“The Secret Wife of Louis XIV: Françoise d’Aubigné, Madame de Maintenon, by Veronica Buckley, offers a lively, sympathetic portrayal of the woman who, against all odds, succeeded in taming the royal tomcat . . . Buckley presents this idea with palpable compassion, imaginatively penetrating her subject’s innermost thoughts to justify the historical record."—Caroline Weber, The New York Times Book Review