The last years were busy for myself and my dear friend and co-author, Petie Kladstrup. We were working on the first American biography of Eugénie de Montijo, a Spanish countess who became the last Empress of France and was instrumental in modernizing France during the second half of the nineteenth century.

"The Last Empress of France delights from the very first sentence. Thoroughly researched and gracefully written, this untold story will keep you up reading late into the night."  –Martin Dugard, New York Times #1 bestselling author of Taking Midway. 

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In 1839, a red-haired girl in search of adventure ran away from an English boarding school and attempted to board a ship headed for India. Her name was Eugénie de Montijo, and within fifteen years, she would be Empress of France, and one of the most powerful women in the world.

Eugénie’s unconventional life began in the dying days of the Spanish empire, would take her to the literary salons of Paris and, finally, to the throne of France itself as the wife of Napoleon III. Famed for her beauty and her athleticism, she would become a powerful advocate for women and children’s rights. She created haute couture as we know it, all while displaying a razor-sharp understanding of geopolitics. But the triumphs of her life were coupled with heartbreak and tragedy, and today her legacy is barely known.

The Last Empress of France is a gloriously witty and entertaining biography of one of history’s most charismatic figures, and a thoughtful exploration of the century that shaped her, and which she shaped in turn. 

USA: Published by Hanover Square Press, HarperCollins, July 2025. 

Order at your local bookstore,  on HarperCollins,  amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

UK: Published by Duckworth Books, February 2026. Pre-order on Waterstones.

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