Perhaps the producer felt a male narrator would be better for this story. I can think of a dozen narrators who would have been more appropriate, inculding the wonderful women who read Koen's Dark Angels and Through a Glass Darkly. He has a flat voice and dry style fit for reading hard-boiled mysteries, not a historical novel that takes place in the elegance of Louis XIV's world. But when I first began the audiobook, I was physically startled by the extremely mismatched reader. She takes such care with her work that, unlike Philippa Gregory, she takes 4-5 years to complete a novel-no turning out formulaic pap for her! Her latest novel is a wonderful story set in the whirl of the French court. Meticulously researched and brought vividly to life by the gorgeous prose of Karleen Koen, Before Versailles dares to explore the forces that shaped an iconic king and determined the fate of an empire. He must face what he is willing to sacrifice for love.īut there are other problems lurking outside the chateau of Fontainebleau: a boy in an iron mask has been seen in the woods, and the king’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, has proven more powerful than Louis ever thought-a man who could make a great ally or become a dangerous foe. As the love affair between Louis and Princess Henriette burns, it sets the kingdom on the road to unmistakable scandal and conflict with the Vatican. He’s still a young man, but one who, as king, willfully takes everything he can get-including his brother’s wife.

But what was he like as a young man-the man before Versailles?Īfter the death of his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, 22-year-old Louis steps in to govern France. Louis XIV is one of the best-known monarchs ever to grace the French throne.

Dark angels by karleen koen