MARIE ANTOINETTE The Journey

Marie Antoinette was the 14-year-old archduchess of Austria, the fifteenth of sixteen children born to Empress Maria Theresa, when she was betrothed to the reluctant future king of France. Too innocent and too little educated, she was definitely married to the wrong guy. This is the perfect milieu for Donada Peters, who excels at in-jecting subtle irony into seemingly flat narrative. She handles the snotty comments and the lewd scandal-mongering of the court with equal aplomb. Fraser is one of the most highly respected and bestselling biographers of our time, and it's easy to see why in this enlightening glimpse into turbulent France of the 1770s. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]