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Lordy I love it when a book surpasses my expectations!

This was such a wonderful story about a truly fabulous woman that actually existed - and I mean really lived, to the true meaning of the word - in France during the reign of the Sun king.

And I don't exaggerate that she was fabulous!

She was a rare, one of a kind person that comes into the world and burns it up.

A precocious child that was raised as a boy, learned to fence and quickly learned that in order to be more than a whipping post for her drunken father, she was going to have to take matters into her own hands. She set herself on a path of infamy that ultimately lead to becoming a renown opera singer who was coveted by all who saw her - male and female. She was certainly a woman before her time.

The book is set up in a wonderful way - our introduction to her is through her alone, both by her words and her memories. I loved the singular repartee, as she confesses her 'sins' to an unknown religious figure who we are only introduced to via her wicked tongue! The banter between the memories of her life is equal to her reckless abandon she obviously lived her life by. It was a pleasure to read.

Highly recommended!