The Accidental Empress (78 page)

Authors: Allison Pataki

BOOK: The Accidental Empress

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To the veteran authors for whom I have such deep admiration and appreciation, your support means more than you know: Mary Higgins Clark, Philippa Gregory, Lee Woodruff, Michelle Moran, and Aidan Donnelley Rowley.

And to the treasured network of lifelong friends who have inspired me, encouraged me around blind corners and through very rough drafts, and shared in the highs and lows: thank you to Marya Myers, Charlotte Lamb, Margaret Hunter, Cristina Corbin, Ali Reed, Cristina Scudder, Kasdin Mitchell, Liz Steinberg, Jackie Carter, Emily Shuey, Dana Schuster, Shannon Farrell, Alyssa Oakley, Cornelia Kelly, Dede Philbrick-Wheaton, Katey McGarr, Blair Golden, Ashley Eklund, Lizzie Garvey, Carrie Wuellner, and so many others.

And last but furthest from least, to my family of siblings, parents, in-laws, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, etc.—I love all five hundred of you. Dave, you inspire me every day. Thank you for speaking my language. Thank you for supporting me and being on this great adventure with me. Here’s to stepping into our next decade together, hand in hand.

Mom and Dad, the only reason I even know about Sisi is because you took our family on enriching trips and instilled in us the importance of studying history, asking questions, and pursuing our passions. Dad, you are the consummate dreamer. I admire your wisdom and your intellectual curiosity, as well as your love for our family. Mom, you are perpetually undaunted. You are the most devoted and dogged cheerleader, and the way you roll up your sleeves and get to work humbles and amazes me.

To my siblings: Owen, Emily and Mike, Teddy and Emled—you guys make life joyful and exciting. And to my second family, Nelson and Louisa and all the Levys: I don’t know how I got so lucky as to win the family lottery not once, but twice. I love you all and am so grateful to call you my own.

Also by
New York Times
bestselling author Allison Pataki

The Traitor's Wife

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READING GROUP GUIDE

The Accidental Empress

A Novel

ALLISON PATAKI

Topics and Questions for Discussion

1.
Though Sisi was often referred to as The Fairy Queen, this is not your typical fairy tale, in which a girl falls in love with a prince and the two of them live happily ever after. Could Sisi and Franz Joseph have had a happy marriage? Why or why not? How does Pataki’s novel take up the notion of “happily ever after” as it relates to the lives and marriages of the novel’s characters?

2.
When Sophie learns of her son’s intention to marry Sisi, the archduchess has this to say:
“She is not fit. It is as simple as that. She is too young—a child really, too giddy. Unable to fulfill the role and all of its obligations”
. What was it about Sisi that made her, in Sophie’s eyes, “not fit” for the role of empress and wife? Was Sophie at all correct? Why did Sophie prefer that her son marry Helene?

3.
As eager as she is to marry Franz Joseph, Sisi
quickly becomes overwhelmed and intimidated by the amount of work that goes into preparing for her new role as empress
. How would you feel in Sisi’s situation? Would you be excited to undergo such an extreme transformation?

4.
On their wedding day, Franz Joseph turns to Sisi and says: “Repräsentazions-pflicht.
Keeping up the front. That’s what this is. We play our roles today
.” In what ways does Sisi resist this requirement of life at the Habsburg Court? Why does this job requirement bother Franz Joseph less? Would Sisi’s life have been easier if she had just accepted “how things are done,” as Sophie and Franz Joseph so often urge her to?

5.
While Sisi bristles at many of the customs and rules of her new life at the Habsburg Court, perhaps nothing upsets her more in her first few days than when she discovers that Sophie has had her red slippers thrown away. Discuss
this moment
. Why do these “tattered red slippers” matter so much to Sisi? What other moments were difficult for Sisi in her adjustment to life at court?

6.
Consider the character of Ludovika. What does the duchess’s presence at court mean to Sisi? Discuss the various mother figures in the novel. How does Sisi’s relationship with her mother compare to her relationships with her own daughters?

7.
What is the most difficult aspect of Sisi’s life as empress?

8.
Franz Joseph often finds himself in the middle of the conflicts between Sisi and Sophie. How does he do at navigating the tense dynamic? What might he have done differently? Were you in any way sympathetic to Franz Joseph, with the various pressures he shouldered in his roles as emperor, husband, son, and father?

9.
Sisi feels dislike for Andrássy before she even knows him. How and why does her impression of Andrássy change over the course of the novel? Did your impression of Andrássy change throughout the book?

10.
Throughout the novel, Pataki has chosen to intersperse the chapters with scenes from the Budapest coronation of 1867. Why did the author choose this final scene, in particular, to intersect the rest of the novel? What did this one moment mean for Sisi as empress? As a wife? As a mother? As an individual?

11.
Compare Sisi’s relationship to Andrássy with her relationship to Franz Joseph. How are the two men different? In what ways are they similar? How does Sisi behave differently with each of them?

12.
Sisi grows more and more consumed by her physical appearance as the novel progresses. Discuss this aspect of her personality. Does her beauty regimen become a true obsession, or is it more of a diversion? Does it make Sisi less sympathetic of a character to see her becoming so vain?

13.
Sisi was an avid horseback rider, considered by many to be the best horsewoman in the world during her lifetime. At one point in the novel Sisi tells Andrássy: “
I’ve never found a horse that could run fast enough
”. Discuss what riding means to the character of Sisi throughout the novel. Through what other diversions does Sisi escape?

14.
If you could pick one character from
The Accidental Empress
with whom to spend a day, which character would it be and why?

15.
Consider the two epigraphs at the opening of the novel. Why did the author choose those two quotes? What other quotes are significant throughout the novel?

© TRICIA MCCORMACK

ALLISON PATAKI
is the author of the
New York Times
bestselling and critically acclaimed historical novel
The Traitor’s Wife.
She graduated cum laude from Yale University with a major in English and spent several years writing for TV and online news outlets. The daughter of former New York State governor George E. Pataki, Allison was inspired to write
The Accidental Empress
by her family’s deep roots in Hungary. Allison is the cofounder of the nonprofit organization ReConnect Hungary. She is a regular contributor to
The Huffington Post
and
FoxNews.com
, as well as a member of The Historical Novel Society. Allison lives in Chicago with her husband. To learn more and connect with Allison visit
www.AllisonPataki.com
.