Used book – Les premiers feux du plaisir, Gérard Montassier

In the heart of the Grand Siècle, between Richelieu and Louis XIV, the Fronde swept through French society. Three women tell us about these tumultuous episodes. One is consumed by political ambition, the other is intoxicated by love as much as by rebellion. The third, coming later, reflects on these epic years, when the great feudal lords' struggle against absolutism was also a quest for a new morality of Power and Happiness. Retz, Condé, Mazarin, Anne of Austria and many others come alive in a feverish, colorful Paris, whether popular or aristocratic. Three women's destinies measure themselves against History... Slipping into the shoes of these elegant she-devils, merging fragments of Memoirs, Gérard Montassier achieves a fascinating reconstruction.