#Valerie French

[draigviller]

[billyhopkinson]

Valerie French

[weirdlookindog]

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)

[hellooldsmelly]

[ghassanrassam]

1957 Lee J Cobb fights the unions in NY

[randomrichards]

DECISION AT SUNDOWN:

Man crashes wedding

Blames the groom for his wife’s death

Trapped in a stable

[probably-dead]

ohh ask game! Blood moon or Dragon roost with Val pls, whichever you think fits best ^.^

THEY BOTH DID 🧡❤️ [color pallet ask game]

I love Val. Nobody can ever make me hate u, Val.

[soracities]

My life has been the awaiting of you, / Your footfall was my own heart’s beat.

Paul Valéry, from “The Footsteps” (trans. C. Day Lewis), Selected Writings of Paul Valéry

[m0liku-mori]

Went a lil crazy on this one

[huariqueje]

Willow and aspen branches in autumn - Valerie de Sarrieu , 2016.

French , b. 1958 -

Oil on canvas , 130 x 180 cm.

[archduchessofnowhere]

I bring you not very good news: Nancy Goldstone wrote a double biography on Elisabeth and Empress Eugenie, to be published on February 6 of next year.

After reading @vivelareine's review of Goldstone's book on Marie Antoinette I simply do not trust this author is a good researcher, and while I won't judge this book until it's out, I can't help but being very wary already. The synopsis alone doesn't give me much hope:

From the acclaimed author of In the Shadow of the Empress comes the thrilling chronicle of two of the most influential and glamorous women in nineteenth-century Europe—Elisabeth, empress of Austria, and Eugénie, empress of France—and their efforts to rule amid the scandal, intrigue, tragedy, and violence of their era.

When they married Emperors Franz Joseph and Napoleon III, respectively, Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France became two of the most famous women on the planet. Not only were they both young and beautiful—becoming cultural and fashion icons of their time—but they played a pivotal role in ruling their realms during a tempestuous era characterized by unprecedented political and technological change.

Fearless, adventurous, and independent, Elisabeth and Eugénie represented a new kind of empress—one who rebelled against tradition and anticipated and embraced modern values. Yet both women endured hardship in their private and public lives. Elisabeth was plagued by a mother-in-law who snatched her infant children away and undermined her authority at court. Eugénie’s husband was an infamous philanderer who could not match the military prowess of his namesake. Between them, Elisabeth and Eugénie were personally involved in every major international confrontation in their turbulent century, which witnessed thrilling technological advances, as well as revolutions, assassinations, and wars.

With her characteristic in-depth research and jump-off-the-page writing, Nancy Goldstone brings to life these two remarkable women, as Europe goes through the convulsions that led up to the international landscape we recognize today.

You see, I don't think it's crazy to pair up Elisabeth and Eugenie in a biography if your focus is going to be their queenship. Because they were very different as empresses, and I'd love a comparative study on why and how was that possible. Yet the synopsis is implying they were similar? How was Elisabeth personally involved in every major international confrontation? She was only personally involved in the Compromise, every other event she only reacted to (if even). Meanwhile Eugenie actively tried to participate in the politics of France and influence her husband (successfully in many cases, I believe).

The "domineering mother-in-law" part also worries me. Unsere liebe Sisi's been out since 2008, there's no excuse to not give Sophie a more nuanced portrayal.

But well, authors usually don't write the synopsis of their books, so I won't read more into it than what I've done already. I truly hope this biography isn't terrible because we don't need to add one more book to the already giant pile of books about Elisabeth that are filled with myths and misinformation.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Une femme intelligente est une femme avec laquelle on peut être aussi bête que l'on veut.

Paul Valéry

[billyhopkinson]

Valerie French

[weirdlookindog]

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)

[hellooldsmelly]

[ghassanrassam]

1956 good western