In 2009 we were privileged to host Catholic author Mary-Eileen Russell. In this video Mary-Ellen talks about her first historical novel Trianon which was published under her pen name “Elena Maria Vidal”. Of this novel Mary-Eileen comments: “One of the reasons I wrote Trianon is that I kept encountering educated people who really thought that Marie-Antionette said ‘Let them eat Cake’……” Watch the video below for the real story.

In the second video Mary-Ellen talks about her Sequel to Trianon, a novel of Royal France, entitled MADAME ROYALE which was also published under her pen name “Elena Maria Vidal”.

MADAME ROYALE is the epic saga of Marie-Antoinette’s daughter, Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte. The period which follows the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, called by historians “the Bourbon restoration” (1814-1830), was outwardly one of rest and peace for France. Yet beneath the surface, the forces of revolution were engaged in a ruthless duel for power with those of the reaction. At the center of the drama one woman, consumed by a quest for love and restoration, struggles to survive amid deception and betrayal. A tale of murder, mystery and secret romance, the novel searches the conflicted heart of the orphaned princess who from childhood had been called “Madame Royale.”