Queen of Exiles

In 1810 Marie Louise Christophe and her husband Henry Christophe I are crowned Haiti’s first king and queen of the island nation of Haiti after the brutal revolution freeing it from French rule. A rule that should have lasted to this day doesn’t, as Henry descends into madness as Marie tries to keep things together. In 1829 Henry dies by suicide, Marie and Henry’s sons are assassinated and Marie and her daughters have to flee for their lives to Europe. The book covers their time in Haiti and then England and Italy after the downfall.

Pros

I had no idea that there was ever a King and Queen of Haiti. It’s a shame that the very first rulers of Haiti were also the nations last. It makes you wonder if they were able to stay in power what Haiti would be like today?

Cons

While the history was fascinating, unfortunately the pacing in the story felt off and felt very long winded. It also can confuse people with the constant jumping between different time lines going from 1811 to 1820 to 1847.

Overall

Overall the history was fascinating but the writing and the pacing could have been done better. Perhaps with more editing I would have ended up loving it instead of going, “Meh.” I might like Vanessa Riley’s other books so I’m not ready to give up yet. Regardless I appreciate the effort, because it’s nice that authors are writing about either lesser known royals or royals that aren’t done enough instead of the umpteenth book about The Tudors. If you’re interested in royal history and historical fiction preorder Queen of Exiles coming out on July 11^th. I’m very grateful to the publisher who mailed me an early copy.