A Tarot Tour of Versailles with Anya Bergman

Submitted: 1st October 2025

A Tarot Tour of Versailles with Anya Bergman

‘The Tarot Reader of Versailles’ is set in France and Ireland covering nine years from 1789 to 1798. Inspired by the real life of a tarot reader called Marie Anne Adelaide Lenormand, who ran a secret tarot salon in Paris during the French Revolution

Both locations – Paris and Versailles, are crucial to the story. It is in these places that many dramatic events of the French Revolution occurred. The west of Ireland is also important in the story as this is where my fictional Irish character Caitlin Molloy grew up.

Location map of The Tarot of Versailles

Historical fiction - Tarot Reader of Versailles

France and Ireland were closely interlinked during this period of revolution and republicanism. In Paris, many Irishmen were part of the revolution. So, they established a group called the United Irishmen in their campaign to get French support for an invasion of Ireland to help bring about her independence from England. And indeed, in 1798, French troops landed in the west of Ireland.

Anya Bergman outside golden gates of Versailles on research trip (c) Anya Bergman

Location map of The Tarot of Versailles

These settings are a crucial part of ‘The Tarot Reader of Versailles’. I wanted to contrast the wilds of rural Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean with the bustling streets of Paris bubbling with dissent. In contrast, you can see the economic hardship of the city with the grandeur and magnificence of the Palace of Versailles.

Le Petit Trianon (c) Anya Bergman

The idea for my novel first came to me on a visit to Versailles after I read ‘An Adventure’ by C. A. E. Moberly and Eleanor F. Jourdain a memoir written in the early 20th century. These two women were respected English academics and they had a remarkable claim – namely that they had time travelled and met Marie Antoinette in Le Petit Trianon.

I was intrigued by this story, and while exploring Versailles, I began to feel a sense of enchantment and wonder. I wanted to write an historical novel but with a strong thread of magic and mystery at its core.

Location map of The Tarot of Versailles

When I discovered Marie Antoinette’s love of playing cards, and her best friend, Princess Lamballe’s obsession with the occult, along with the notoriety of Lenormand, it didn’t take long to bring these elements together within a novel. Though illegal, the reading of Tarot Cards became an obsession in the French Revolution and even more so during the Terror, when Parisians were fearful of whether their fate was a date with Madame Guillotine or not.

The gardens at Le Petit Trianon (c) Anya Bergman

Location map of The Tarot of Versailles

The underlying purpose of ‘The Tarot Reader of Versailles’ is at the heart of the question: do the means justify the ends?

Versailles tea (c) Anya Bergman

Location map of The Tarot of Versailles

The French Revolution tore down the tyranny of absolute monarchy in France, but it was soon overtaken by the Terror when Paris’s streets ran red with blood in the name of a new Republic. Was all this death and violence worth it for Equality, Liberty and Fraternity when these rights still excluded so many?

My novel takes a feminist gaze at the French Revolution, with real and imagined women from radicals to the Queen of France populating its pages. I wanted the reader to empathise with both Caitlin and Lenormand challenged by feelings for each other and opposing political beliefs.

Location map of The Tarot of Versailles

I have travelled many times to Paris and Versailles, and each time brought me new ideas and inspiration for this novel. While living in the west of Ireland helps me infuse the pages of the book with mythical elements.

If you have not already been to Versailles, then I would urge you to do so. The state rooms, and the hall of mirrors, are awesome. However, like me, you might choose to go on a guided tour of Marie Antoinette’s private rooms in the heart of the palace which gives you a glimpse of who she really was. Small chambers, decorated in floral prints, musical instruments and card tables where she relaxed with her friends and all hidden from the court and public view.

One of Marie Antoinette’s private rooms in Versailles floral prints (c) Anya Bergman

Location map of The Tarot of Versailles

Take the whole day and walk the gardens all the way to Le Petit Trianon. This is the place Marie Antoinette loved most strolling through the English Gardens,

This is where you will come across the grotto where she was found hiding when the market women of Paris marched on Versailles. A little further on you will come the extraordinary Hameau de la Reine based on a typical Normandy hamlet of the period. The little farm is still very much in use with animals and produce. It’s easy here to let your imagination roam and travel back in time with the characters of my book.