Madame de Pompadour (New York Review Books Classics) Paperback – March 12, 2001

In 1953 Nancy Mitford published her first historical work, Madame de Pompadour, the life of one of Louis XV's most famous mistresses. This was something of a departure for Mitford, who heretofore had written several very funny but light novels and two more (The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate) which had more depth but were still highly amusing. Professional historians and academics looked down their nose at Mitford's efforts here and in three subsequent biographies (on Voltaire, Louis XIV, and Frederick the Great), but none could deny that she had produced an eminently readable study of her subject.Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson was born into a respectable Parisian bourgeois family. Beautiful and intelligent, she made a respectable early marriage and seemed destined for obscurity until she happened to catch the ever roving eye of King Louis XV. Her husband obligingly stepped out of the picture, allowing Jeanne to be taught how to cope with the splendors and difficulties of life at Versailles for several months by some equally obliging aristocrats. Then she took up her place at the side of the King, remaining his principal lover for many years while simultaneously managing to get along well with nearly everyone else at the French royal court, including the Queen. As the Marquise de Pompadour she gained enormous power and practically ruled France for many years, overseeing what turned out to be some disastrous foreign and domestic policy decisions. At the same time she encouraged Enlightenment figures like Voltaire and Diderot in their work.As with anything Nancy Mitford published Madame de Pompadour is full of laughter and witticisms, but there is also plenty of scholarship and research. The result is a chattier, more gossipy biography than a professional historian might produce, but it's certainly fun to read. Amanda Foreman's excellent introductory essay on Mitford will provide plenty of information for those curious about the author of this lively tale about a lively woman.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think the subject is interesting but I personally felt that the writer, who was apart of aristocracy herself, perhaps underplayed the role that the French nobility played in the Revolution and the degradation of French society at the time which ultimately led to the demise of the ruling class. At times, she completely glazed over the terrible conditions most were living in and made a big brouhaha about the decadence of the court as though it was like us going for a quick shop at Costco, even though people were literally starving to death while laying in their own filth while others were enjoying a life of blissful, extravagant ignorance behind golden gates. At other times, her attitude towards the poor was...lacking, to put it nicely. I don't know how else to describe it other than being incredibly condescending. From a 21st century perspective, in 2022, this sort of classism can be pretty jarring no matter how much you tell yourself that's just how things were back then. My French is not perfect but I understood enough of what was written to not need a translation except for some archaic forms of verbs that are no longer in use; however, trying to keep up with all the different names and titles of the same people drove me bonkers! She would frequently swap titles in the middle of paragraphs and I would realize with frustration and much grumbling after reading about half a chapter or so, that M. de Such and Such had suddenly become le Vicomte of This and That and I hadn't even noticed because of the overall fast pace of Mitford's writing. This is why footnotes and editors are important, and highlighters. Also I found the punctation quite odd and it seems it's a little quirk of her's that has been kept in. I realized what I was getting into when I bought this book, though - no serious academic would touch this with a 10 foot pole and I've heard much grumbling about "that Mitford book!" in certain circles over the years. However, I am not that snobby. It's fun, frothy, and gossipy, and I can see how this has inspired a myriad of tv shows glamorizing this period of the empire. And I believe that its flaws could offer some serious reflection to the deeper thinkers amongst us, since there are so many parallels to our days. Basically, history repeats itself!

This book was listed as “good,” but wow! it’s a brand new book, maybe never opened, let alone read. I’m so pleased! Thank you!

I had wanted this to be brilliant--and at first it was. But Mitford can find no fault in her central character, and she became very predictable and rather too saintly. Surely a consort who rose from commoner to a titled Marquise must have had a little more varied time of it. Alas, not here.