A Woman of Two Worlds: Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte

About this book

Alexandra Deutsch literally unpacks Elizabeth Patterson Bonapartes personal belongings in this intuitively sophisticated material culture biography of the woman whose seductive beauty and tragic marriage repeatedly pulls us back for another look and ideally a deeper understanding of the person behind the celebrity. In addition to letters and portraits Deutsch found bits of the story in previously overlooked objects in the vast Bonaparte family collections. Long overlooked textile scraps for example tell rich stories of forgiveness gifts from Jerome to Elizabeth. A lone red account book contains a record of her finances yet turned 180 degrees reads like a journal providing some of the most powerful evidence of Elizabeths internal struggles during the French trial over her sons legitimacy. The volume is likely one of the five in which she recorded a skeleton of a memoir. Deutsch pays equal attention to the lives of Elizabeths son Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte Bo and grandsons Jerome Jr. and Charles deftly exploring how the members of these next generations defined and perpetuated their royal heritage through material possessions. This work truly expands Elizabeth Patterson Bonapartes story beyond the msalliance with Napoleons younger brother and reveals the complex life of a romantic and rebellious young woman whose deep hurt drove her to the courts of Europe and who ultimately found comfort and satisfaction in her hard-won financial independence. In this well-balanced and exceptionally sensitive work Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte finally breathes.