Writing the history of the characters surrounding France’s Sun King, Louis XIV, can quickly descend into clichés of excess and grand extravagance. In the assured hands of Carmel Bird however, this was never going to happen. This wonderful novel focuses on Marie-Adélaïde, who marries the king’s grandson, and whose son becomes Louis XV. The narrative is split between a (never dry, always interesting) third person narration, and the first person of a (fictional) friend of Adélaïde’s, Clotilde, who writes her life story and her connection with Adélaïde and the royal house in her later life as a nun.
Adélaïde’s marriage – at 12 – to the Duke of Bourgogne is political manouevring to ensure an alliance between France and the House of Savoy, whose conniving head, Adélaïde’s father, Victor Amadeus, vacillates his loyalty between France and Italy. Adélaïde quickly becomes a favourite of the king: she is coquettishly, playfully exciting, and he is enchanted (arguably erotically so). Clotilde – now known as Sister Clare – describes their shared childhood at a school run by the king’s ‘secret wife’, Madame de Maintenon. After Adélaïde’s wedding their lives become more separate and, in a parallel narrative, Clotilde finds love with a gardener, Jean-Jacques, who is sent to war and doesn’t return. Sister Clare writes that their one-time sexual encounter led to a pregnancy that ended in miscarriage and precipitated her entry into the convent. The third-person narrator knows more about this story than Sister Clare, however.
The title refers to an embroidered pin cushion. Superficially, this doesn’t appear relevant but is a clever bridge between matters of the heart and the religious divide in France. Crimson Velvet Heart is an intoxicating read – brilliantly conceived and superbly crafted.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I grew up in Tasmania, which is currently known by its indigenous name of lutruwita, and much of my writing reflects my place of origin. I now live in central Victoria, on unceded Dja Dja Wurrung land. My new book Love Letter to Lola is a collection of short stories, several of which are set in lutruwita.
My first book Dimitra was published in 1976, and my memoir Telltale was published in 2022. In 2022 the University of Tasmania awarded me an Honorary Doctorate of Letters, and in 2016 I received the Patrick White Award for Literature.
0 Comments