I have read all but one, her first, of Brandy Purdy's books. I am amazed at each one about the depth of the research that she puts into each book. With Two Empresses we learn the little-known story, at least to me, of two women and their remarkable lives.

Marie Josephe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie and Aimée du Buc de Rivéry are cousins and they live on the island of Martinique. The story opens with the girls getting up in the night to go see Euphemia David to have their fortunes told. What they learn is that they each will be a queen someday. Rose is desperate to get off the island and find her 'king'. Her wishes come true and she is sent to Paris to marry Alexandre de Beauharnais. Things don't turn out as she had hoped and after the birth of their two children, they are separated by court order. Her husband is soon imprisoned as is she during the Reign of Terror. She is released from prison after Alexandre is executed and lives the best she can, becoming mistress to various men. She later meets Napolean Bonaparte and the rest is history.

Aimee on the other hand, after Rose left to go to Paris, she was sent to a French convent but her ship was, according to legend, captured by Barbary pirates, sold as a harem concubine, and was the same person as Nakşîdil Sultan, a Valide Sultan (Queen Mother) of the Ottoman Empire. She was thrust into a world totally unknown to her and the life in a harem certainly was not what she would have liked. But adapt she did and became a favorite of the Sultan.

Whenever I read a novel by Brandy Purdy, I find myself totally immersed in the story and characters. Vivid descriptions of the era and even descriptions of clothing and decorations are told in such a way that you think that you are right in the story. That is what I love about historical fiction, is that the reader can be transported right into any story that Ms. Purdy tells. A consummate storyteller and attention to detail make reading the stories worthwhile. ( )

My introduction to this author, this book stood out as hard to finish and left a bad taste in my mouth. The only thing the author got right, for the most part, was the scene setting and a bit on one characterization. Beyond that, I hope this book isn't an example of what I can expect from other works by this writer. If so, I think I'll skip those.

One area the author excelled, again for the most part, was the scene setting and historical details. Tropical Martinique, revolutionary Paris, and exotic Istanbul all stand out as unique settings. Lush with details and vivid descriptions, I could easily see the scenes portrayed and enjoy the background at least.

However, even here the author has an issue. There were times where her settings came off as almost comical and caricatures of the real thing. Maybe she was trying too hard at description, but it backfired on her. Revolutionary Paris, at times, seemed way too sexualized. Some of the descriptions of Josephine's experiences between marrying Napoleon and losing her first husband are comical to say the least, though I don't think the author meant it to be. Maybe her portrayals have some basis in historical fact; I’m not a historian for the time. However, her portrayals didn't come over as fact.

The author also has a problem with the Sultans court and his harem in Istanbul. Again, the scenes come off as caricatures and stereotypes of the real thing. I mean, Aimee's story comes right out of Arabian nights! The way the harem women dressed/acted, the details of daily life, and just the overall atmosphere seemed unreal. Again, I am not a scholar for this time or locale, so maybe the author had some basis for her portrayals. But if so, that didn't come across on the page.

And then there are the characterizations. I'm sorry to say that Josephine is shallow, vapid, has no common sense, and is a slut, not a descriptor that I like to use but fits the bill here. Every action Josephine takes is motivated for her own self-preservation or to make her life easier. Her portrayal makes her unsympathetic in the extreme. While maybe realistic to a degree, Josephine made me hate her more than empathize with her.

Aimee is kinda the opposite. Showing at least some intelligence, her character is far more sympathetic than Josephine’s. However, there's only a slight improvement. Aimee, unfortunately, goes to the other extreme of the character spectrum. She's too perfect! And until the very end, she's a freaking doormat. She doesn't actually do anything, the events of the story happened to her. She just sits there and either observes or just reacts. However, at least at the end, she did something proactive. That saved her storyline for me.

And then, to add one more stick to this fire pile of horror, the author completely screwed up her story balance. One of the things that first drew me to this title was the tale of two women caught up in the flow of history and how they made their way to places of power in different societies.
Well, this book isn’t about that. This book is about Josephine with a few side chapters about Aimee. A shame as, of the two, Aimee is easily the more enjoyable of a character. So much time is spent on Josephine’s story that Aimee is left on the wayside. I feel that if more time had been spent on Aimee’s tale, she might not have been as much of a doormat as she was; she might've had more time to actually do something. We would have gotten a fascinating tale of survival and harem politics rather than the sexcapades of Josephine. Missed opportunity there, author.

As you can see, my ultimate emotion with this title was disappointment. I had high hopes of a tale rife with excitement and exploring two women, one of whom have been lost to history. What I got was a messy soup of over-the-top historical scenes, extreme and unenjoyable characterizations, and a story balance that was a disservice to both women. If this is an example of the author’s usual writing, I don't think I'll be hunting out her other books immediately. There are better offers out there. Maybe this is just a low point; I'll let you be the judge. Yet, I wouldn't recommend this author off this book alone.

Note: Book was received for free from the publisher via Netgallery in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I’ve read several books by Ms. Purdy and I’ve enjoyed them. When this new one was offered to me for review I was very excited to be able to read it. It’s the story of two cousins living in Martinique; one who becomes one of the most famous women in history and the other – well she might or might not have become a Sultana.

Our first cousin, Rose is stifled in her life on the Island and longs for what she thinks life in Paris would be like. When opportunity offers her a chance to escape through marriage she jumps and finds her deepest desire has been achieved but not fulfilled. Her marriage is to Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and he treats her terribly. But those of us that are students of history know well that Rose de Beauharnais will become Josephine Bonaparte.

The second cousin Aimee, I will admit I knew absolutely nothing about prior to reading this book. Her story is not as well known and not as much grounded in fact as in fable. She also went to Paris, but rather than as a bride as a student. As the years pass she longs for a visit from her cousin Rose but as Rose’s life is not living up to the letters she writes to Aimee she is too embarrassed to visit. Ultimately the political climate changes so much as the French Revolution approaches that Aimee’s parents send for her to return home but sadly her ship is….attacked by pirates? Sunk? The historical record is unclear but this novel takes the legend of Nakşidil Sultan and ascribes it to her.

For this tale, Aimee is sold into slavery in the Sultan’s harem but instead of wallowing in sorrow she makes the best of a bad situation. She ultimately falls in love with the Sultan and reportedly he with her. There is much harem intrigue of course and much sadness but she goes on to help create a most progressive Sultan in her adopted son.

The book is probably 3/4s Josephine as far more is known about her life. I found the book interesting if a little repetitive in the sections on Josephine. She was presented as a bit of whiner lacking in any self respect. Perhaps because I’ve read tales of her life before I was far more interested in the story of Aimee but was given far less of a story. I recognize that her half (quarter really) of the book was probably fictional but it was truly more interesting that the Josephine part. Overall an interesting but not exciting read. ( )