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Book 3 in the Mistresses of Versailles Trilogy by

Sally Christie

The Enemies of Versailles

(historical fiction) Release date: March 21, 2017 at Atria Books/Simon & Schuster 416 pages ISBN: 978-1501103025

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SYNOPSIS

In the final installment of Sally Christie’s “tantalizing” (New York Daily News) Mistresses of Versailles trilogy, Jeanne Becu, a woman of astounding beauty but humble birth, works her way from the grimy back streets of Paris to the palace of Versailles, where the aging King Louis XV has become a jaded and bitter old philanderer. Jeanne bursts into his life and, as the Comtesse du Barry, quickly becomes his official mistress. “That beastly bourgeois Pompadour was one thing; a common prostitute is quite another kettle of fish.” After decades of suffering the King’s endless stream of Royal Favorites, the princesses of the Court have reached a breaking point. Horrified that he would bring the lowborn Comtesse du Barry into the hallowed halls of Versailles, Louis XV’s daughters, led by the indomitable Madame Adelaide, vow eternal enmity and enlist the young dauphiness Marie Antoinette in their fight against the new mistress. But as tensions rise and the French Revolution draws closer, a prostitute in the palace soon becomes the least of the nobility’s concerns. Told in Christie’s witty and engaging style, the final book in The Mistresses of Versailles trilogy will delight and entrance fans as it once again brings to life the sumptuous and cruel world of eighteenth century Versailles, and France as it approaches irrevocable change.

About the Author

Sally Christie is the author of The Sisters of Versailles and The Rivals of Versailles. She was born in England and grew up around the world, attending eight schools in three different languages. She spent most of her career working in international development and currently lives in Toronto. Learn more her Versailles trilogy on her website Become a fan to hear about her next novels!

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GUEST POST BY SALLY CHRIST

One always wonders what amazing bits of information authors come across during their research. Sally Christie shares with us one of the stranger things she discovered during her research for The Enemies of Versailles.

Merkins, Oh My!

When writing historical fiction, the best part about the research process is the funny and often quirky anecdotes that you uncover. While researching The Enemies of Versailles, I had to deep dive into the seedy underworld of Paris vice, as that was the world that Jeanne, the eventual Comtesse du Barry and Louis XV’s last mistress, came from. Before coming to the king’s attention, Jeanne was a casual courtesan, pimped out by her lover, the Comte du Barry, a minor noble who ran a gambling hall where he entertained some of the Versailles high aristocrats who also became Jeanne’s clients / lovers.

While researching that world, I discovered that merkins – those little pubic wigs – were quite popular in the 18th century. Syphilis was rampant in 18th century France and one of the side effects was baldness, including baldness “down there”. Apparently prostitutes used the merkin to avoid showing the symptoms of the deadly disease and keep their business going. Yikes.

In 18th century Paris, if you had the money, you could indulge any of your fetishes or desires, no matter how debauched or technically illegal. I gave one of my characters a fetish for pubic hair and took the idea of the merkin one step further: he was collecting the pubic hair of his many (syphilis-free, one presumes) lovers, in order to make a wig out of the combined hairs! I wonder what that should be called?

Thanks Sally Christie! Now there's some trivia to bust out at the next party!

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