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Allison Pataki
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The Accidental Empress: A Novel Hardcover – February 17, 2015

by Allison Pataki (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 5,689 ratings
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The Accidental Empress is the fascinating and foundational story of this little-known, yet highly significant empress—a must read for anyone interested in the sequel Sisi.

New York Times bestselling author Allison Pataki follows up on her critically acclaimed debut novel, The Traitor’s Wife, with the little-known and tumultuous love story of “Sisi” the Austro-Hungarian Empress and captivating wife of Emperor Franz Joseph.

The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe’s most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich, and ready to marry.

Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead.

Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world.

With Pataki’s rich period detail and cast of complex, bewitching characters, The Accidental Empress offers a captivating glimpse into one of history’s most intriguing royal families, shedding new light on the glittering Hapsburg Empire and its most mesmerizing, most beloved “Fairy Queen.”
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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Sisi Series
  2. Print length
    512 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Howard Books
  5. Publication date
    February 17, 2015
  6. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1476790221
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1476790220
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A love match alters the course of history...Pataki deserves kudos for choosing her subject matter well—Sisi's life is ideal fictional fodder." ― Kirkus Reviews

"Intricately plotted, Pataki's latest is engrossing and incredibly real." ― Romantic Times (four stars)

"Another absolutely compelling story. I loved it." -- Mary Higgins Clark

"This novel is captivating, absorbing, and beautifully told--I can't wait for the sequel!" -- Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of The Kitchen House

"The Accidental Empress is lush, romantic, and enlightening—a truly lovely novel." -- Therese Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of Z

"Allison Pataki brings to life one of the most enigmatic, intelligent, and stunningly beautiful women ever to have graced a court in Europe. A remarkable novel about a truly remarkable empress!" -- Michelle Moran, bestselling author of Rebel Queen

"Once again Pataki stuns by diving deep into the pages of history and bringing up a heroine who is not only a jewel, but a red-blooded, complicated woman, allowing us to see history through a refreshingly new perspective. Smart, interesting, and chock-full of betrayal, intrigue, and love -- The Accidental Empress had me glued to the page." -- Lee Woodruff, New York Times Best-Selling author and CBS This Morning contributor

“With her meticulous attention to historical detail and powerfully entertaining storytelling skills, Allison Pataki is a force in historical fiction. Set amid the grand landscapes of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the wilds of the human heart, The Accidental Empress is an epic tale of honor, power, and love. Breathtaking!” -- Erika Robuck, bestselling author of Hemingway's Girl

"A glorious novel about a misunderstood empress...With a sumptuous sense of history and evocative attention to detail, Allison Pataki conjures the rebellious, glamorous spirit of Sisi of Austria." -- C.W. Gortner, bestselling author of The Queen’s Vow

"The Accidental Empress is a tale of royal love we don't know but should, and who better to share it with us than the supremely gifted and entertaining historical novelist, Allison Pataki. A delightful gift for readers...The Accidental Empress is enthralling." -- -Allegra Jordan, Author of The End of Innocence

“I felt as if I’d been transported to Austria in this powerful and sweeping novel. A heart wrenching, beautiful story, rich with historical detail and political intrigue. Skillful and utterly captivating.” -- M.J. Rose, New York Times bestselling author of The Witch of Painted Sorrows

"The Accidental Empress is a stunning masterpiece of imagination, enriched with lavish historical detail. Utterly riveting, amazingly insightful. A splendid saga sure to capture the heart." -- Jan Moran, bestselling author of Scent of Triumph

Pataki’s fully drawn ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS is an indelible portrayal—not only of one of the most complicated and misunderstood Habsburgs, but of a turbulent royal marriage during a tumultuous era. -- Juliet Grey, author of the acclaimed Marie Antoinette trilogy

"Allison Pataki so vividly depicts the world of the Habsburg court, you'll feel the silk of Sisi's gowns under your very fingers as you eagerly turn the pages of THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS. As a woman both ahead of her time and wholly situated within it, Sisi makes for a captivating central figure, and rarely has an author so heartbreakingly captured the exquisite tragedy of getting what you want. Sumptuous, surprising, and deeply felt." -- Greer Macallister, author of THE MAGICIAN'S LIE

