Davis, Kathryn. Versailles.

Little, Brown, Back Bay. 206p. c2002. 0-316-73761-5. $13.95. SA

The narration in this short historical novel switches from first person (Marie Antoinette) to third person. Occasional chapters are written in the form of the script of a play, including set and stage directions and dialogue, which break up the flow of the story. Beginning with the 14-year-old's trip from Austria to marry the young Louis of France, it ends with her ascent to the guillotine. Most of the action takes place at Versailles, with the chateau taking on the role of an important character, as important as any of the people portrayed.

The reader is given historical facts pertaining to not only the people and events, but also the palace and its grounds. In fact, many of the chapter headings refer to rooms and features of Versailles. Antoinette is portrayed as mostly faithful to Louis, a gambler and a spender, and hated by the French because of her Austrian birth. Because of its wonderful and varied voice, and the foreshadowing of the French Revolution in many of the scenes, history and English teachers will be able to use this piece of literature as a complement to a study of this historical period. Readers will need some historical background to understand the significance of many events described, and so this is not a book that will develop much of an audience for leisure reading. However, it is a fast read with depth and multidimensional characters, especially Marie Antoinette and the opulent Versailles. Shelley Glantz, Sante Fe, NM