Synopses & Reviews
At once symbol and embodiment of feminine and national independence, Princess Cristina Belgiojoso was one of the most singular and celebrated figures of the nineteenth century. Social reformer, political activist, journalist, and historian, she was also the "Romantic Muse" a woman whose unearthly beauty obseesed the many artists who frequented her Paris salon.
Review
"This is more than a summing-up before the jury of history. Rather, it is a compelling story on its own, evoking this marvelous figure against a backdrop of one of the most exciting periods of European history....Through her painstaking research, Brombert has filled out the lives of many prominent writers and artists whose biographers have glossed over Cristina's presence....Cristina was above all a talented, capable, complex women whose neglect ends with this engrossing and just biography." Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times
Review
"Like all first-rate historians, Brombert searches for more than the who, what, where, and when of her subject's life. She wants to discover why Cristina's impact on her contemporaries was so great, and why she was deliberately obscured by later historians....This is an eloquent, exciting book. Brombert has recreated Princess Belgiojoso and her world so that both find a new and more visible place in history." Marcie Hershman, Boston Globe