Perhaps the most successful historical romance since GONE WITH THE WIND, DESIREE is the bestselling novel of Napoleon's first love.All the passions and intrigues of Bonaparte's court are seen through the eyes of a silk merchant's daughter from Marseilles, a young woman who became Napoleon's fianc e and, ultimately, the Queen of Sweden.'An astonishing story told with verve and a swift, fluent and deeply feminine charm. The Napoleonic background is vivid and accurate' Evening StandardFirst published in 1953.