about her great-aunt Henriette and her real life role in in the murder of a French duchess that played a part in the downfall of King Louis-Phillipe. While Rachel was not around to meet Henriette she still did her research before writing this book. Even though she did her research, this is still a fiction book and is Rachel Field's interpretation of what she felt Henriette's life and personality would have been like.

After seeing the movie version I was definitely prepared for all of the events that happen in France. While the movie version is basically just those events the book follows Henriette's life after the events in France all the way towards the end of her life. I felt like the book was a bit disjointed. Once Henriette leaves France she becomes somewhat of a completely different person and the story turns almost into a whole different story. I enjoyed all three parts of the book but the Henriette in France and the Henriette in America were two so very different people that it was just odd.

Overall this was an interesting book but it felt more like it should have been broken up into two books. If you have not seen the movie or read the book and are interested in doing so I would recommend reading the book first.