A second daughter, Princess Auguste, was born in April of 1875. In January 1874, Gisela gave birth to Princess Elisabeth Marie. Sisi's eldest surviving child, Archduchess Gisela of Austria married Prince Leopold of Bavaria in 1873. 'But you are superior to me in this way as in every other.

We stand alone on the World Stage, dear Elizabeth.’ Victoria was at her most gracious. Questions in the accuracy of Goodwin's work arose when I noticed the only resource she cites is the less than faithfully adapted 1977 ballet, Mayerling, but I became genuinely concerned in chapter twenty-nine, The Widow of Windsor, when the Empress and Queen Victoria shared a spirited exchange of veiled insinuations. Personally I found the Empress the weakest point in Goodwin's exaggerated triangle and even after finishing the book can't claim to understand what the author was trying say with her character. More important though, was the fact that I felt genuine affection between the younger couple and never considered Elisabeth a threat to their happiness. Paired with the jacket description I anticipated a story that would center on Elisabeth and was shocked to discover her character featured less prominently than her dashing cavalry captain and his devoted fiancée. The cover art features a woman clearly meant to represent the Empress against a night sky augmented with the star jewels made famous in Winterhalter's 1865 portrait. Unfortunately, I don't feel these strengths outweighed the weaknesses I noted in the novel's tone, structure and accuracy.

I think Miss Baird's passion for photography a stroke of genius and I loved watching the whirlwind of emotional drama inflicted on poor Middleton. Looking back on The Fortune Hunter, I can't deny a certain admiration for Goodwin's portrayal of Bay, Charlotte, Caspar, Queen Victoria, John Brown, Augusta, Fred, Chicken and even the unfortunate Major Postlewaite. So what happened? How did a piece that generated so much initial enthusiasm garner a paltry two star rating? I'll be happy to explain, but you might want to make yourself comfortable and I urge you to proceed with caution as illustrating my opinion requires references that may spoil your experience with the novel. I’m not exaggerating, there was some pretty embarrassing fangirl-like squealing the day I got my hands on The Fortune Hunter and that is not something I admit lightly. There aren't many novels available to those interested in the nineteeth century Austo-Hugarian Hapsburgs so I was understandably ecstatic to learn that author Daisy Goodwin was fictionalizing a chapter of their complex history.

The Fortune-Hunter by Julia Herbert