Set in Paris at the end of the eighteenth century, "Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe" opens as Joséphine awakens to the reality of her recent marriage to 'the Corsican' Napoléon Bonaparte, now General-in-Chief of the Army of Italy. Through Joséphine's diary entries and Napoléon's impassioned - and at times disturbing - love letters, an astonishing portrait of a canny and compassionate woman emerges, set against one of the most tumultuous periods in European history. Written in a spare but compelling style, this beatifully crafted novel brings the amazing drama of the legendary Joséphine to vibrant life.
"The best thing is the picture that emerges of Joséphine herself - capricious, coquettish and alluring by turns, she comes across as eminently likeable ant the sort of woman over whom one can well imagine an Emperor losing his head." (The Times)
"By casting her narrative in the form of a first-person journal, Gulland invests it with vividness and immediacy, so that one sometimes forgets it is a historical novel, and reads it with a real sense of surprise at each development." (Times Metro)
"Gulland has huge fun ... nothing seems beyond the grasp of her imagination. In her hands Joséphine B. puts in a stellar performance. Now tender, now triste, she`s the Jackie O. of her day." (Guardian)
"Packed with captivating historical detail." (Daily Telegraph)
"By casting her narrative in the form of a first-person journal, Gulland invests it with vividness and immediacy, so that one sometimes forgets it is a historical novel, and reads it with a real sense of surprise at each development." (Times Metro)
"Gulland has huge fun ... nothing seems beyond the grasp of her imagination. In her hands Joséphine B. puts in a stellar performance. Now tender, now triste, she`s the Jackie O. of her day." (Guardian)
"Packed with captivating historical detail." (Daily Telegraph)