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"From acclaimed biographer Flora Fraser, the brilliant life of Napoleon's favorite sister. Celebrated for her looks, notorious for her passions, immortalized by Antonio Canova's statue, and always deeply loyal to her brother, Pauline Bonaparte Borghese is a fascinating figure in her own right. At the turn of the nineteenth century, she was considered by many to be the most beautiful woman in Europe. She shocked the continent with the boldness of her love affairs, her opulent wardrobe and jewels, and, most famously, her decision to pose nearly nude for Canova's sculpture, which has been replicated in countless ways through the years. But just as remarkable as Pauline's private life was her fidelity to the emperor (if not to her husbands). She was present for Napoleon's great victories in Italy, and she was often at Malmaison with her brother and her rival for his loyalty, the empress Josephine. When he was exiled to Elba, Pauline was the only sibling to follow him there, and after the final defeat at Waterloo she begged to be allowed to join him at Saint Helena. No biographer has gone so deeply into the sources or so closely examined one of the seminal relationships of the man who shaped modern Europe. In ""Pauline Bonaparte: Venus of Empire, ""Flora Fraser has cast new light on the Napoleonic era while crafting a dynamic, vivid portrait of a mesmerizing woman."

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A force of nature as uncontrolled by her brother Napoleon as the Russian winter, Pauline Bonaparte captivated her peers with her beauty, boundless quest for passion, diamonds and imperiousness. [Fraser's biography] fleshes out the privileged and politically unstable world of Pauline, who both commissioned and modeled nearly nude for Canova's symbolic marble statue Venus Victorious as a testament to herself. . . . [Pauline's] life showcased the dangers in Napoleonic France as well as its pleasures: she faced death from yellow fever and insurrection in French colonial Haiti. Fraser's narrative provides insight into the permissive culture of the French Empire and glimpses into Napoleon as a protective and exasperated older brother while simultaneously engaged in politics, invasions and his eventual fall from power. Pauline, for her part, survived her setbacks with style-'I am the sister of Bonaparte. I am afraid of nothing'-expressing a spirit that Fraser clearly admires without being blinded by her subject's seductions. <br>- Publishers Weekly<br> <br> Scarlet women of Regency England have inspired entertaining biographies from Fraser, who now crosses the Channel to survey the scandal-strewn stories about Princess Borghese, Napoleon's youngest sister. . . . Fraser jauntily judges the likelihood or not of Pauline's affairs while giving reign to the gossip they prompted, which included accusations of incest with Napoleon. True or not, the stories drew on Pauline's loyalty to her history-making brother, who she followed into exile on Elba. Discovering a practical-minded steel inside the frivolities of this dictatrix of the boudoir, Fraser portrays with panache her feisty, flightycharacter. <br>-Gilbert Taylor, Booklist <br> [Napoleon and Pauline Bonaparte's] fates moved in tandem: Napoleon determined whom his favorite sister would wed, and the two marriages he arranged would mark her fortune, mostly for good. . . . Her brother chose his loyal second-in-command, brigade general Victor Emmanuel Leclerc, [to marry the 15-year-old Pauline, ] who proved an honorable, upright man but no match for his sensual, spoiled teenage spouse. . . . Fraser does a lively job of delineating the story of [Bonaparte's] audacious clan. <br>- Kirkus Reviews <p><br>

Scandalous . . . Memorable . . . [A] juicy portrait of Napoleon's most flamboyant and favored sibling . . . True to his Corsican roots, Napoleon Bonaparte made empire a family business. . . . But how to deploy his 25-year-old sister Pauline, already a disciplinary hard case, notorious for philandering in a court not known for circumspection? . . . It was the sort of impasse Napoleon would often face in dealing with Pauline, who resembled him both in temper and in looks. . . . Pauline was, Fraser admits, 'a terrible role model.' Which is, of course, why she's such fun to read about. <br>-Alida Becker, The New York Times Book Review <br> Pauline's life of scandal and intrigue makes for a page-turning read: the catalogue of lovers first cherished and then scorned; the jealous dislike of Napoleon's wife, Josephine; the rumours of lesbian affairs and of incest with the brother who dominated Europe; the suspicions of venereal disease; and, with a near-nudity designed to titillate, e

Author Information

"Flora Fraser is the author of ""Beloved Emma: The Life of Emma, Lady Hamilton; The Unruly Queen: The Life of Queen Caroline; ""and ""Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III. ""She lives in London with her husband and three children."

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