The Last Great Dance on Earth A Novel [Paperback]

The Last Great Dance on Earthis the triumphant final volume of Sandra Gulland's beloved trilogy based on the life of Josephine Bonaparte. When the novel opens, Josephine and Napoleon have been married for four tumultuous years. Napoleon is Josephine's great love, and she his. But their passionate union is troubled from within, as Josephine is unable to produce an heir, and from without, as England makes war against France and Napoleon's Corsican clan makes war against his wife. Through Josephine's heartfelt diary entries, we witness the personal betrayals and political intrigues that will finally drive them apart, culminating in Josephine's greatest tragedy: her divorce from Napoleon and his exile to Elba.The Last Great Dance on Earthis historical fiction on a grand scale and the stirring conclusion to an unforgettable love story.Chapter One:In which peace seems an impossible dream

March 2, 1800 -- Tuileries Palace, Paris.

Josephine...Come see the moon.

I woke with a start. A man was nudging my shoulder, his face illuminated by candlelight. Bonaparte, it'syou, I said, clasping his hand. I'd been dreaming of home, of my beautiful Martinico, dreaming of the sea. But I was not on a tropical island. I was in the dank, opulent palace, in the bed of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI -- the bed of the dead. I pressed Bonaparte's fingers against my cheek. What time is it?

Almost three. Come outside with me.

Now? I asked, but threw back the covers.

It's a little chilly, he said, draping a cape over my shoulders.

A full moon hung over the river, bathing the gardens in a radiant light. It reminds me of something you once wrote to me, I said, taking Bonaparte's hand. That we are born, we live and we die -- in the midst of the marvelous.

I don't remember writing that, he said, heading toward the steps that lead down to the flower beds.

The fertile scl£–