Napoleon and Juliette's story played out on the European stage during a period of political upheaval and new political ideas. Napoleon's career would be launched with a ‘whiff of grapeshot’ in 1795 after royalist sympathizers declared a rebellion against the National Convention and Napoleon was brought in to protect them.

A few years earlier, in 1793, Juliette married Jacques-Rose Récamier, a tall, handsome, well-built man with a light complexion who became interested in finance and banking and soon amassed a fortune. As portrayed in my Madame Récamier book, his fortune allowed them to socialize with the most elite, and Juliette would find herself attending the same balls and functions as Napoleon.

Napoleon Bonaparte and Juliette Récamier were both highly influential and well-known people in France, yet they were often at odds with each other. Napoleon gained power in the aftermath of the French Revolution, and he would go from spectacular victories to dismal failure. Because of the tumultuous French Revolution, noble and aristocratic landowners were being replaced by a new wealthy class in the private sector. Juliette and her husband were among the beneficiaries of this growing affluence and influence, and her power came from her new found position in society that would challenge Napoleon's ideas and power.

This Madame Récamier book recounts the trials, tribulations, and contention that occurred between a great military strategist and an adversary that he could never fully conquer. It was a time when men wielded power, but a time when Napoleon would find Juliette to be unpossessable, distant, and intriguing. She would find him to be petty man, jealous of her appeal, her friends, and her celebrity. With all the tumult, there were bound to be sparks when Napoleon and Juliette's ambitions collided.