“Tell the emperor that Madame Bonaparte is ambitious and demands her rights as a member of the imperial family.”
As a clever girl in stodgy, mercantile Baltimore, Betsy Patterson dreams of a marriage that will transport her to cultured Europe. When she falls in love with and marries Jerome Bonaparte, she believes her dream has come true — until Jerome’s older brother Napoleon becomes an … an implacable enemy.
Based on a true story, The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte is a historical novel that portrays this woman’s tumultuous life. Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, known to history as Betsy Bonaparte, scandalized Washington with her daring French fashions; visited Niagara Falls when it was an unsettled wilderness; survived a shipwreck and run-ins with British and French warships; dined with presidents and danced with dukes; and lived through the 1814 Battle of Baltimore. Yet through it all, Betsy never lost sight of her primary goal — to win recognition of her marriage.
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The beginning was compelling. I read the first two chapters “look inside” before I purchased it. But once Jerome Bonaparte left for France (for two months), we waited (waded) through two thirds of the book for him to return years later, if he did. The ambitious Madame went to France, and another third of the book we were waiting for her to come …
Very enjoyable read. Many historical facts from our countries beginnings.
Learned some history from this book. I found the leading character somewhat immature and self serving while claiming to put her child first.
I found this a very interesting historical book with plenty of romance and suspense for me! I reccomend this wonderful book!
Sonya Alexander (Yellow Rose)
The author seemed to do a lot of research into her character but I felt it could have been condensed.
Enjoyed this account of the American connection to Napoleon Bonaparte. Elizabeth was a woman of great ambition to be tied to the royal family of France….her ambition was her undoing at the cost of her son and most of her family..being accepted at court by Napoleon was her life’s work and her downfall…an interesting and informative read
Obviously well researched. But read more like an expository essay than an historical novel. Every character was unappealing or annoying. Perhaps that was accurate, but it made it impossible for me to care what happened to them.
Ambitious Mrs. Bonaparte reads like the wonderful biographies that I got from the grade school library as a child. Some ideas were repeated too often. I got tired of reading about how much Betsey loved Bo. A bit dry in parts, which might have been helped by a good editor. Overall, the book was too long.
Hard-to-put-down book! Great storyline and knowing it is based on true facts makes it even better! So glad I read it.
I thought I knew my French history,, and although I knew Jerome Bonaparte was a rake, I was not aware that he had an American wife and child. Interesting book, blind pursuit of her own happiness from American girl who sacrifices her son’s life to follow her whimsy.
Enjoyed this book to a point. The pace of the story was slow. I skipped pages to get past the slow portions and the intimate portions.
Gives an interesting perspective on both French and American culture at the time of the establishment of our country. A look at characters of history given less coverage like the younger brother or Napolean.
I never knew that one of the Bonapartes married an American woman. I enjoyed some of the Baltimore history that was in the book