In 1793, during the French Revolution, the Republic is fighting a royalist uprising in the Vendee region of Brittany and the west of France. Victor Hugo sets his final novel among three men: the Marquis de Lantenac, a royalist leader, his grandnephew Gauvain, a republican commander, and Cimourdain, a former priest who is Gauvain's tutor and now a harsh revolutionary. A child kidnapped by the rebels, and a mother searching for her children, give the plot an emotional center, while the conflict poses the question of mercy against duty.
It is for readers of historical fiction who enjoy Hugo's long, passionate style. It offers a look at the Terror and at the clash of principles in a civil war.
Deep, outward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Evidence Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2001
- Publisher
- LGF
- ISBN
- 9782253160786
- Language
- FR
