The Valley of Heaven and Hell by: Susie Kelly

 The Valley of Heaven and Hell – Cycling in the Shadow of Marie-Antoinette, is  something of a different sort of book for me in that it’s travel but it’s travel on a bicycle. Susie Kelly has linked the journey to a historical journey, the route Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis XV1 took to escape from Paris.  The escapees were apprehended at Varennes and then had to return to Paris under escort.

What I did love was that the book was tied into the tragic events in the life of Marie Antoinette – a character for whom Susie Kelly has sympathy.  The poor Austrian princess was betrothed to marry Louis, a second cousin when she was only ten years old and was handed over to the French at the age of 15 to a most unattractive young man who at first took little interest in his new bride.  Her whole life was then lived in public, with audiences even watching the royal couple eat their meals. As Susie Kelly describes the unreal life of the young Queen of France and it is difficult not to share her liking for Marie Antoinette.

Susie’s journey with her husband Terry begins in Paris.  Cycling in this city is anything but easy, and their hotel is surrounded by  road-works which provide confusion and noise sufficient to make their first day on the road less than enjoyable.This is the first of many times when cycling is going to prove a very arduous experience for Susie and  Terry, even though she is equipped with an electric bike.While this was a different sort of book for me i ended up enjoying much more than I thought I would.

Rita’s Rating: