In 1875, Sisi, the Empress of Austria is the woman that every man desires and every woman envies. Beautiful, athletic and intelligent, Sisi has everything -- except happiness.Bored with her dutiful Empress life in Vienna she comes to England to hunt. She comes looking for excitement and she finds it in the dashing form of Captain Bay Middleton. Then years younger than her, Bay has everything to lose by falling for a woman who can never be his, for he is promised to Charlotte. But Bay and the Empress are reckless as each other, and their mutual attraction is a force that cannot be denied.
THE FORTUNE HUNTER tells the true story of a nineteenth century Queen of Hearts and cavalry captain, and the struggle between love and duty
My Thoughts: I am not a die hard historic fiction kinda gal. I would say I really didn't read historic fiction until I started writing my blog a few years ago. One of the first novels I read was THE AMERICAN HEIRESS By Daisy Goodwin (here is my review if you are interested). I really enjoyed it and so when her new book THE FORTUNE HUNTER was being released I knew I wanted to read it.
Once again, Ms. Goodwin wrote a book that makes me love historic fiction. I will admit her writing is...detailed, some may find this bothersome--I happen to find it wonderful. Not only is she a outstanding storyteller, but she allows me to see and feel the world where the characters are (something I don't always get from historic fiction writers). She transported me.
I loved THE FORTUNE HUNTER. I really just adored Charlotte and wanted her to find happiness. Bay...well I had mixed feelings about him through the whole book! Charlotte is the heir to the Lennox fortune and Bay is an officer with almost no money. His interest in her seems to be genuine, but he is known to be a ladies man. I very much enjoyed their courtship at the beginning--then Bay is asked to be a pilot (a hunting guide) for the Empress of Austria, Sisi. Sisi is known to be the most beautiful woman in all of Europe. You see where I'm going, right?
I would love to discuss more about why I feel the way I do about Bay, but I really don't want to giveaway the story line. I think there was telling lines about who he wanted to be vs who he was. How others saw him and how Charlotte saw him.
THE FORTUNE HUNTER is based loosely on a very real story, but this is a book of fiction. If you are going in wanting it to fit real true dates and facts, this may not be the book for you. If you are looking to enjoy a stunning historic novel about the lives of the rich and royalty in the late 1800s then I highly recommend this novel! I loved it and will be on the watch for more novels by Daisy Goodwin!
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