Marie Antoinette is the main subject of the biography and central figure in Erickson's account. She was born the second youngest child of Queen Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis, Holy Roman Emperor. A pretty child, Antoinette was singled out for marriage to the young heir to the French throne, Louis, the grandson of King Louis XV. At the age of fourteen, she was married to Louis and moved to France, where she would remain until her death.