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A review by duffypratt
Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas
4.0
The third of the D'Artagnan romances is a huge book. I read it in this form, making this the second of the four parts of the third volume. In this one, the Musketeers take a backseat to some Court intrigue. It involves the intrigues surrounding Henrietta, the sister to King Charles II of England, and sister-in-law to Louis XIV. She draws many men to her, and prompts the impulse to duel, even though dueling has been interdicted by Louis.
There are also intrigues involving her maids, most notably Louise de la Valliere, who is the titular character of volume three.
This is a very long, multi-faceted tale, but its always entertaining. In this book, I think Dumas captured particularly well the inward turning of the French court, so that everything revolves around Louis, and how this basically trivializes everything else that is going on in the country and the world. It shows the beginnings of a very decadent court structure, and does it in a way that makes it both charming and repulsive. It's not as fun as the over the top adventures of the Musketeers, but it was still worth reading.
There are also intrigues involving her maids, most notably Louise de la Valliere, who is the titular character of volume three.
This is a very long, multi-faceted tale, but its always entertaining. In this book, I think Dumas captured particularly well the inward turning of the French court, so that everything revolves around Louis, and how this basically trivializes everything else that is going on in the country and the world. It shows the beginnings of a very decadent court structure, and does it in a way that makes it both charming and repulsive. It's not as fun as the over the top adventures of the Musketeers, but it was still worth reading.