Publisher's Synopsis
ANTAL SZERBÆs version of the well-known story of Marie AntoinetteÆs necklace is both novel and surprising, though consistent with the gently ironical tone of his novels. Stopping just short of the French Revolution itself, he examines the many and diverse elements that contributed to it, while celebrating aspects of the age few historians ever consider. At once massively erudite and delightfully informal, this intensely personal work was also a remarkable gesture of defiance against the brutal world in which it was written.
