SISI: EMPRESS ON HER OWN
ALLISON PATAKI
ISBN-10: 0812989333, 13: 978-0812989335
February 7, 2017
Random House Trade Paperbacks
www.randomhouse.com
Trade Paperback
$17.00 US / $23.00 CAN
480 Pages
Historical, Fiction
Rating: 4 Cups
The days in Vienna are near torture for Empress Elisabeth. With every word and action scrutinized, Sisi is often found lacking, not only by her husband’s advisors, but the populace as well. Abhorring stifling palace protocols, Sisi longs for the freedom of riding, and traveling to far off places.
At his mother’s knee, Emperor Franz Joseph learned the importance of discipline and structure, which shows in the strength and stability of the Austrian Empire. Nearly every minute of his life is dedicated to the well-being and prosperity of his people, and he expects the same from his family.
With her youngest daughter Valerie, Sisi takes every opportunity to escape the confines of her role as Empress. Her extensive traveling; however, earns her the scorn of the Viennese people, who, like her husband Franz, wants their Empress back. No matter how far she wanders, Sisi still fights a haunting feeling of restlessness, and worries the same mad affliction will besiege her as it has some of her family. As the years and miles stretch between Sisi and her children, finding the peace she so desperately craves becomes an all-consuming quest.
The unrest in Sisi’s soul is a vivid reminder that wealth does not equal happiness. Being completely unprepared for the realities of her position, Sisi does the only thing she knows…run. Unfortunately this becomes a common response she has to any upset, and no one suffers more than her children. I find her life and this story to be remarkably beautiful, as well as tremendously sad, often highlighting the difficulties of living in the public eye.
Lototy
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More
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