Full Description
The Magnificent Lies of Madeleine Béjart transports readers to 17th-century France, a time when the stage was as full of intrigue as the lives of those who performed on it.
At the heart of this richly imagined historical novel is Madeleine Béjart—a bold, ambitious actress and theatre director navigating the world of French theater alongside legends like Molière, Pierre and Thomas Corneille, and Tristan L'Hermite. Richard Goodkin masterfully weaves history with a tale of ambition, love, and deception. From tangled family ties and secret romances to hidden pregnancies and the ruthless pursuit of artistic success, Madeleine's life is as dramatic as the plays she brings to life.
Originally written in French and now available in English for the first time, The Magnificent Lies of Madeleine Béjart is a compelling portrait of a woman ahead of her time—one who shaped the world of theatre while carefully crafting her own myth..
Contents
Author's Preface
PART ONE: WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE
Chapter 1: In Which We Learn of the Salvation or Perdition of Madeleine Béjart, a Poor Misguided Soul
Chapter 2: In Which the Bad Old Days A re Remembered and Paris I s Swept by an Implausible Sea Breeze
Chapter 3: In Which a Kitchen Table and a Family Are Reduced to Ash
Chapter 4: In Which Our Heroine Follows Her Grandfather's Wise Advice and Chooses a Profession
Chapter 5: In Which Our Heroine Loses Something of Great Value and Finds a Person of Great Importance
Chapter 6: In Which a Speech About the Birthing of a Foal Proves Astonishingly Effective
Chapter 7: In Which a Revenant Warrior Distinguishes Himself with Beard and Sword
Chapter 8: In Which the Moon Illuminates the Butt of No Joke
Chapter 9: In Which Stage Fright Is No Match for Love
Chapter 10: In Which Pees and Cues Are Minded and Two Colliding Phalluses Do Not Amuse a Great Lord
Chapter 11: In Which Love Pangs of Various Sorts Rain Down on Our Heroine
Chapter 12: In Which Our Heroine Flees Paris While Pursued by a Manly Eve
Chapter 13: In Which, Amidst Bleating, a Woman Half-Opens Her Heart to a Man Who Half-Closes His
Chapter 14: In Which a Paternity I s Mockingly Invented, Earnestly Falsified, T hen Tearfully Revealed
Chapter 15: In Which Our Heroine Is Knocked Out by a Flying Fish, T hen Rescued by a Passing Tortoise
PART TWO: THE PROMISES OF CHANCE
Chapter 16: In Which a Father Forgets His Recently Delivered Daughter but Himself Delivers Good News
Chapter 17: In Which a River's Waters, Which Flow Past Only Once, Witness a Tender Scene
Chapter 18: In Which a Stolen Kiss Inspires a More Portentous Theft
Chapter 19: In Which Our Heroine Is Given and Refused the Title of Most Beautiful Woman Who Ever Lived
Chapter 20: In Which "A Liar Is Trapped in His Web of Deceit"
Chapter 21: In Which Life Imitates Art and a Seam Is Concealed from a Peeping Thomas
Chapter 22: In Which a Suitor's Burning Love Takes a Lady's Breath Away
Chapter 23: In Which Our Heroine Is Admitted by Her Mother to the Female Liars' Guild
Chapter 24: In Which Two Buttocks Land on a Prison Bench and Two Others Solve a Mystery
Chapter 25: In Which a Gentleman Belatedly—and Mistakenly—Loses His Heart
PART THREE: ARMANDE
Chapter 26: In Which a So-Called Father Approves a Request from His So-Called Daughter
Chapter 27: In Which a Tapestry Is Discovered to be Ripped in an Unseemly Place
Chapter 28: In Which Our Heroine Is Reunited with Three Faux Lovers and Sends the True One Packing
Chapter 29: In Which Implausible Improvisations Beset Brothers and Addle an Actress
Chapter 30: In Which Madeleine Presents Her Most Magnificent Lie
Postscript
