Tea at Trianon: "A Powerful Portrayal of a Queen, a Wife and a Mother"

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

"A Powerful Portrayal of a Queen, a Wife and a Mother"

I am honored to post this review of Generalissima by author Christina Croft.

In this fascinating novel, Elena Maria Vidal takes the reader behind the scenes into the life of Henrietta Maria, consort of the ill-fated Charles I, as the country stands on the verge of civil war. With tensions mounting between the King and Parliament, the author skillfully builds suspense through moving dialogue and exquisite descriptions; and the reader cannot help but empathize with the Catholic Queen in a Protestant country that has not yet fully emerged from a century of bloody religious conflict. The vivid narrative not only captures the essence of Henrietta’s quiet courage in the face of ill-health, bereavement, suspicion and treachery, during of the most turbulent periods in British history, but also provides a powerful portrayal of a Queen, a wife and a mother, sustained by her commitment to her faith and her family. Based on meticulous research, the novel is both informative and inspiring – yet another truly rewarding read from this excellent author! —Christina Croft, author of Martyrs of the English Reformation: 1535-1681

Generalissima is available, HERE.