LOVE AND LOUIS XIV

Subtitled "The Women in the Life of the Sun King," this book includes a lot of sex in seventeenth-century France. Peerless historian Fraser winds the chaotic events of the times in and out of the king's boudoir, proving the axiom, "Under a king, a country is really ruled by women." Undoubtedly, Louis's mother, Queen Anne of Austria, exerts the most influence, making Louis and the public believe that he is a god. The sexually voracious monarch uses his "divinity" to seduce an eclectic array of lovers. British actress Justine Eyre quietly catalogs these amours in a youthful, reedy voice, but her delivery sounds too high-pitched for the male participants. Nevertheless, this royal romp is a fascinating, if off-beat, approach to history. M.T.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 07]