Marianne tells the story of Marianne d'Asselnat, whose fate—by virtue of her own courageous spirit, coupled with the pull of destiny—became inexorably entangled with that of her native France during the decades when it was responding to Napoleon Bonaparte's vision of its greatness. Born and orphaned in the 1793 Reign of Terror, rescued by a priest and raised in exile in England, Marianne married, only to lose—at one stroke of fate on her wedding night—her love, her fortune, her illusions and even her security. As she flees England; as she is smuggled into Napoleon's 1809 France (at war with England) with a letter of recommendation to Napoleon's Minister of Police, Fouché; as she is placed by Fouché in the dangerous position of spy in the home of Talleyrand; and as fate, the course of historic events, and the powers of pure chemistry combine to lead Marianne into a love affair with the Master of Europe himself—Napoleon Bonaparte—the reader is treated to a magnificent picture of France in the years of her glory. Here is all the pomp of the First Empire at its peak, as well as a fascinating record of Napoleon's political maneuvers and of the strange manners of the Parisian underground. Here, too, often in their own words, are the host of colorful, talented, often eccentric characters who orbited around the Emperor. And here, finally, is Napoleon Bonaparte in one of the liveliest, most believable portraits ever drawn of him. Juliette Benzoni has in Marianne created a book that is at once historical fiction at its best and a magnificently documented portrait of a great nation in its hour of glory—and of peril.

Guarding with her life the secret she carries to save Napoleon, Marianne braves the barren steppes and hostile natives of Russia to deliver her message to the Emperor, who was once her lover. She is accompanied by her lover from New Orleans, Jason Beaufort, who has abandoned the charred hulk of his ship in the harbor of Constantinople to travel with her. Just inside the Russian border, they save the life of a beautiful young gypsy named Shankhala and take her with them. Shankhala offers no gratitude but shows a burning desire for Jason. Failing to allure him, she turns her witchery against Marianne. The Moscow they reach has already fallen under siege, and its citizens' fear has turned perversely into self-immolation. When Jason is thrown in prison after a duel with the Cossack who several years earlier had ravished and branded Marianne, she is left alone amid the swarming mass of panicked humanity—or, rather, almost alone, as the gypsy witch embraces Marianne, then stabs her and leaves her to be trampled and swept away by the maddened throng. The vicious Russian writer finds Moscow drowned in a sea of fire and Marianne nursed to health by angels in the forms of other French-women trapped in this hostile country. Risking her life to see him, Marianne finds Napoleon suffering from strain and despair and eager to regain Marianne's devotion. Once she has delivered her message, Marianne's life again becomes a series of questions: Will she ever return to her homeland? Will she ever find the child who was separated from her? And her husband, where is he? Does he even live? Marianne: Crown of Fire is an adventure in the truest sense—it is a fascinating torrent of desire, courage, terror, and one woman's struggle to survive. This sixth volume of Marianne's adventures will delight the reader who thrills to excitement and romance. Each of its predecessors has been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of readers around the world.

As the city of Florence basks in afternoon sunlight, pleasurable anticipation stirs in the heart of beautiful Marianne d'Asselnat, Princess Sant'Anna. The trials and uncertainties of her eventful past life seem almost over, for she is soon to rejoin her beloved sea rover Jason Beaufort and enjoy with him a peaceful future in America. So she is not particularly dismayed when called upon to render a last vital service to her master, the Emperor Napoleon, whom once she had known as lover and still called friend. But, abruptly, an ominous shadow appears in her future, cast by the dark influence of her unseen husband, the mysterious masked Prince Corrado. The tricks of fate then force her to embark on a perilous odyssey which carries her from luxurious Venice, through Greek islands smoldering with revolt, to the court of the legendary Sultans of the Ottoman Empire. Through all her adventures her spirit is sustained by her passionate love for Jason, yet always strange, dark forces seem intent on drawing him away from her... Here is another exciting novel of the world of Europe as Napoleon I strives to make France master of Europe, indeed of the world, and himself its tyrant. The action moves through the courts of Europe and the then largely unknown Ottoman Empire, and a host of characters from the pages of history flit through its pages, bringing a glittering age vividly to life. Marianne and the Rebels, like its author's earlier novels chronicling the adventures of Marianne d'Asselnat, offers historical romance at its satisfying, exciting best.