About the Author

Allison Pataki is the New York Times bestselling author of five adult fiction novels, one nonfiction memoir, and two children’s books, Nelly Takes New York and Poppy Takes Paris. Allison’s books have been translated into more than twenty languages. A former news writer and producer, Allison graduated cum laude from Yale University with a major in English. An avid traveler and reader, Allison lives in New York with her husband, children, and rescue pup. To learn more and connect with Allison, please visit AllisonPataki.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Howard Books; First Edition (February 17, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1476790221
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1476790220
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.44 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 5,689 ratings

About the author

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Allison Pataki

Allison Pataki

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Allison Pataki is the New York Times bestselling author of FINDING MARGARET FULLER, THE MAGNIFICENT LIVES OF MARJORIE POST, THE QUEEN'S FORTUNE, THE TRAITOR'S WIFE, THE ACCIDENTAL EMPRESS, SISI: EMPRESS ON HER OWN, WHERE THE LIGHT FALLS, as well as the nonfiction memoir BEAUTY IN THE BROKEN PLACES and two children's books, NELLY TAKES NEW YORK and POPPY TAKES PARIS. Allison’s novels have been translated into more than twenty languages. A former news writer and producer, Allison has written for The New York Times, ABC News, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Fox News and other outlets. She has appeared on The TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Good Day New York, Good Day Chicago and MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Allison graduated Cum Laude from Yale University with a major in English. A member of The Historical Novel Society and a certified Yoga instructor, Allison lives in New York with her husband and family.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
5,689 global ratings
Ready to escape? Well here's your mini-vacation.
5 Stars
Ready to escape? Well here's your mini-vacation.
It's not every day that I get a chance to escape within the pages of a book that I actually enjoy and can't put down, but this book was a winner. Seriously, I had moments where I wanted to sneak away from my work in the hospital and sit with a warm cup of green tea and read more about Sisi and her love saga with her sister's man- Franz Joseph. Ms. Pataki did an excellent job weaving together charm, suspense, history, and humor. I really found the book delightful as I was able to visualize the colors of Sisi's dress or imagine what it felt like to actually be present when Sisi and Franz Joseph spoke to one another. At points, I went and looked up specific parts of the history behind the story (yes, Sisi was indeed traumatized by her wedding night…) making it both a fun story and also a story that helped me learn about history. Double plus. I won't spoil anything else for you, but grab the book, read a little of the history on wiki and then set aside some time for yourself in a cafe, or draw a nice bubble bath, and indulge in a treasure of a story. You won't regret it. Can't wait to see what Allison's next novel will be about!
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Top reviews from the United States

