Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Loss of Innocence: A Novel of the French Revolution

Author: Anne Newton Walther

ISBN: 978-0967670348

Publisher: Tapestries Publishing

 

French countess Eugenie Devereaux shares a unique and seldom-seen perspective of the French Revolution. She’s young, beautiful, rich, and supports the revolution. Her network of informants and spies, which includes even the real and famous General Lafayette, is extensive. Through her eyes, we watch French society change forever.

Eugenie lets us see a King Louis and Marie Antoinette who love their children and fear for their lives. In a show of courage and love, Eugenie conspires with old American friends to save the royal family. (Historically, there was a plan between Frenchmen and Americans, but Eugenie Devereaux is a fictional character.) While other French nobles flee for their lives, Eugenie builds a vibrant and self-sustaining community. Eventually, she flees too, leaving her land in the capable hands of her beloved people.

Few of the story’s characters are real, but the events are. Walther does a good job of sharing the French revolution while keeping all the violence at a distance. We know what’s happening, but it’s not happening to Eugenie and those she loves. Eugenie spends her time among people she loves and that includes a passionate love affair with an American sea captain named Bridger Goodrich. The truth is that the story’s really a romance woven around the French revolution.

The first seven chapters are fluff. However, they’re short and an easy read—an irritation more than a good reason to quit the book. The story truly begins with the arrival of Amelia Stanton, an annoying southern belle from the United States. Unfortunately, the story never quite utilizes her. French phrases pepper the story. They’re distracting if you don’t know French. Some of the love scenes are a tad graphic, but nothing that’ll make you blush. None of these criticisms is serious enough to keep you from enjoying the book. It’s a fun and easy read and it doesn’t hurt that you learn a little about the French revolution. The author includes a nice set of notes that differentiate between fact and fiction. I found them as interesting as the story was fun.

 

The above review was contributed by: Susan Sales Harkins: Susan is a Software consultant and the author of several articles and books on database technologies. She and her husband, William, collaborate on children's non-fiction. Click Here to read more of Susan’s Reviews.

Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Loss of Innocence: A Novel of the French Revolution