Historian Mary Del Priore recounts in detail all the achievements and sorrows of Empress Leopoldina's life through the voice of her daughter, Maria da Glória, who became Queen of Portugal.
When Princess Leopoldina arrived in Rio de Janeiro to marry Prince Pedro, she became one of the most illustrious women ever known in these lands. A member of a powerful Austrian family, whose kingdom was one of the most prosperous in 19th-century Europe, Leopoldina represented a unique opportunity for her lineage. Her marriage would seal an agreement with the powerful Braganzas, holders of the Portuguese Crown, and the Habsburgs, ambitious to expand their business interests.
However, the promises of an abundant life in Brazil were not fully realized. In the political arena, Leopoldina had to deal with heated issues surrounding the union of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves. In her private life, the neglect with which she was treated by her husband—surrounded by lovers and lacking in good manners—led her to a deep depression. Unable to build friendships in her new country, Leopoldina felt abandoned and, often, merely a decoration for the young emperor, who was quick to appear publicly alongside his most notable lover, Domitila de Castro, the Marquise of Santos.
In this brief book, historian Mary Del Priore recounts Leopoldina's dizzying life of luxury and heartbreak in a charming narrative. The author employs an original stylistic device that captures our attention while simultaneously conveying the emotional and affective burdens of the monarchs who shaped the course of our history. To achieve this, she uses the voice of a highly charismatic character. The fictional narrator of Leopoldina's story is her daughter, Maria da Glória—the woman who, years later, would become Maria II, the Brazilian who became Queen of Portugal.
Thus, Mary Del Priore brings us closer to the empress in the same way a daughter draws closer to her mother, leading us inside the São Cristóvão Palace, where the royal family lived. In Leopoldina and Maria da Glória: Two Queens – Lives and Pains , the story of Empress Leopoldina is told in a successful novel, with its dramas, uncertainties, embarrassments, and dark reflections on life at court and an unhappy marriage to a liberal, buffoonish, and presumptuous aristocrat known by the nickname Dom Pedro I.
"In the more than 30 books she has published, Mary del Priore has dedicated herself to revealing the private history of Brazil. Sexuality, eroticism, romance, feminism, and the bedroom secrets of historical figures such as Dom Pedro I, Empress Leopoldina, and Princess Isabella." – O Globo
