Mistresses and wives, mothers and daughters - Antonia Fraser brilliantly explore
s the relationships which existed between The Sun King and the women in his life
. This includes not only Louis XIV's mistresses, principally Louise de La Vallie
re, Athenais de Montespan, and the puritanical Madame de Maintenon, but also the
wider story of his relationships with women in general, including his mother An
ne of Austria, his two sisters-in-law who were Duchesses d'Orleans in succession
, Henriette-Anne and Liselotte, his wayward illegitimate daughters, and lastly A
delaide, the beloved child-wife of his grandson.
