Aurore is the first part of a series about the famous Koenigsmark family. Once again, Juliette Benzoni has succeeded in combining solid historical documentation with intrigue, adventure and suspense to make this a most delightful read.

 

On the night of 1 to 2 July, Count Philippe-Christophe de Koenigsmark left his Hanover home without a trace...

Warned by a strange and all too brief note signed by Philip's secretary, his younger sister Aurore, who was staying at the family castle not far from Hamburg, feared the worst. But she rejects the idea of a fatal outcome. She knew nothing, however, having been his confidante, of the passionate affair between her brother and Princess Sophie-Dorothée, who was unhappily married to the heir of Hanover, who was to become George I of England.
 

Aurore will do everything in her power to find her beloved brother, even putting her own life at risk. But as her investigation progresses, the mystery seems to deepen. She appeals to all the German princes, and to a part of Europe. Only one will make a move: the Elector of Saxony, Frederick Augustus. He was Philip's friend, and with him Aurore was to experience a mad passion that would leave a deep mark on history.

From the bleak plains of northern Germany to the opulence of Saxony, from the sinister marshes of Ahleden, where a captive princess lies languishing, to the mountains of the Harz, Aurore de Koenigsmark tries to reconcile her stubborn quest with her all-too-great love. In her hour of greatest distress, she finally learns the cruel truth...
 

For years, Aurore de Koenigsmark hid her son Maurice from the vindictiveness of Minister Flemming by having him transported from town to town outside Saxony. Having herself become canoness of Quedlinburg, she had to entrust him to tutors and valets, while she devoted herself to what had become her life's goal: to have him recognised by the Polish King Augustus II - the former Elector Frederick Augustus of Saxony - as her son. A bastard, of course, but allowed to call himself Maurice of Saxony. To achieve this, she silenced her love and became the friend, confidante and even secret ambassador of her former lover.

And she will win. But her revenge on life will come from France. And how dazzling! For this child, who was often estranged from her, weaned on love, carried within him a true military genius. From the age of thirteen, he embarked on a fantastic career that would make this too-young Saxon infantryman first a Count of Saxony, then a Marshal of France and saviour of his country - for France had become his adopted homeland, the hero of Fontenoy, where Louis XV himself would do his bidding, and finally the king of the sublime Chambord with the rights of a sovereign prince, and the organiser of the marriage of his niece Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, whose children would be called Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X. ..

A life led at full gallop by an irresistible man, sowing the seeds of feminine adventures that sometimes turned out to be passions. Like the almost legendary love affair he had with the great Adrienne Lecouvreur. Like the princely adventure that made his death a mystery...



♣ to Marie-Claire Pauwels  « whose pretty grandmother was so 'kind' to the Marshal that she is a distant cousin of George Sand » 

The first cover of Édition Perrin's "Aurore" with the error in the name of Koenigsmark...! Watch out for the accent on the letter E in Koënigsmark...
And that's not the end of the curiosities: for the next volume from Perrin, another young woman was also chosen for the cover.

(On the reverse of the Cover, we read « Portrait of a young woman, known as the Countess of Koenigsmark» , workshop of Gerrit Van Honthorst, 17th century.

♣ In all successive publications by Édition Perrin and other publishers, the name has been written in the correct version.



* Editions by Pocket 2008

Synopsis by Pocket : 1. Aurore

When Aurore learns of her brother's disappearance, she realises that the Kœnigsmark family's destiny has taken a new turn. Listening only to her heart, she decides to do everything in her power to find Philippe, whom she refuses to believe dead until she has proof. On the verge of despair, she appeals to the German and European princes, but although they all sympathise, only the Elector of Saxony will respond to her request, in memory of his friendship with Philip. In searching for this missing brother, Aurore is now writing her own story, that of an impetuous and passionate young girl. For the Königsmark's have only one weakness: love...

* But... however, Pocket kept the suspense going and once again spelt the name differently with a ligature œ "Kœnigsmark" for its editions. !  



The France Loisirs Editions 2007



The Large Print VDB Editions 2007



Impressions of the Kindle editions of Perrin 2013

♣ A story of adventurous princes, daring women, mystery, love and blood: that of the tumultuous Koenigsmark family, between Sweden, Germany, Poland and France.

♣The saga has also been translated in the following countries : 



The Hungarian Editions



The Portugal Editions


 
The Russian Editions

 

♣ Audio MP3 :

Le Sang des Koenigsmark : 1. Aurore 2. Le fils de l'Aurore

♣ Acknowledgement note by Juliette Benzoni

Fils de l'Aurore 2007
in the Series Le sang des Koenigsmark 1. Aurore 2. Fils de l'Aurore

With special thanks from Juliette BENZONI
I would like to say a big thank you to my editor, Xavier de BARTILLAT, and his assistant, Judith BECQUERIAUX, who did their utmost to plug the holes in my documentation caused by the fire in my library.

To my friend Vincent MEYLAN, who is a veritable goldmine of information on royal families past and present, and on the jewels of every crown.

Thanks, too, to the historians whose works I used as a basis.

The Duke of Castriens for Maurice de Saxe
Jean-Pierre Bois for Maurice de Saxe
Jacques Castelnau for Le Maréchal de Saxe
Charles.Armand Klein for Chambord, showcase for the follies of the Maréchal de Saxe
André Castelot for Les Grandes Heures des châteaux et cités de la Loire (The Great Hours of the Loire Valley Castles and Towns)
Paul Morand for Ci-gît Sophie-Dorothée de Celle
Evelyne Lever for Madame de Pompadour
Jean-Christian Petitfils for The Regent
Philippe Erlanger for Le Régent
Henri Troyat for Terribles tsarines
Pierre Gaxotte for The Century of Louis XV
Alfred Fierro and Jean-Yves Sarrazin for Le Paris des Lumières d'après le plan de Turgot.
The city of Quedlinburg, which kindly sent photographs.
And finally, an astonishing writer :

Baron Adrien de Tricornot, Lieutenant-Colonel of Schomberg-Dragons, whose Memoirs, virtually unknown because only a few copies were printed for the family, enabled me to offer my readers a picturesque 'report' on the transfer of the Marshal of Saxony's ashes, and make their author the 'undisputed ancestor of tourist guides'. He even goes so far as to indicate the distances between his various points of passage throughout his Memoirs.



♣ Juliette Benzoni's appearance on Patrick Poivre d'Arvor's programme « Vol de Nuit » on 18 June 2007, to mark the release of her saga: Le sang des Koenigsmark "Fils de l'Aurore", with guests including Marc Lévy, Yann Quéffelec, Maxime Chattam, Catherine Rambert, Jean-Marc Parisis and Alix de Saint-André.



The above photos shows us Juliette Benzoni in the television programm Vol de Nuit télévision France 1

 

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