Sisi : empress on her own : a novel / Allison Pataki.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780812989052
- Physical Description: xiii, 438 pages : map ; 25 cm
- Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : The Dial Press, 2016.
- Copyright: ©2016.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references. |
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Elisabeth, Empress, consort of Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, 1837-1898 > Fiction. |
Genre: | Historical fiction. Biographical fiction. |
Available copies
- 2 of 2 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Fort Nelson Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 2 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fort Nelson Public Library | FIC PAT (Text) | 35246000914869 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2016 March
The tragic life of a people's princessShe was the Princess Diana of her time, a storied beauty who longed for more than the trappings of royalty. So why has Sisi been largely lost to history?
Allison Pataki's new novel, Sisi: Empress on Her Own covers the turbulent later life of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, known to her subjects as Sisi. While her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph, struggles to maintain the power of his monarchy, Sisi seeks refuge from the stifling halls of the royal court in late 19th-century Vienna, where her every move is watched and analyzed.
Sisi travels around Europe, often accompanied by her youngest daughter, Valerie, the only one of her three children she was allowed to raise without the interference of her mother-in-law, the Archduchess Sophie. Whispers start at Sisi's frequent trips away from the Hofburg Palace and her close relationships with other menânamely the darkly handsome Count Andrássy, a key advisor to her husband.
Pataki, whose own family roots trace to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria, became intrigued with the empress during a trip to Austria a decade ago.
"Everywhere I went, I saw images of this striking woman," Pataki says during a call to her home in Chicago, where she lives with her husbandâa resident in ortho-pedic surgeryâand their newborn daughter.Â
"Her smile looked a little mysterious, a little sad, like there was more behind it. I thought, this is a really intriguing woman. Why don't I know more about her?"
Pataki began researching and soon realized she had struck literary goldâenough for two books. (The first, The Accidental Empress, was published in 2015.)
"I didn't know how much I could rely on the historical record, but the more I looked into it, the blueprint for the story was right there in the facts," she says. "You have the stunning settings of the Alps and palaces and courts. You have the characters of the most powerful man in Europe [Franz Joseph] and Mad King Ludwig [Sisi's cousin, the King of Bavaria]."
And, of course, you have Sisi, a woman Pataki calls "larger than life even in her own life. She inspired mythology the way a Princess Diana or a Jackie Kennedy did."
Pataki, the daughter of former New York Gov. George Pataki, grew up in New York and moved to Chicago for her husband's residency. The lifelong New Yorker is acclimating to her new home.Â
"What I love about New York is the layer upon layer upon layer of history," she says. "Chicago is so wonderful because it's so livable and friendly. You get all the wonderful aspects of New Yorkâgreat restaurants, great museumsâbut a slower pace. I consider them both home."
Pataki began her career in journalism, mostly working for cable news. It was not for her.
"I love getting to the bottom of people's stories."
"I love history. I love writing. I love narrative. I love getting to the bottom of people's stories. I thought that meant I should be a journalist," she says. "But it was get in, get out, boil the story down to 15 seconds or less. I was told, use less big words, be more snarky.
"I was going home at the end of the day and writing fiction. It was writing therapy. It was so much fun I thought it couldn't actually be a job. It was everything I thought I would love about journalism. I decided I would give myself a short window to see if I could make this a career."
Pataki quickly learned that historical fiction was her niche. "My whole bookshelf is historical fiction," she says. "Historical fiction makes history accessible and entertaining."
While Pataki does meticulous research before diving into a novel, she wants readers to understand the difference between historical fiction and biographies.
"I'm not intending to write dry, historical text," she says. "I'm not a historian, I'm a novelist. Don't take my version as the Bible. This is a novel."
Still, Pataki shows deep reverence for and understanding of her subject, and draws a sympathetic portrait that shows the empress was more than her beauty. Where The Accidental Empress focused on Sisi as a young, naive womanâshe was married in 1854 at only 16âSisi portrays a woman at midlife who very much understands her place in the world, even as she resists it. Though she was disappointed in her marriage and disconnected from her older children, Sisi found happiness in travel and horse riding.
"Sisi was never one to derive her greatest joy from her husband and children," Pataki says. "She was such a wandering, restless spirit."
After spending so much time reading and writing about Sisi, Pataki struggled to write about the empress' 1898 death in Geneva at the early age of 60, at the hands of an assassin. The Italian anarchist had another target in mind, and stabbed Sisi only after his initial plan failed.
"It was incredibly different at times to write about the tragedy of it all," she says. "It was a split-second decision . . . just the dumb bad luck of that really struck me."
Still, Pataki believes that, for a woman so defined by her legendary beauty, dying before she became an old woman might have been Sisi's wish. Conscious of the public's scrutiny, the empress maintained her legendary slender waistline through exercise, fasting and tight corset lacing, and she spent hours grooming her famously long and thick hair.Â
"Sisi wrote very often to family and in journals that she wanted death to take her quickly and young," Pataki says. "In some ways, it was eerie that she almost prophesied her death."
Sisi is a deeply moving book about a complex character.
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This article was originally published in the March 2016 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
Copyright 2012 BookPage Reviews. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2016 February #2
Pataki continues her account of the life of Empress Elisabeth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (The Accidental Empress), exploring the tensions between demands of Habsburg protocol and desire for autonomy. Determined to raise her youngest daughter without the interference of her domineering mother-in-law, Sisi realizes too late that long absences from Vienna have estranged her not only from her older children but also from her subjects. Although her husband, Franz Joseph, adores her, his obsession with maintaining political alliances as Europe disintegrates prior to World War I absorbs his attention. At her estate near Budapest, Sisi's relationship with Hungarian statesman Count Andrassy fuels vicious gossip as do her visits to England and Ireland, where she spends hours riding with Capt. Bay Middleton. Her unrivaled beauty and superb equestrian skills cannot shield her from tragedy. Pataki successfully juggles numerous political and personal plot lines while maintaining her focus on a fascinating central character. Extensive notes reveal the author's attention to detail and explain where the novel diverges from the historical record. Daisy Goodwin's The Fortune Hunter offers a more romanticized and extended portrayal of the Sisi-Middleton relationship. VERDICT Readers of Pataki's first book will want to know the rest of Sisi's story, but this novel stands on its own for historical fiction fans.âKathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankato
[Page 90]. (c) Copyright 2016 Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2016 January #3
Pataki's latest follows where her earlier novel, The Accidental Empress, left off, as she chronicles the life of Empress Elisabeth "Sisi" of Austria-Hungary. The narrative picks up in the mid-19th century, with Sisi in her early 30s, no longer the naive girl who married Emperor Franz Joseph at 16. With Sisi's diplomatic assistance, Franz is able to broker a union that forges the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. Yet Sisi often frequents Godollo Palace in Hungary, disliking the constant scrutiny of the Viennese Court and enjoying companionship with County Andrassy. Pataki's extensive historical research is evident as she deftly explores the complex life of a woman who was both loved and hated by those whom she ruled. Though her life as an empress seemed like one of ease, with opulent dwellings and magnificent wealth, she is portrayed as a lonely person, as well as a true survivor and a woman ahead of her time. She faces the infidelity of her husband, the emotional and physical distance of her older children, and the death of her middle daughter, Sophie, when she is just a toddler. Pataki brings richness and relevance to the story of the woman who worked tirelessly to protect the face of an empire. Agent: Lacy Lynch, Dupree/Miller & Associates. (Mar.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2016 PWxyz LLC