“The story of David’s creation of the magnificent Coronation scene could be a book in itself.”
“Napoleon said of the painting that one didn’t look at it so much as walk into it. It does have that effect.”
You create a believable scene of a “regular family” as the members of the court in the Yellow Salon chatter about the coronation: the ladies having to traipse through mud, Napoleon poking Uncle Fesch in the behind, the stone falling on Napoleon—and, of course, the significant moment when Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor. Are all of these details fact?
There is so much documented detail available on the coronation that writing this scene was really a matter of describing it moment by moment as it had been described by others. The terrible weather is fact, as is Napoleon playfully poking his uncle, the stone falling during the ceremony, the gasp of the crowd as Napoleon crowned himself. Some of what happened, such as Napoleon poking his uncle, could not have been seen by Josephine at the time, so it had to be related to her (and therefore, to the reader) later, in discussion. With all of the amazing events that unfolded during this era, it was important for me to remember that these were essentially family occasions.
Bonaparte’s sister Elisa rarely appears without a mention of hiccups—why?
When there are many characters in a novel, it is easy for the reader to get them confused. This is a problem for historical novelists in particular, because family groups were so much larger in the past than they are today. It helps to have some sort of “tag” that helps identify a character. I really didn’t know what to do about Elisa: she was ugly and rude, but many of the Bonapartes were rude, and it wouldn’t have been in Josephine’s character to constantly make reference to her ugliness. Therefore, I was delighted to discover, in a footnote of Fouché’s memoirs, that Elisa had, in Fouché’s words, “a problem” with hiccups. I had found my tag.
“With all of the amazing events that unfolded during this era, it was important for me to remember that these were essentially family occasions.”
Read On
Recommended Reading
For further reading on court fashion designer Louis Leroy: Dressed to Rule: Royal and Court Costume from Louis XIV to Elizabeth II, Philip Mansel
If the actress Mademoiselle George intrigued you, read her life story in these books:
A Favourite of Napoleon: Memoirs of Mademoiselle George, Marguerite Joséphine Weimer George
Napoleon and Mademoiselle George, Edith Saunders
For more on Madame Mère, the imposing matriarch of the Bonaparte clan:
Napoleon’s Mother, Alain Decaux
Memoirs and biographies:
The Memoirs of Queen Hortense, Hortense, consort of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, 1783–1837
More Than a Queen: The Story of Josephine Bonaparte, Frances Mossiker
Napoleon, Vincent Cronin
Napoleon’s Viceroy: Eugene de Beauharnais Carola Oman
Web Detective
For more information on the author and the books in the series: www.sandragulland.com
For more on the fashion, style, costume and military uniform during Napoleon’s reign: www.fashion-era.com/regency_fashion.htm
For more information and images of Fountainebleau and the Tuileries Palace: www.georgianindex.net/Napoleon/Fontainebleau/Fontainebleau.html
www.georgianindex.net/Napoleon/Tuileries/Tuileries.html
For a history of the Regent Diamond: www.diamond-legend.info/famous.html http://famousdiamonds. tripod.com/regentdiamond.html
For more on the dances described in the book:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/dihome.html
For more on the actress Mademoiselle George, mistress of Napoleon:
www.cadytech.com/dumas/related/napoleon_by_morlock.php
To better understand the French Republican calendar:
www.gefrance.com/calrep/calen.htm
To receive updates on author events and new books by Sandra Gulland, sign up at authortracker.ca.
Eugène sends a message regarding Napoleon’s return to France via semaphore—a flag signalling system. For a quick tutorial on the semaphore system:
www.anbg.gov.au/flags/semaphore.html
To view Jacques-Louis David’s painting of the coronation:
www.artchive.com/artchive/D/david/consecration.jpg.html
Copyright
History is a story, as told by the victor.—Napoleon
The Last Great Dance on Earth is a work of fiction based on (and inspired by) the extraordinary life of Josephine Bonaparte.
The Last Great Dance on Earth
© 2000 by Sandra Gulland
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © MAY 2011 ISBN: 978-1-443-40937-7
Published by Harper Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
First published in hardcover by HarperFlamingoCanada,
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd: 2000.
First trade paperback edition: 2001.
This Harper Perennial edition: 2009.
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication information
Gulland, Sandra
The last great dance on earth / Sandra Gulland.
ISBN 978-1-55468-286-7
1. Joséphine, Empress, consort of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1763–1814–Fiction. I. Title.
PS8563.U643L37 2009 C813’.54 C2009-900622-7
RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Sandra Gulland, The Last Great Dance on Earth
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