Book Review
Title: Love And Louis XIV: The Women In The Life Of The Sun King
Author: Antonia Fraser
Publisher: Anchor Canada
Pages: 331
ISBN: 978-0-385-66063-1
Released: November 2007 
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Reviewed By: Kindah Mardam Bey (Ontario Correspondent - Canada) 

Lady Antonia is imparting her knowledge of the royal glare and historical fascination into the world of Louis XIV, the Sun King who built his legacy solely in his own reflection one might say...in the hall of mirrors at Versailles....

Louis XIV was known for four aspects primarily; ego, women, Versailles and the seed of the French Revolution. We actually love men in history like Louis XIV, where their social lives are more compelling then their warrior prowess. What Henry VIII does for the history of England, Louis XIV does for the history of France. Even though Louis' extravagance is repulsive, one can't deny his passion for the arts and for elegant perfection.  

Known for multiple biographies, Antonia Fraser who was last seen in print covering the life and times of Marie Antoinette, which later became the basis for Sophia Coppola's film of the same title, has brought Louis XIV to life this time around. From Louis' crowning as King at the tender age of 4 years old and eight months, to the loves of his lives (both statuesque and in the flesh) to his eventual tagline in history, Fraser has painted a portrait of Louis and his women as vivid as any painting of him in Versailles. As Fraser comments "We must also remember that in the century when Louis XIV chose the sun as his symbol - ‘the most vigorous and the most splendid image of a great monarch' - one of the declared attributes of the sun was ‘the light which it shines on those other stars which surround it like a court.' And those stars in their turn, the women in his life, lit up the court of the sun king."

Ultimately, this may be a biography about Louis XIV, but the title does express a specific interest in his ‘loves,' which Fraser is most mindful of. She tells the life of Louis XIV expressly through this filter. Perhaps the greatest attribute of Fraser as a writer is that she expresses factual history in a way that sounds as if she is telling a fabulously rich bedtime story. Her concrete historical biographies never come off as tiresome and ‘aren't I a wonderful researcher' tone to them, instead they are always captivating accounts of the past. Excellent detail is to be had, but in a superiorly digestible manner. 

A compelling read about a compelling royal!