A couple of Edwardian lady-scholars are trying to launch a new Oxford college against heavy opposition - a major test of character and credibility for both of them. Yet they are also trying to convince the reading public that they have experienced a genuine time-travel moment in the gardens of Versailles, lifting them suddenly into revolutionary days, with a close-up view of Marie-Antoinette. The book is a sellout, but it seems to put out a dubious message about the two ladies and their somewhat varying claims.
The charm of the setting (the wooded paths around Petit Trianon) and the historical figures wandering in and out are only one part of the appeal. More intriguing are the differing theories to explain the event. Some report that it was a sweltering day, and the ladies needed to sit down and rest, possibly dropping asleep for a moment. Others comment that people as highly educated as these two would have known plenty about Bourbon dress and hair-styles; we might say they would have known what to imagine.
Then the idea of a dual hallucination is a bit suspect, though it might be more likely if the two people were emotionally close - a touchy subject. (Relationships from those discreet days are hard to interpret, sometimes sexual when they appear platonic, sometimes the other way about.) Personally I'm drawn to the theory about the illicit gay costume party with a 'tableau vivant' that was hushed-up, so there was no mention of it in the records, to guide later investigators.
Wendy Hiller as the senior of the two is perfectly cast, a bit too tightly disciplined, taking herself too seriously, her obsession that she is the next Galileo possibly signalling the need for a little eccentricity to relieve the pressure. Hannah Gordon is enchanting as the junior partner, though I can't quite understand her farewell message to an assembly of collegians "I'm better than all of you put together." At some points, the musical track is uncomfortably loud, killing some of the dialogue. And I would have thought that one of the Oxford experts on the team would have known that Charlbury is pronounced Chawlbury.
The charm of the setting (the wooded paths around Petit Trianon) and the historical figures wandering in and out are only one part of the appeal. More intriguing are the differing theories to explain the event. Some report that it was a sweltering day, and the ladies needed to sit down and rest, possibly dropping asleep for a moment. Others comment that people as highly educated as these two would have known plenty about Bourbon dress and hair-styles; we might say they would have known what to imagine.
Then the idea of a dual hallucination is a bit suspect, though it might be more likely if the two people were emotionally close - a touchy subject. (Relationships from those discreet days are hard to interpret, sometimes sexual when they appear platonic, sometimes the other way about.) Personally I'm drawn to the theory about the illicit gay costume party with a 'tableau vivant' that was hushed-up, so there was no mention of it in the records, to guide later investigators.
Wendy Hiller as the senior of the two is perfectly cast, a bit too tightly disciplined, taking herself too seriously, her obsession that she is the next Galileo possibly signalling the need for a little eccentricity to relieve the pressure. Hannah Gordon is enchanting as the junior partner, though I can't quite understand her farewell message to an assembly of collegians "I'm better than all of you put together." At some points, the musical track is uncomfortably loud, killing some of the dialogue. And I would have thought that one of the Oxford experts on the team would have known that Charlbury is pronounced Chawlbury.