"[A] remarkable biography....Moorehead deftly wields periods detail...to tell the story of a captivating woman who kept her sense of self amid the vicissitudes of politics."
--Vogue
From acclaimed biographer Caroline Moorhead comes Dancing to the Precipice, a sweeping chronicle of the remarkable life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin--"an astute, thoroughly engaging biography of a formidable woman" (Boston Globe) who, over the span of some 80 years, was witness to, and often a participant in the major social upheavals of eighteenth-century French history.
This definitive historical biography includes:
- A firsthand look at the Ancien Régime: Experience the glittering, corrupt court of Louis XVI in its final days before being consumed by revolution.
- Escape from The Terror: Follow Lucie's harrowing flight from the guillotine, which claimed many of her friends and family, and her surprising reinvention as a farmer in fledgling America.
- An Unflinching Eyewitness Account: An intimate chronicle of resilience through the Napoleonic era and the Bourbon Restoration, told with shrewdness, humor, and remarkable recall.
- A Who's Who of History: Walk the halls of power alongside a woman who knew everyone, from Talleyrand and Lafayette to the Empress Josephine herself.
About the Author :
Caroline Moorehead is the New York Times bestselling author of the Resistance Quartet, which includes A Bold and Dangerous Family, Village of Secrets, and A Train in Winter, as well as Human Cargo, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. An acclaimed biographer, she has written for the New York Review of Books, The Guardian, and The Independent. She lives in London and Italy.
Review :
"Excellent. The greater joy of this book is Ms. Moorehead's skill in building on Lucie's observations. " - The Economist
"Moorehead's biography, drawing on a trove of previously unpublished correspondence, captures the rhythm of the radical contrasts in her subject's life." - The New Yorker
"An astute, thoroughly engaging biography of a formidable woman." - Anna Mundow, Boston Globe
"[A] remarkable biography. . . . Moorehead deftly wields periods detail--the Paris salon, for instance, in which 'prowled eighteen angora cats dressed in satin'--to tell the story of a captivating woman who kept her sense of self amid the vicissitudes of politics." - Megan O'Grady, Vogue
"Absorbing . . . documents with stylistic élan and meticulous detail a reeling period of French history. . . . With a strong narrative voice that neither vamps nor moralizes, she also describes the profligacy of the royal court with deadpan precision. . . . Moorehead, to her credit, is no biographical busybody. Quite the opposite. Her restraint is not unlike her subject's, and for the most part she lets la Tour du Pin speak for herself." - Brenda Wineapple, The New York Times Book Review
"Brilliantly re-creates not only Lucie's life but also the culture that formed it." - Andrew Roberts, Wall Street Journal
"Outstanding. . . . The exceptional Henriette Lucie Dillon, Marquise de la Tour du Pin Gouvernet (1770-1853) has long deserved a competent biographer, and Moorehead (Gellhorn: A Twentieth-Century Life) does her justice." - Jim Doyle, Library Journal
"Sensational. . . . Moorehead deftly navigates a dizzying cast of characters, location and events, allowing Lucie's 'precise, cool eye' and discerning wit to shine through. Sumptuous account of Revolutionary Europe." - Kirkus Reviews
