Désirée by Annemarie Selinko. H/C. 520 pp. 400gm 1954

Published in 1954 by William Heinemann. A world-wide bestseller translated from French and based on real historical events. Dust jacket torn at edges. Some foxing and marks on front and back endpapers, but inner pages in good condition with sturdy binding.

Désirée is the story of a silk manufacturers daughter who became the fiancée of Napoleon the wife of one of his greatest soldiers the crowned queen of Sweden and the founder of a royal dynasty. When Josephine stole Napoleon from her, Désirée tried to drown herself in the Seine. She was saved by Bernadotte, the Republican sergeant who became a general, who married her. This is the story of their love, their loyalty, and their honesty. It shows why Sweden trusted them to become the successors to an effete monarchy, and why both of them succeeded in their high mission.