HFVBT Presents: Becoming Josephine + Giveaway!

Becoming Josephine
Heather Webb
Publication Date: December 31, 2013
Plume Books/Penguin
Paperback; 320p
ISBN-10: 0142180653

Buy Links

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Indiebound


Rose Tascher sails from her Martinique plantation to Paris to trade her Creole black magic culture for love and adventure. She arrives exultant to follow her dreams of attending Court with Alexandre, her elegant aristocrat and soldier husband. But Alexandre dashes her hopes and abandons her amid the tumult of the French Revolution.
Through her savoir faire, Rose secures her footing in high society, reveling in handsome men and glitzy balls—until the heads of her friends begin to roll.
After narrowly escaping death in the blood-drenched cells of Les Carmes prison, she reinvents herself as Josephine, a socialite of status and power. Yet her youth is fading, and Josephine must choose between a precarious independence and the love of an awkward suitor. Little does she know, he would become the most powerful man of his century- Napoleon Bonaparte.
BECOMING JOSEPHINE is a novel of one woman’s journey to find eternal love and stability, and ultimately to find herself.

Praise for Becoming Josephine

“Heather Webb’s epic novel captivates from its opening in a turbulent plantation society in the Caribbean, to the dramatic rise of one of France’s most fascinating women: Josephine Bonaparte. Perfectly balancing history and story, character and setting, detail and pathos, Becoming Josephine marks a debut as bewitching as its protagonist.” –Erika Robuck, author of Hemingway’s Girl
“With vivid characters and rich historical detail, Heather Webb has portrayed in Josephine a true heroine of great heart, admirable strength, and inspiring courage whose quest is that of women everywhere: to find, and claim, oneself.” –Sherry Jones, bestselling author of The Jewel of the Medina

“A fast-paced, riveting journey, Becoming Josephine captures the volatile mood of one of the most intense periods of history—libertine France, Caribbean slave revolts, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars—from the point of a view of one of its key witnesses, Josephine Bonaparte.” –Dana Gynther, author of Crossing on the Paris

“Vivid and passionate, Becoming Josephine captures the fiery spirit of the woman who stole Napoleon’s heart and enchanted an empire. –Susan Spann, author of The Shinobi Mysteries

“Spellbinding . . . Heather Webb’s novel takes us behind the mask of the Josephine we thought we knew.” –Christy English, author of How to Tame a Willful Wife and To Be Queen

“Enchanting prose takes the reader on an unforgettable journey . . . Captivating young Rose springs from the lush beauty of her family’s sugar plantation in Martinique to shine in the eighteenth century elegance of Parisian salon society. When France is torn by revolution, not even the blood-bathed terror of imprisonment can break her spirit.” –Marci Jefferson, author of Girl on the Gold Coin (Thomas Dunne Books, 2014)

My Thoughts

 Becoming Josephine stole both my heart and imagination from its opening pages.  I was immediately drawn to the young and spirited Rose, and very put out by both her father's and husband's treatment of her.
I dare not continue further into the plot line for fear that I might spoil things, but I must say that Rose's/Josephine's life reads better than any soap opera.  The writing style employed here is a very personal one; reading this book is much like having a conversation with an old friend.  Though this is Historical Fiction, the history is allowed to play out within the story's course, rather than being formally confined within a tiresome list of dates and places.
This is a book for the reader who reads for the story, and the story found here is full of passion, heartbreak, tragedy, triumph, and love.
I absolutely loved this book!
I am so happy that it was my first read of 2014!


Link to Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/becomingjosephinetour
Twitter Hashtag: #BecomingJosephineTour
 

About the Author

Heather Webb grew up a military brat and naturally became obsessed with travel, culture, and languages. She put her degrees to good use teaching high school French for nearly a decade before turning to full time novel writing and freelance editing.
When not writing, Heather flexes her foodie skills or looks for excuses to head to the other side of the world.
For more information please visit Heather’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.






The Giveaway!
Would You like a copy of the fabulous
Becoming Josephine?

Leave me a blog comment on this post
telling me why you
would want to be Josephine?

You must live in the US,
have a valid eddress,
and be 18+
*Please include eddress in your post*

5 comments:

  1. for shallow reasons, mainly to live in Paris!!! LOL!!!

    thank you for the giveaway!!

    cyn209 at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. She was beautiful, had beautiful clothes, and the most powerful man in the world was madly in love with her!

    DeniseK1 at Outlook dot com

    ReplyDelete
  3. humm the glitzy balls would probably be a lot of fun :D

    lilypondreads at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. the lifestyle would be indescribable and extravagant. thanks for this giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dressing in the amazing clothes and dancing all night long sounds like a ball. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete

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