Texas girl
5.0 out of 5 stars Happily Ever After
Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2023
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An excellent read! This was not only the ultimate love story, it was a very descriptive lesson in the life of nobility. I could not put it down. The author' s writing made you feel the emotions of the main characters with such clarity. It was a great story.
3 people found this helpful
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Jennifer Rothwell
4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to Empress Sisi
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2015
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I found this to be an easy, enjoyable read. I would say this novel is more for those who do not already know much about Empress Elisabeth rather than those who know a lot and wish her character to be explored more deeply. I fall into the former category so for me it was interesting to learn of who "Sisi" was and what she went through as Empress of the largest empire in Europe in the nineteenth century.
In many ways the beginnings of her story reminded me of an early Marie Antoinette. Sisi had to learn the strict protocols of Austrian etiquette and her life was dictated to her in a series of writings that told her what to do, how to act and what to say during almost every single second of her day. Sisi rails against this and therefore finds herself pushed aside from the Hapsburg inner circle by her overbearing mother-in-law Archduchess Sophie. Sophie implies to the court that Sisi is therefore too young and naive to take care of herself properly, subsequently leading to her complete ostracism from rule and her children being taken away to be raised by their grandmother. One cannot help but feel sorry for Empress Elisabeth.
However, Sisi eventually gains self confidence and self worth back again and due to this the last quarter of the novel was my favourite part. I was a bit disappointed that the four years that Sisi spent away from court whilst she gained this security of herself was not documented in the novel. Rather we jump forward four years and are introduced to Sisi as her new self. I loved her, yes, but I wished we could have witnessed this transformation throughout the pages.
Nonetheless the confident self-assured woman who is present for the latter part of the novel was very enjoyable to read of and I loved how the author showed how Sisi created private daily routines to gain control back of her own life. She did not revert back to the free spirited girl of her youth but rather matured into an intelligent and strong woman who did things on her own terms.
There are two main relationships in the novel that the author explores and they are very different from one another. First, the relationship between Sisi and her husband Emperor Franz Joseph and second, the relationship between Sisi and Andrassy, a liberal Hungarian count who wishes independence for his county. I loved how the author portrayed the former as an instant infatuation that quickly burned out and the later as an early dislike that grew to mutual respect and then eventually blossomed into love. The author drives home the point that a successful relationship is built on so much more than just lust. I really enjoyed reading of how Sisi and Andrassy's relationship developed.
Overall an enjoyable read that was easy to get into and kept my attention throughout.
6 people found this helpful
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Donna Hamilton
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book by a great author!
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2021
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I enjoyed the young SiSI, so wild and free loving nature, articulate, charming so young and flirty - how could anyone say no to her? Learning about the royal procedures and protocol was interesting and how she managed to struggle through it all. The drama, the emotions, the mystique of the royal family with all of the relationships held my interest. It was a fun read and I couldn't wait to start the next book - SiSi. I highly recommend this novel especially if you are on your way to Bavaria or Budapest! I hope it becomes a Netflix
series.
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Vimala Nowlis
3.0 out of 5 stars A Feminist Boudoir Romance
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2016
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A handsome young prince fell in love with a beautiful innocent girl from the countryside. But the course of true love never runs smooth. So the prince had to overcome obstacles in order to marry his love. The love story of the young Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and the beautiful Duchess Elizabeth of Bavaria, nicknamed Sisi, is such a fairytale. When there is no evil magician or wicked stepmother available, the mother-in-law is usually cast as the villain. Fortunately, the overbearing mother-in-law of the beautiful Sisi and the stage mother of the handsome Franz Joseph, was available as the villain. But, fairytales cannot survive the harsh reality. So Franz Joseph and Sisi did not live happily ever after. This book, written by a female author, chose the battle between Sisi and her mother-in-law for the heart and soul of Franz as the central theme. I am giving the book a 3 star rating because it is a small scale tale of the boudoir with very little mention of anyone or anything else.
Even though Franz Joseph was born an imperial prince, he was not the son of the emperor. Even though he was raised for the job, his mother, the Archduchess Sophie, had to fight to secure his position as the emperor of a complex patch-quilt empire of multiple ethnic groups. It was a time of shifting political landscapes and raging nationalistic fervor, young Franz naturally relied on the advice of his mother, an experienced court survivor, in his early years to guide him through the choppy waters of treacherous politics and dangerous whirlpools of violent revolutions. He must have learned his lessons well because it’s a miracle that he survived repeated storms and died in his old age as one of the last emperors of Europe.
