Josephine and others

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33693, 16 November 1974, Page 10

Josephine and others

Napoleon and Love. By Philip Mackie. Quartet Books. 438 pp.

Philip Mackie’s long novel follows the script of the successful series of the same name which he wrote for Thames Television. It is hardly a serious study of Napoleon, and consists largely of modem conversation pieces to illustrate the facet of the Emperor’s career which reflected his general attitude to women.

Josephine necessarily has the principal female role, and she is depicted in her early days as a lying wanton, totally uninvolved with her young general’s career, and more than a little bored with his obvious devotion. As bis fame increases so does her desire to keep him, in the face of many threats of divorce, which she earned first by her scandalous conduct, and finally, when the question became a matter of state policy, by her failure to produce an heir. Napoleon’s numerous liaisons are dealt with for what they were worth. The opening chapter in which, as an

unknown brigadier-general he woos Eugenie Clary (whom he called Desiree), and has his honourable intentions thwarted by her commercially prosperous family, is the most plausibly authetic of this theatrical succession of portraits. His real love for his “Polish wife” Marie Walewska is also emphasised. Within the limits of the genre Napoleon’s growning, and finally fullblown sense of his own destiny is developed for its visual effects. But the lack of emotional depth is underlined by the superficial and slangy prose in which the book is written. This inevitably negates any suggestion of a Gallic background in the late eighteenth century. Given these ir. ?scapable features of what is primarily a theatrical entertainment, the book is a highly competent example of its kind.