The Magnificent Lies of Madeleine Béjart - by Richard Goodkin

Book Synopsis

The Magnificent Lies of Madeleine Béjart transports readers to 17th-century France, a time when the stage was as full of intrigue as the lives of those who performed on it.

At the heart of this richly imagined historical novel is Madeleine Béjart--a bold, ambitious actress and theatre director navigating the world of French theater alongside legends like Molière, Pierre and Thomas Corneille, and Tristan L'Hermite. Richard Goodkin masterfully weaves history with a tale of ambition, love, and deception. From tangled family ties and secret romances to hidden pregnancies and the ruthless pursuit of artistic success, Madeleine's life is as dramatic as the plays she brings to life.

Originally written in French and now available in English for the first time, The Magnificent Lies of Madeleine Béjart is a compelling portrait of a woman ahead of her time--one who shaped the world of theatre while carefully crafting her own myth.

About the Author

Richard Goodkin is a professor of French at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has published five monographs on seventeenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century French literature and a historical novel, written in French, about Molière's mistress and collaborator, Madeleine Béjart.