15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Complex and charming plot line but the vast historical information sometimes makes me lose sight of the characters, March 16, 2008
This review is from: Mistress of the Revolution (Hardcover)
The French revolution is one of those eras in history that it seemed like I would never understand. There were too many political twists, too many people involved, and too many perspectives on the whole thing. This novel, "Mistress of the revolution" went a long way in helping me to understand this complicated and horrible time in history.
Gabrielle is only eleven years old when her brother the Marquis de Castel takes her from the convent which is educating her and brings her to her family home and to her mother for the first time since she was born. Raised by country peasants and nuns, Gabrielle is kind and takes her mothers consent criticisms in stride along with her brother's increasingly strange attentions. But when she falls in love with a local man she sees a chance to escape.
But this is not in her cards. Gabrielle is married off to an older cousin who abuses her in his quest for an heir. Upon his death he leaves her and her daughter destitute and with no where to go until a kind friend reminds her of a distant relation in Paris. In the city of lights she flourishes but still needs a means to provide for herself and her daughter. Work is out because of her social status and marriage is out because of her lack of funds leaving her only one option-become a wealthy man's mistress.
But the time of the French revolution, the great terror is fast approaching and Paris is becoming a turbulent sea of politics. Can Gabrielle, a noble woman, a kept woman and a young mother survive the coming storm on her own? Or will she need to depend on the help of an old friend?
"Mistress of the Revolution" is a first person memoir type account of one woman's experience during the French Revolution. For a first novel it is charming and informative but at times seems a bit like a textbook on the rev. with a side story included. Very adult themes such as incest, spousal abuse, rape and of course all of the horrors of "the terror" make this a book not for people who can't take violence.
All in all I really enjoyed reading this book and sped right through it. But at times it seems the complex plot is secondary to the immense amount of info included on the causes and progress of the revolution. This could of course be attributed to Gabrielle herself-she is writing an informative memoir to give to someone-but at times it made me lose sight of the characters. In general though, the charming writing style and easy to understand historical information made up for the faults.
Four stars and I recommend keeping an eye on the author's future works.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very satisfying and interesting novel of a life in the middle of a revolution, April 14, 2008
This review is from: Mistress of the Revolution (Hardcover)
More than a year ago, I joined an online group of readers who focused on historical novels. Through them, I have found a renewed interest in fiction and nonfiction set in the past, and have happily discovered some new authors to try on.
One of these was newcomer Catherine Delors. Her novel, Mistress of the Revolution may at first appear to be not much more than yet another novel set during the fall of the French monarchy, and the rise of the French Revolution and all of the adventure that would create. It's proved to be very fertile ground for novelists, and in recent years, there has been a real upsurge of interest in the period. Sadly, most of what gets published is not much more than trite modern romance dressed up in fancy clothes, and where authors betray their own lack of research with every word that their characters utter. And these sorts of novels were what have caused me to loose interest in the genre, swamped as it is with heaving bosoms and too perfect characters.
So it was with some trepidation that I ordered this from Amazon. But once I started reading, I was in for a very pleasant surprise. The story starts in a rather classic way, with a young girl of eleven being suddenly called home to the family chateau from a convent. Gabrielle de Montserrat is fresh and lovely, and just a bit on the determined side. While she knows that she has a duty to her family and class, there's a part of herself that aches to move beyond the constrants of her existance. If she just knew what they were.
Four years pass, with Gabrielle running wild, enjoying the company of her elder brother, the Marquis de Casel, and chafing under the restrictions of her rather cold-blooded mother. But a warm summer's day brings her to the notice of a young man, Andre-Pierre Coffinhal, an aspiring doctor from a nearby town. They're smitten by each other, and vow to be together in that mad rush of a first love, but when her brother finds out, Gabrielle is forced to marry someone else.
Her husband, while of appropriate rank and wealth, treats Gabrielle with seeming goodwill in public, but in private treats her with distain and brutality. The only good thing to come of the marriage is her beloved daughter Aimee, and Gabrielle vows to make her daughter's life very different than her own. But when the husband dies sudden, Gabrielle finds herself in genteel poverty, and being discarded by her own family.
What's a French girl to do but go to Paris? With a benefactress, the Duchess, and a ready wit of her own, Gabrielle finds the court at Versailles a new world indeed. Through Gabrielle's eyes we see her meet the influential and famous, and the Count de Villars, a handsome nobleman who tempts Gabrielle besides her fears to take a daring step.
But everything comes to an end when revolutionary fervour sweeps France, and Gabrielle has to make some choices of her own...
I must say, that while the plot of this one is rather standard -- girl meets boy, girl looses boy, girl struggles through many obstacles and so on -- I was thrilled by the fact that Catherine Delors uses reality to not just form the background of her novel, but also to motivate and build her characters. They speak in the style of the period, look at the world with the minds and attitudes of the time, and behave accordingly. While Gabrielle is very naive at the start -- how many mature teenagers do we really know? -- she does learn from her experiences, growing into a woman that we can both like and sympathize with. It's this handling of her characters that really makes this novel shine for me, these are all flesh and blood people, who have reasons for what they do.
One special moment for me was a discussion of the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which really was a scandal at the time, and being that I have been a fan both the written and film versions, this was like having a little extra to the story. The author continues the same touches in clothing, music, and art of the time, with Gabrielle interacting with many of the known artists and writers of the time. It's something that really does help to flesh out the story.
All in all, I really liked this one. It's packed with plenty of drama, lots of description, and the author never loses sight of the time and place, and especially of her characters. I won't be a bit surprised if this is one of my top ten novels for the year. In any case, I hope that Ms. Delors continues to write, this is a very promising start!
And do keep the tissues handy for the last part of the novel.
Five stars overall.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A different perspective from other readers..., August 21, 2008
This review is from: Mistress of the Revolution (Hardcover)
France, 1780. Gabrielle de Montserrat is a noblewoman -- one with no money and therefore no dowry. She would have to be the best at everything else to land a great marriage. But her family finds her lacking in every sense. She had once trusted her brother, until he does unspeakable things to her. When she falls in love with Pierre-Andre, she feels her life has meaning. And when her brother, who has absolute power as his sister's guardian, forces her to marry an aging but wealthy man, takes that away from her, Gabrielle's world is shattered all over again. Gabrielle has no idea what fate will deal her when she arrives at the court of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette. In the midst of the French Revolution, Gabrielle will have to decide whether to do what is expected of her or follow her heart, even if it means facing the guillotine.
The other reviewers will probably disagree with my review, but I like to give an honest opinion on what I read and my perspective will be somewhat different from the other reviewers on this page. The story is well written and the historical aspect is dead on. I was impressed with that aspect of Mistress of the Revolution. However, I thought the story was somewhat boring and I had a hard time getting into it. The first-person narrative didn't help. It somehow didn't work for me. Gabrielle's brother is disgusting and despicable, and there are other characters that will make you hate them here as well. The star-crossed romance between Gabrielle and Pierre-Andre is also kind of nice, and the backdrop of Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution is done well, but none of these things makes up for the fact that, as a whole, this novel is simply not engaging enough. Perhaps it is due to the fact that the historical aspect is more fascinating than the fictional part. To me, there's got to be a balance between the two. I hope Catherine Delors will learn to have a balance between the two in the near future. For now, her work is more of a miss than a hit.
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