Twenty-five years that should have been spent home-making were spent horseback riding. If that quote from a newspaper of her day doesn't give you a feel for Elizabeth, Empress of Austria-Hungary, nothing will. Known to family as SISI, this lady was the great beauty of her time, her travel and riding keeping her slim and vigorous when many other nobles became staid and gouty. Read this account of her life during 1868 - 1898 from Allison Pataki, whose family roots reach back to Hungary, for a fascinating insight.

Poised on the cusp of change, Europe and Asia see empires and monarchies crumbling, bankrupted by lavish overspending at the top and undermined by starvation and deprivation at the bottom. Anarchists rise in hot-blooded action and assassination of nobles becomes the European sport. While this develops, Sisi is controlled by her mother in law Sophie, whose word is a command in the Hapsburg family. Sisi's three eldest children are taken from her to be reared - and in the case of the Crown Prince Rudolf, we see how badly that works. As the novelised version of Sisi's life opens, we see her determined to leave the court with the youngest of her four children, and raise this girl in her own way. Her estate on Hungary's open fields becomes her retreat. Her duty-bound, ritual-obsessed husband Franz Joseph remains in Vienna carrying out administration and ensuring political stability.

Not too surprisingly this lively lady takes a lover, one of the ministers, but that has to end when he is appointed First Minister and has to attend the Emperor every day. Sisi hosts spectacularly described occasions, such as the World Fair in Vienna, and welcomes many dignitaries including the Shah of Persia, Edward, Prince of Wales, Tsar Alexander and Bismarck. To please both her family and her people, Sisi spends hours being prepared for state occasions, and her hairstyles and dresses are the talk of society. Yet she cannot suit the Austrian commentators and always ends up travelling to escape unkind headlines.

The requirement for the highest royalty to marry someone of equal stature constricted the available matches, especially as all Victoria's children followed a different religion. So by this time we see a line of madness running through the families of Europe, with tragic consequences. Sisi's eccentric cousin Ludvig has bankrupted his kingdom of Bavaria constructing castles and financing the musician Wagner while the Ring Cycle was being composed. Sisi has to decide whether to approve of her younger sister's marrying this ruler.

I was very interested in the winters Sisi spends living in England and Ireland in order to hunt, meeting Queen Victoria. Sisi has portraits of her favourite horses painted to hang in her rooms. The author doesn't use correct hunting terms, which surprised me. While Sisi finds another romantic interest the author has decided that it remained a deep friendship, contrasted with the many infidelities of married wealthy men and flamboyant affairs of the singletons. The poor or working people of Europe are almost never seen, as Sisi would probably not have met them; I did think that Sisi might not have left all the work of providing for the peasants' needs to her husband. She bought jewels, horses and houses, when she might have endowed a hospital or a school for the children of her stable hands. Maybe they had a school. Sisi never enquires.

I could go on about the culture clashes, obsessions, temper tantrums, admirations, loves, state occasions and deaths in this lavish tale. I'll just leave you with my comment to my husband that in those days, women spent hours dressing in different outfits for each occasion, but men just got into their best uniform and put on their polished medals. Allison Pataki has provided her references so you can check that yes, each extraordinary event really did happen. I have to admire this book SISI: Empress On Her Own wholeheartedly for bringing the splendid world of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, just before World War One, into my home.