Napoleon & Josephine: The Sword And The Hummingbird - Hardcover

Hausman, Gerald; Hausman, Loretta

3.31

74 ratings by Goodreads

9780439568906: Napoleon & Josephine: The Sword And The Hummingbird

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439568900 ISBN 13: 9780439568906

Publisher: Orchard, 2004

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Acclaimed authors Gerald and Loretta Hausman weave together the stories of Napoleon and Josephine and their turbulent love affair in this lavish and beautifully written novel.

As Josephine grows up on the tropical island of Martinique, she dreams of moving to Paris to live a life of glamour. An arranged marriage to a French nobleman brings her to Paris, but not to the lifestyle she dreamt of. After a divorce and a terrible time during the French Revolution, she holds a party that Napoleon, the general who has grown famous after a series of military victories, attends. A tumultuous relationship develops that is filled with separations and fights and the most passionate declarations of love ever uttered.

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From School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up–This fictional treatment is sanitized and sentimental. The focus is on Josephine; events told from Napoleon's point of view seem awkward and out of place. The episodic chapters are frequently incomplete and lack continuity, providing only fleeting glimpses of these fascinating individuals and their motivations. There are major errors and omissions (such as the unhappy marriage of Josephine's daughter to Napoleon's brother) and problems with chronology. Dialogue is often stilted and silly. Although a few of Napoleon's affairs are mentioned, nothing is said of Josephine's romances or her shady business dealings. The final 13 momentous years of Josephine's life are hastily covered in four chapters; the authors depict her after the divorce as a recluse receiving occasional visits from dignitaries, but in reality she traveled and entertained extensively (and most of those royal guests arrived in the last month of her life, following Napoleon's abdication). Not enough background information is provided, and there are numerous, untranslated French terms and phrases. Napoleon and Josephine deserve better–and why, in this era of celebrating women, is there no young-adult biography of the influential, intriguing Josephine?–Ann W. Moore, Schenectady County Public Library, NY
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