A very well researched, but somewhat intimitating book. The vocabulary and syntax are highy developed but could be intimidating to the "common reader". ( )

The other reviews are correct: this book is incredibly slow. It's a shame, because it's a very interesting historical event, but you could stop halfway through and not miss anything. It feels like every single piece of research Beckman did has been crammed into the book, even the contradictory parts - not just where source contradict each other, but where they contradict themselves. Part of the problem is that the first half of the book laboriously reconstructs the (most probable) events from the legal memoirs, then the middle dedicates a large chunk to the trial itself, which just goes over the same ground. The idea of the Necklace Affair being inextricably tied to the French Revolution is somewhat undermined by cramming all the links into the final chapters.

The way Beckman writes about Jeanne is also uncomfortable, with a strong dose of "femme fatale" about it that descends, more than once, into victim blaming. He suggests that as a teenager she was responsible for seducing her foster father, since she had other affairs later in life, and while he endeavours to extract the truth from most of the lies the participants in the scandal told about each other, he seems willfully skeptical about any claims about her sex life.

I did appreciate learning more about the machinations of the French court so close to the revolution, and the scandal has some glamour to it, but if I were to recommend a book on the subject to someone else, I'd pick something from this book's bibliography. ( )

Too slooowwwwww. ( )

DID NOT FINISH – stopped at 45%

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Blurb from NetGalley: In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A prominent Catholic cardinal stood accused of forging the queen’s signature to steal the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe: Marie Antoinette’s diamond necklace. The revelations from the trial would send the French monarchy headfirst into a bloody revolution. In How to Ruin a Queen, award-winning author Jonathan Beckman tells of political machinations and enormous extravagance; of kidnappings, prison breaks, and assassination attempts; of hapless French police in disguise, reams of lesbian pornography, and a duel fought with poisoned pigs. It is a detective story, a courtroom drama, a tragicomic farce, and a study of credulity and self-deception in the Age of Enlightenment.

Unfortunately I just couldn’t bring myself to finish this book – I hate to do that and I really feel I gave this book a fair shot, but to be honest it was boring me out of my mind. I will admit, non-fiction is not really my genre, but read that description! It sounded exciting and I honestly thought I would enjoy this book. I must not have made it far enough to get to prison breaks, pornography or poisoned pigs, because aside from a necklace stolen in the name of the queen, nothing in this description matches the book I was struggling to read.

The book starts off detailing the life of one of the people who works to steal the necklace and it was simply too much information. This is part of the reason I don’t normally read historical non-fiction, because I don’t care about the great, great, great, grandparents of the person we’re actually talking about, where they lived, how much their house cost, what they ate for dinner, etc. I just can’t handle that type of information. I think I would love this book if it was historical fiction written by Philippa Gregory or Alison Weir, but unfortunately Jonathan Beckman just didn’t do it for me.

The issue of the necklace wasn’t even really broached until about 30% in (sorry, my Kindle doesn’t give me page numbers) and even then, Beckman kept breaking off to introduce new characters and their entire backgrounds. Half the time, I wasn’t even sure who I was reading about.

I interrupted this book to read three other books – something I almost never do – so that tells you what a hard time I was having. I wish I could have stuck it out, but at some point you have to cut your losses and run. Perhaps this book will be more polished on its release date (Sept 2) – and maybe fans of historical non-fiction will be able to appreciate it, but sadly, it wasn’t for me. ( )