synopsis:marguerite is a fine seamstress and asked to travel to russia with others of her choosing to work on gowns for the imperial court. marguerite leaves because her husband/fiance? has been killed, and there is nothing keeping her in france. once in russia, she meets an art dealer, simon and tom, who is married to the woman that she befriended on the way to russia, and who looks A LOT like her dead love. marguerite becomes seamstress to the empress, and takes a lover, who is also catherine's lover. marguerite marries said lover, after she decides that she and tom can never be, and that she doesn't feel that way about simon. what i liked: the setting. it was an interesting time in russian history, full of excesses and extravagances.what i didn't like: the way the story was told. marguerite wasn't a very sympathetic heroine.
Despite the setting -- Russia in the eighteenth century and during the reign of Elisabeth Petrovna, this turned out to be a snoozer. Marguerite travels from Paris to St. Petersburg to design gowns for the Empress, and finds herself bouncing between three suitors, palace intrigue, and lots of clothing. I really wanted to like this one, but the writing is so tepid, and the characters so lifeless that I found myself bored out of my wits. Too bad. Just three stars and not much else. For the longer review, please go here:http://www.epinions.com/review/Rosali...
