This book about Athénais-Françoise de Montespan, Mistress of Louis XlV left me slightly annoyed. It has a wealth of details about the life and customs under the reign of Louis XIV, but I didn't like the snooty, hoity-toity writing tone of Lisa Simpson-she let too much her british snobbery get in the way of her writing.
The other thing that annoyed me is, although I am fascinated by Madame de Montespan, I found the author way too biased in her descriptions: Athenais the goddess, Athenais the good mother, Athenais innocent from poisoning her rivals, Athenias versus the "haughty and imperious" Madame de Maintenon... Our heroine was not exactly an innocent nor examplary type. Lisa Hilton makes things look as if everybody is bad, wrong and pathetic except her subject.
This said, although I enjoyed the pictures and the many details, I was disappointed by the bad writing of the author. I'd recommend the book of Pierre Combescot Les Petites Mazarines or the Memories of the Princesse Palatine, Madame (sister-in-law of the King), for a more accurate and nuanced view of the marquise de Montespan.