I’ve lost track of how many books and authors I’ve reviewed and written about. I’ve regularly published reviews since 2009, so it’s been more than 15 years of that. I was standing in our book room cum library the other day, looked at the double rows and layers of books, and thought to myself that I really, really need to sort it out. And realized that, my goodness, I’ve read all the books in there (except for the Geology and Geostatistics handbooks) and reviewed them. So, perhaps I can be forgiven for having occasionally misjudged a novel or an author.
Some books age well, others get worse on the second, third and fourth reading. Some books I reread every few years, and still love them. Others are best weeded out and put into the box for the Got-Junk people to take away. Which brings me to a lapse in judgement: the historical romance series of novels, Angélique, by the French authors Serge (1903 – 1972) and Anne Golon (1921 – 2017), who are jointly credited as Sergeanne Golon.
An undeserved reputation
Angélique is a series of thirteen historical adventure romance novels, originally published from 1957 to 1985. Six of the bestselling books have been adapted into feature films, several have been made into theatre productions, etc. Ten of the thirteen books have been translated into English. The first novel Angélique: Marquise of the Angels (Angélique, marquise des anges) was published in 1957; the last one, not translated into English, is La Victoire d’Angélique (1985).
Serge Golon did the research, and Anne Golon did the writing. The cover illustrations of the Pan editions do not do the novels any favours. Yikes.
The heroine of the novels is “Angélique Sancé de Monteloup”, a 17th-century woman born into the provincial aristocracy in the west of France. The period in which the novels are set is filled with historical drama and fascinating personages. During the reign of King Louis XIV, certain women were able to exert extraordinary influence in politics and society – an historical detail that Sergeanne Golon utilizes to the max in the novels. So, “Angélique” is the most sensual, most intelligent, most beautiful, most devious, most…well, everything, that a woman can be. She is irresistible to the Sun King.
Screenshots from the film, Angelique – The Road to Versailles, starring Michele Mercier in the title role. Just check out the makeup!
Angélique – everywoman and superwoman
Like the character of “James Bond” is almost indistinquishable from whoever portrays him on screen, the character of “Angélique (Sancé de Monteloup du Plessis Belliére, Comtesse de Peyrac)” – there’s a mouthful – has become permanently associated with the gorgeous French actress, Michele Mercier. In the films, she looks consistently luscious, though, in the 17th century, beauty standards were not the same as they were in the 1960s, when the first film was made. Makeup definitely wasn’t.
In all the films, Michele Mercier wears eyelashes that are so thick that they look like caterpillars, with cat’s eye eyeliner, and thick blue eye-shadow, and cherry-red, glossy lips. Her hair has been permed, teased, blowdried and sprayed so hard that it looks like a helmet, and not even the bodice-wearing ladies of the King’s court would’ve displayed their bosom so provocatively. She sighs, flaunts, melts, sways, oozes nonchalance under fluttering lashes, and flashes those eyes with violent rage.
Robert Hossein, who portrays her husband, the ill-fated, heroic “Jeoffrey de Peyrac (Jeoffrey Comte de Peyrac de Morens, Lord of Toulouse)”, played his role with the largest, most obviously plastic scar on his face that I’ve ever seen. (Heath Ledger as the scarred Joker? Not a patch on that slash.) He was, nevertheless, ridiculously attractive. (Sadly, he dies at the stake in book #1.)
Check out that scar! But what a fine-looking man Robert Hossein was.
Re-reading the novel
One can be forgiven for becoming hooked on the films and forgetting the novels. I really put them out of my mind as stupid pulp fiction. I now admit, I was wrong. I have learned that the disregard that many book lovers, including me, have for popular fiction, is misplaced. Some books are bestsellers and get reprinted time and again because they are well written.
I found my ragged copy of Angélique – The Road to Versailles, when I was looking for something else. I read a few chapters and realized that the writing is good; the characterization is rounded and interesting; the depiction of historical events is authentic; the plot is gripping and – surprise! – it is subtle. The author’s voice is nuanced. Angélique is beautiful but she is not merely a sex object. She is composite of many attributes.