Sophie had worked hard to raise her oldest son Franz to be an emperor and had engineered to place him on the throne. Unlike Sisi who remained identified with her natal house, the Bavarian Wittelsbachs, Sophie had identified herself with her marital house, the Austrian Hapsburgs. Even though she too was very beautiful, she was known for her steel as “the only man at court”. (She not only managed to make Franz Joseph the Emperor of Austria, she also made her second son Maximilian the Emperor of Mexico. But, as she was not there in Mexico to guide Maximilian, he made a mess and got himself deposed and executed by the revolutionaries. Since this was not part of the story of Sisi, the author made no mention of it.) When she chose Helene of Bavaria to be her daughter-in-law, she was choosing an empress for Franz. As such, decorum and pedigree were all that mattered. Love was irrelevant. That’s why they all had mistresses and lovers. But, young Franz Joseph chose love instead.
Sisi was unquestionably a very most beautiful woman and she knows it and did everything she could throughout her life to remain so. A spoiled and free-spirited young girl from an impoverished duchy, she was homesick and despised Austria. Unwilling to conform to the strict imperial protocol normal in European courts and high societies, she chose to remain aloof and apart. Dreaming of romantic fantasies, she wanted her husband all to herself. Having little understanding of the imperial complexity, she was upset that he didn’t abandon everyone and everything for her. Finding herself way over her head, she needed her husband to be her full-time protector. But Sophie was not about to hand over her precious son to an upstart naive foreign teenage girl. Envious of Sophie’s influence over Franz, she blamed her mother-in-law for her loneliness and isolation. Even though she huffed and puffed about her husband’s affairs, she then gleefully had an affair with a married man where she had the power position. Princess Marie Valerie was known as the “Hungarian Child” not just because she was born in Hungary and grew up in Hungary but many suspected her paternity was also Hungarian. And of course, she was Sisi’s favorite child. As this book is a narrative from Sisi’s point of view as a modern American woman, it of course takes her position that she was always right and righteous while her mother-in-law was always wrong and devious.
Surrounded by courtiers and servants and guards everywhere continuously, Franz desperately needed a private sanctuary. Exhausted by the minefields of foreign threats and domestic quagmires during the day, he was anxious for a quiet safe place at night. Instead, he got a nagging bitching willful child bride. Sisi, desperate for love and frustrated at not being the center of his attention, felt neglected and unfulfilled. When Sophie removed her children from her care, as was the custom of all upper class families at that time, Sisi fell into a perpetual melancholy and became completely self-absorbed. As soon as she gave birth to a son, she decamped from the court. The irony is that, while Sisi clung to her own mother and was distraught when her own children were taken from her, she tried hard to destroy the long-standing close mother-son relationship of Sophie and Franz. When they rebuffed her attempts, she sulked and stewed. While she resented Sophie’s meddling in politics, she longed to do the same and was proud of her meddling in the Hungary Compromise. As the battle between Sisi and Sophie wages on, Franz was caught in the crossfire and sought consolation elsewhere.
The outcome was a fracturing of the fairytale. Franz Joseph, stoic and rational, chose his duty to his empire as was required of him. Sisi gave up the fight and escaped into constant travels to seek love abroad. She became popularly known by her nickname Sisi. This book ends when Franz Joseph and Sisi were crowned in Budapest as the King and Queen of Hungary. The author saved the rest of her story for another book. As usual, death has the last word. Her assassination by an anarchist transformed the story into a romance. All criticisms of Sisi shirking her duty as the empress ceased and she became the most beloved not only of the emperor but of the empire. When the history is forgotten, the fairytale remained, especially when the star is so beautiful.
12 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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T. Pulice
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting and beautiful story
Reviewed in Canada on December 22, 2023
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A wonderful introduction to Sisi and the Austrian empire. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Can’t wait to read more of her life.
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Emma Turowski
2.0 out of 5 stars Livre reçu abimé
Reviewed in France on October 14, 2020
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Je viens tout juste de recevoir mon colis et j'ai reçu le livre abîmé sur le bas de la couverture avant et arrière! Inadmissible! Le livre en soi est sûrement très bien. Mais je mets deux étoiles pour l'état du livre... Très déçue
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Brazil on July 18, 2017
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Holds the attention of the reader from the first to the last page. A great detailed story about a women that became a mith while still alive. Beatiful, inteligente, sensible, daring. A great story!
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Madeline A. Masser
5.0 out of 5 stars hard to put down
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2019
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I found this book extremely intriguing. It is beautifully written and I couldn't put it down. I could visualise the different characters and all the lovely clothes that Sisi wore.
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Sharon Marshall
5.0 out of 5 stars Cisi
Reviewed in Australia on March 26, 2015
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I 'lived' this book and was sorry to see it end. It was very well written, very believable (and indeed, much was factual). We have travelled to/through Vienna and Hungary, sometimes in Cisi's footsteps, and were told much of her history, so of course that contributed to my enjoyment of this book. I will read anything Allison Pataki writes -- I love her style!
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