Angélique: The Road to Versailles

Angélique and the King
Author Anne Golon & Serge Golon
Original title Angélique et le Roy
Translator Rita Barisse
Country France
Language French
Series Angélique
Genre Historical novel
Publisher Trévise & Colbert
Publication date
1959
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN NA
Preceded by Angélique, the Marquise of the Angels
Followed by Angélique and the Sultan

"Angélique and the King" (French: Angélique et le Roy) is a 1959 novel by Anne Golon & Serge Golon, the second novel in the Angélique series. Inspired by the life of Suzanne de Rougé du Plessis-Bellière, known as the Marquise du Plessis-Bellière.

Angélique's marriage to Jeoffrey de Peyrac is thought to be parallel to that of the daughter of Madame de Sévigné, Françoise-Marguerite de Sévigné to the Comte de Grignan.

In 1966, it was adapted into a film titled Angélique et le Roy.

Plot summary

After many trials, Angelique finally takes her place in Louis XIV's court alongside her new husband, who is the Marshal of France, Philippe de Plessis du Bellière. She has many problems with her new husband, who despises her for having blackmailed him into marriage. Eventually, shae starts loving him (and vice versa) but he gets killed in the King's war at the Low Countries. She earns the undivided attention of the King and there are even rumours that she may be his mistress. Her rival becomes Atenais de Montespan, the most recent favorite of the King, who plots against her. Angelique triumphs over her rival and even learns that her first husband, thought to be executed by the king himself, may still be alive. She resolves to find him at any cost.