The Secret Life of Josephine Napoleon's Bird of Paradise [Paperback]

The bestselling author ofThe Hidden Diary of Marie AntoinetteandThe Last Wife of Henry VIIIreturns with an enchanting novel about the ambitious, amoral, vulnerable woman who became the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fashion icon, leader of France's society in the turbulent years of the guillotine and the bloody Napoleonic Wars, the alluring Josephine was a tough survivoryet she also had a gentle, haunting quality that made her irresistible to her contemporaries, especially to the mysterious, compelling stranger from Martinique who captured her heart.

Rollicking good fun. Kirkus Reviews

Erickson has a deft hand with psychological portraiture and historical detail. She strips away the romantic idealism with which the empress's life is often distorted. PublishersWeekly.com

Fans&will enjoy this latest concoction. Library Journal

Distinguished historianCarolly Ericksonis the author ofRival to the Queen, The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scots, The First Elizabeth, The Last Wife of Henry VIII, and many other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. Her novelThe Tsarina's Daughterwon theRomantic TimesReviewer's Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction. She lives in Hawaii.

1.) What did you know about Josephine before reading this novel?

2.) How did Josephine's upbringing on Martinique influence her adult life? Was she ever truly a Frenchwoman?

3.) Do you think Josephine would have been happier if she had not married Napoleon? Or would her innate ambition have been thwarted?

4.) Do you think Josephine's encounters with the Carib chief Orgulon were hallucinations?

5.) What elements in the novel made Josephine real to you? How important was the author's use of first-person narrative?

6.) What strengths did Josephine possess that allowed her to survive the Revolution, imprisonment, an abusive marriage, the murderous hostility of herlst