Review: The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte by Ruth Hull Chatlien

If you have managed to make it through fifth grade world history, you probably have heard the name Bonaparte at least once.

Most of us associate the Bonaparte name with the infamously small emperor with a big name: Napoleon Bonaparte.

But what of Napoleon’s younger brother? Is his a name one you can recall with certainty? Unlikely.

Jerome Bonaparte was supposed to make a diplomatic marriage according to Napoleon.

But when the ambitious Elizabeth “Betsy ” Patterson puts her mind to something, little can dissuade her.

Betsy was a prominent member of Baltimore society with ambitions and designs of her own. She dreamed that she would marry a man who would whisk her away to Europe and low an behold, Jerome Bonaparte is that man!