A heroine for today’s world
Sergeanne Golon combines many good and bad characteristics in Angélique. She becomes a woman with modern-sounding values and thinking. She would not be out of place in the world today. However, when you critique a novel of this age, your must not use today’s norms and standards. The novels were written at and for a certain time, and for the readers of those decades. And at the time, they were very popular.
The character of Angélique is not one-sided, nor is she mostly a good person. She holds a grudge. She takes revenge. She pities herself and goes into a mindless limbo. She uses, without the least qualms, her looks to her advantage, using sex as a weapon. She kills without remorse when her children are threatened. The character is an interesting amalgamation, and the other dominant characters in the novel are also rounded.
Anne Golon depicts Angélique’s thought processes in detail, and the reader can observe, moment by moment, the workings of her mind. In short, it is very good writing. It’s not sophisticated or lyrical, but the emotional impact hits hard. Here is the passage that made me think again about the literary value of her novels:
Angélique brings her small son, Florimond, whom she has rescued from kidnappers and slavers, to a doctor. Florimond has not made a sound since his rescue:
"What is the matter with him?" "Nothing. He must eat; very little to begin with. Later, he must eat as much as he can. Perhaps that will put some flesh on his bones. How old was he when you left him?" "Twenty months, not quite two years old." "It's a bad age for learning to suffer want and pain," said Big Matthieu, musingly. "It's better to get to know it at once, at birth - or else later. But for those little ones who are beginning to take a look at life, suffering shouldn't jump at them too suddenly with cruel surprise."
Angélique raised towards Big Matthieu eyes lustrous with unshed tears. She was wondering how this vulgar, bellowing brute could know such subtle things.
Henceforth, in the Tower of Nestle, everybody tried their best to make Florimond smile. But Florimond was frightened and hid his eyes.
The honour of bringing this miracle about came to Thibault the hurdy-gurdy man. One day, the old man began to play the song of 'The Green Mill'. Angélique, who was holding little Florimond on her knees, felt him start with a quiver. He lifted his eyes to her. His mouth trembled, revealed his tiny teeth, as small as rice-corns. And in a small, low, far-away voice he said: "Maman!"
Abbreviated from: Angélique – The Road to Versailles, by Sergeanne Golon (Pan Books, 1968, pp. 109-110)
Now, look – if you couldn’t just picture that moment and feel a lump in your throat, you must have a heart of stone. Oh, the poor child, with his small little voice, and all he can say is “Mama”. After all that trauma, the song connects him to his mother again, and he recognizes her.
There you have it. Now, go do yourself a favour and re-read some of those old but good novels that you haven’t touched in years. Who knows what pleasures you may discover?
SEVEN CIRCUMSTANCES 
I’ve lost track of how many books and authors I’ve reviewed and written about. I’ve regularly published reviews since 2009, so it’s been more than 15 years of that. I was standing in our book room cum library the other day, looked at the double rows and layers of books, and thought to myself that I really, really need to sort it out. And realized that, my goodness, I’ve read all the books in there (except for the Geology and Geostatistics handbooks) and reviewed them. So, perhaps I can be forgiven for having occasionally misjudged a novel or an author.
Some books age well, others get worse on the second, third and fourth reading. Some books I reread every few years, and still love them. Others are best weeded out and put into the box for the Got-Junk people to take away. Which brings me to a lapse in judgement: the historical romance series of novels, Angélique, by the French authors Serge (1903 – 1972) and Anne Golon (1921 – 2017), who are jointly credited as Sergeanne Golon.
An undeserved reputation
Angélique is a series of thirteen historical adventure romance novels, originally published from 1957 to 1985. Six of the bestselling books have been adapted into feature films, several have been made into theatre productions, etc. Ten of the thirteen books have been translated into English. The first novel Angélique: Marquise of the Angels (Angélique, marquise des anges) was published in 1957; the last one, not translated into English, is La Victoire d’Angélique (1985).
The heroine of the novels is “Angélique Sancé de Monteloup”, a 17th-century woman born into the provincial aristocracy in the west of France. The period in which the novels are set is filled with historical drama and fascinating personages. During the reign of King Louis XIV, certain women were able to exert extraordinary influence in politics and society – an historical detail that Sergeanne Golon utilizes to the max in the novels. So, “Angélique” is the most sensual, most intelligent, most beautiful, most devious, most…well, everything, that a woman can be. She is irresistible to the Sun King.
Angélique – everywoman and superwoman
Like the character of “James Bond” is almost indistinquishable from whoever portrays him on screen, the character of “Angélique (Sancé de Monteloup du Plessis Belliére, Comtesse de Peyrac)” – there’s a mouthful – has become permanently associated with the gorgeous French actress, Michele Mercier. In the films, she looks consistently luscious, though, in the 17th century, beauty standards were not the same as they were in the 1960s, when the first film was made. Makeup definitely wasn’t.
In all the films, Michele Mercier wears eyelashes that are so thick that they look like caterpillars, with cat’s eye eyeliner, and thick blue eye-shadow, and cherry-red, glossy lips. Her hair has been permed, teased, blowdried and sprayed so hard that it looks like a helmet, and not even the bodice-wearing ladies of the King’s court would’ve displayed their bosom so provocatively. She sighs, flaunts, melts, sways, oozes nonchalance under fluttering lashes, and flashes those eyes with violent rage.
Robert Hossein, who portrays her husband, the ill-fated, heroic “Jeoffrey de Peyrac (Jeoffrey Comte de Peyrac de Morens, Lord of Toulouse)”, played his role with the largest, most obviously plastic scar on his face that I’ve ever seen. (Heath Ledger as the scarred Joker? Not a patch on that slash.) He was, nevertheless, ridiculously attractive. (Sadly, he dies at the stake in book #1.)
Re-reading the novel
One can be forgiven for becoming hooked on the films and forgetting the novels. I really put them out of my mind as stupid pulp fiction. I now admit, I was wrong. I have learned that the disregard that many book lovers, including me, have for popular fiction, is misplaced. Some books are bestsellers and get reprinted time and again because they are well written.
I found my ragged copy of Angélique – The Road to Versailles, when I was looking for something else. I read a few chapters and realized that the writing is good; the characterization is rounded and interesting; the depiction of historical events is authentic; the plot is gripping and – surprise! – it is subtle. The author’s voice is nuanced. Angélique is beautiful but she is not merely a sex object. She is composite of many attributes.
A heroine for today’s world
Sergeanne Golon combines many good and bad characteristics in Angélique. She becomes a woman with modern-sounding values and thinking. She would not be out of place in the world today. However, when you critique a novel of this age, your must not use today’s norms and standards. The novels were written at and for a certain time, and for the readers of those decades. And at the time, they were very popular.
The character of Angélique is not one-sided, nor is she mostly a good person. She holds a grudge. She takes revenge. She pities herself and goes into a mindless limbo. She uses, without the least qualms, her looks to her advantage, using sex as a weapon. She kills without remorse when her children are threatened. The character is an interesting amalgamation, and the other dominant characters in the novel are also rounded.
Anne Golon depicts Angélique’s thought processes in detail, and the reader can observe, moment by moment, the workings of her mind. In short, it is very good writing. It’s not sophisticated or lyrical, but the emotional impact hits hard. Here is the passage that made me think again about the literary value of her novels:
Angélique brings her small son, Florimond, whom she has rescued from kidnappers and slavers, to a doctor. Florimond has not made a sound since his rescue:
Abbreviated from: Angélique – The Road to Versailles, by Sergeanne Golon (Pan Books, 1968, pp. 109-110)
Now, look – if you couldn’t just picture that moment and feel a lump in your throat, you must have a heart of stone. Oh, the poor child, with his small little voice, and all he can say is “Mama”. After all that trauma, the song connects him to his mother again, and he recognizes her.
There you have it. Now, go do yourself a favour and re-read some of those old but good novels that you haven’t touched in years. Who knows what pleasures you may discover?
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