Review originally published at FanLit; reposted here with some more casual commentary.I really can't argue with most of the points in Emma's review, though I enjoyed the experience more than she did. I agree with her that Illusion is a lot more fun. (For a newer take on the period, so is Enchantée.)Years ago, I got into “fantasies of manners” at about the same time as I was going through a big Revolutionary France phase. When I heard about Delia Sherman’s The Porcelain Dove (1993) — a fantasy se...

Have you ever wondered what an epic fantasy quest story owuld be like if told from the perspective of the regular people who got left behind? Yeah, me neither. But apparently someone has, and that was clearly the inspiration for this book. However, it's 95% historical fiction and it just keeps going...and going....and going.... I should have given up a long time ago. Generally if it takes me more than a month to read a book, it's not worth it. But I got halfway through it and felt like I had spe...

The Goodreads blurb claims that this book is "Narrated by the family's chatterbox chambermaid, it is a rich, sinister, and funny novel of romance, sorcery, and aristocracy." I found almost all of these descriptors to be false. The maid's no chatterbox. While the setting may be rich and the plot and some characters sinister, it wasn't at all funny. But most disappointingly it wasn't even that interesting. I kept waiting for the real book to start. And while I was patiently wading through words to...

This mostly reads like a historical novel set in pre-revolutionary France, but fantastical elements slowly creep into the plot. I absolutely adored the main character--I wanted her to be a friend of mine, and I wanted her to figure out why she liked cuddling and kissing her mistress so much. Her unwitting lesbian love is *adorable*.

I liked this book a lot when it was new in the 1980s, but I _loved_ it when I re-read it before I interviewed Delia at a recent convention. Anyone who likes historical detail (especially women's historical detail), France, or thoughtful off-trail fantasy will be very happy.

I can only describe this book as magical realism, but about the first two thirds of it seem to be straightforward historical fiction. Berthe, the narrator, is the devoted lady's maid to Adele de Fourchet, an 18th century upper class French girl whose parents arrange her marriage to an aristocrat, the Duc de Malvoeux. Their lives are spent in a round of expensive and exclusive pleasures: chocolate every morning, new gowns, books, entertaining, and traveling back and forth between Paris and the Du...

Review forthcoming. Re-reading.This books is narrated by the maid of a young girl who is sent off to marry a French nobleman right before the French Revolution. The story follows their marriage and children and what happens to them as a family. There is a curse of sorts, or maybe it is a blessing, but it's magical and separates the family from the world of war.The more I read this book, the more I appreciate the hard work put into it, the imagination and dedication to re-creating a sense of lang...

Back in 18th Century France, just at the cusp of the Revolution, a small but wealthy country estate is hit by a fairy curse - and the few people within are trapped. Immortal, comfortable, all their needs seen to by invisible servitors - but they cannot leave. There's little to do to pass the years but put on plays and amusements, and well, to cultivate the acquaintance of the local ghosts.Berthe, who was once a maid in the house (centuries of being trapped in a small group has done quite a bit t...

I wanted to love this. I never got to the point where I did.

You never know with obscure fantasy novels, especially those written by women, whose works are still too often unjustly ignored. There are some hidden gems out there. (Here, have some recs: Firethorn. The Secrets of Jin-shei. Fudoki.) And then there are the books that are forgotten for good reason. This one falls into the latter category. Unfortunately, it’s so hard to find that I wound up requesting and receiving it as a gift, at which point I felt obliged to read all of its 500+ pages. The Por...

An enchanted tale set during the French Revolution, resonant of Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard, and Sleeping Beauty, and drawing on many more fairy tales. For the most part, this reads as a densely descriptive historical fiction told through the perspective of Berthe Duvet who is the lady's maid to Adele, Marquise de Malvoueux. Names, ranks, hierarchies within the chateau are detailed (and complicated to keep up with at first). Berthe is the traditional lady's maid, devoted and loyal to her lad...

I discovered Delia Sherman through the excellent anthology Fantasy Magazine, October 2014: Women Destroy Fantasy! Special Issue, and though the pacing structure verges on plodding, The Porcelain Dove offers a remarkable glimpse into pre-revolutionary France. Full disclosure: this is an era I normally would have little interest in; the decadence of the "nobility" is already clear enough to make delving into its intricacies seem a bit of a bore. That said, Sherman does a remarkable job enlivening

I generally really like Delia Sherman's writing, but this was not quite what I expected. I don't mind slow-moving novels about court intrigue or aristocratic households, but most of the characters were over-the-top unlikable to me. The narrator is billed as being clever and sharp-tongued, but she struck me mostly as distant and a little cowardly, rarely able to stand up for herself or anybody else, or even to express a strong opinion, even as everything around her dissolved into pandemonium. The...

DNF. Got to 25% and gave up. It's boring and mundane, and I don't care about any of the characters.

Winner of the Mythopoeic Award in 1994, this book is a tour de force of alternative history and light fantasy. It takes the story of a dysfunctional noble family in eighteenth century France through the Revolution bracketed by a four-hundred-year-old family curse as told through the eyes of a chambermaid. The story is richly conveyed with personal details, history, society, and gossip, so much so that the curse is occasionally lost in the telling. However, the telling is superb. I read Through a...

I must admit I'm disappointed in the novel. Which is a shame, as Greer Gilman gave it praise and I absolutely adore her work. Delia Sherman, not so much.Ah, the French Revolution--probably one of the most exciting periods in history and yet...somehow in the magical land that I forget the name of, it's a light sneeze. Originally I thought it was going to be about that, the Revolution, but no. It's some very odd combination of fairytale, which I think I would've enjoyed without the French part, an...

A slightly mad fairy-tale, although, maybe more of a historical fiction/fantasy with a sub plot of peculiar magic. A tale told slowly, (not for everyone hence some of the disgruntled reviews) recreating pre-revolutionary France, in wonderful detail, narrated by the maid devoted to her Duchess. All the magical action is saved for the last quarter of the book, but it's the detailed story and prose that is delightful.

This is a really fun novel that combines elements of 18th century French history, French fairy tales, and magical realism. The narrator is Berthe Duvet, ladies maid to Adele, who becomes Duchess of Malvoeux. Berthe is a wonderful fictional voice, a strong woman who loves her friends, does her job well, suffers, perseveres, never marries, and holds strong loyalty to Adele and the family she marries into. Set against the background of the French Revolution, the Malvoeux family struggle against a c...

In eighteen century France, Berthe Duvet becomes chambermaid to Adèle du Fourchet, later the Duchess of Malvoeux. Centuries later, Berthe tells the story of a curse placed on the Duke's family which drove them all to madness and isolation until the youngest child and only daughter set out, against the backdrop of revolutionary France, to bring back the porcelain dove and break the curse. A lush period piece overlayed by both French society and everpresent magic, The Porcelain Dove is somewhat co...

A delightful novel inspired by and written in the style of the fairy tales of Madame d'Aulnoy. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Susanna Clarke, Sarah Waters, and, of course, Ellen Kushner.