How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair by Jonathan Beckman

Final Rating: 4/5

A wealth of knowledge about a true crime of 18th-century France

  A wealth of knowledge is presented to the reader with How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair by Jonathan Beckman, a nonfiction title that examines the French case of the 18th century that implicated the name of the Queen of France in the elaborate theft of a 2,800 carat diamond necklace. The case predominantly centers on a disgraced cardinal, a wily thief and a doomed queen but also involves a motley assortment of personalities and figures that all have a hand or have some key piece of evidence in their procession or memory for the later prosecution. How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair first opens with a brief introduction of the facts of the case but then quickly moves to an examination of each of the suspects, culprits and those later questioned pulling details from their early lives and the psychology behind their later involvement in the Diamond Necklace Affair. The reader will be presented with a parade of individuals that range from autocrats to the common stock and represents the multitude of levels of classes in 18th-century France.

  The pace does slow at times to capture distinct aspects of topics that are considered important to contemplate and weave into the case such as the possible incorporation of using different popular plays and novels of the period and ciphers and anagrams of the name Valois into the elaborate web of deceit in acquiring the diamond necklace worth 1.6 million livres and the repeated importance of the written word in influencing the public in favoring or causing ridicule and hatred directed at certain individuals mainly Marie Antoinette. This work does lose more momentum sadly towards the middle when there are repetitious chapters as the trial and collection of evidence and testimony begins. The chapters involving the procuring of the necklace from the desperate jewellers and the lists of purchases from the selling of the diamonds are quite fascinating as are the brief chapters about the Palace of Versailles, the creation of the collier d'esclavage and the prison systems of the period. A wealth of trivia will greet the reader who is interested in this period of history.

  In the end, this was a fascinating although paced read for this reviewer. The topic is what initially drew my curiosity and the sympathetic view of Marie Antoinette was a surprising change from other works. Mr. Beckman explains the moments of the queen's young life that possibly led to her passion and amusement of frivolous expenditure and soured the public's opinion of the queen and later sealed her fate. And of course we have the whole case of the diamond necklace that involves a paid imposter and a moonless midnight exchange, a delusional con artist, a cache of forgeries, a convenient scapegoat, bold deceitful escapades and enduring legends that begs for the silver screen and I believe it has been adapted on screen but didn't win over the critics sadly which may prove that History is sometimes more entertaining than Fiction, it certainly is in the case of the Diamond Necklace Affair.

* I would like to thank Perseus Books Group, Da Capo Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair