May 2016 Book of the Month.
This wonderful, bawdy, fictional memoir began with Mistress of My Fate which eventually saw Henrietta Lightfoot fall for the daring Lord Allenham. Here they are off to Belgium when he gets called on to Paris leaves Henrietta. She receives a letter from him urging her to return to England but the impulsive adventurer follows her love … only this is 1792 Revolutionary France. She falls in with two powerful women and forms a number of dangerous liaisons. The author, Rubenhold, is brilliant. Lots of historical detail, lots of drama and intrigue and a fast, compulsive pace is given a light touch by the first-person narrative. It is a pure charmer. If you saw The Scandalous Lady W on TV you will know what to expect for this is the same author. ~ Sarah Broadhurst
A 'Piece of Passion' from the publisher...
A Tale of Two Cities meets Dangerous Liaisons - lovers of historical fiction are in for a treat with THE FRENCH LESSON. It tells of a young English woman on her own in the perilous times of the French Revolution in Paris. Henrietta Lightfoot is a single woman whose possessions have all been stolen. She stumbles into the opulent home of the most famous courtesan of the 18th century, a real historical figure – Grace Dalrymple.
Little does she know that Grace has imperious plans of her own, and Henrietta becomes a pawn in a vicious power game between the most powerful women in France.
Most of the protagonists in this novel, the rulers of France, the mistresses and wives, artists and revolutionaries, really did exist, and Hallie, an 18th century historian and author of THE SCANDALOUS LADY W (a hit BBC drama) has researched primary sources to tell this fabulous story, which roars with such pace, plot, detail and sensuousness. There is even a hint of murder, and all played out on a canvas of authentic bloody revolution. ~ Jane Lawson, Editorial Director, Doubleday Transworld Publishers
Compelling, playful, exuberant - a grippingly imagined adventure of aristocrats and adventuresses in the age of the French Revolution. (Simon Sebag Montefiore, Author of Catherine the Great & Potemkin). Henrietta Lightfoot's exploits in Revolutionary France are irresistible. She's a heroine you can't put down. (Lucy Worsley).
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
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Compelling, playful, exuberant - a grippingly imagined adventure of aristocrats and adventuresses in the age of the French Revolution. (Simon Sebag Montefiore, Author of Catherine the Great & Potemkin). Henrietta Lightfoot's exploits in Revolutionary France are irresistible.
The French Lesson features in the following genres: Historical Fiction, Books of the Month, Books with reviews by our Reader Review Panel, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, Recommendations, General Fiction
Paperback, Hardback. Not Available.
The French Lesson was written by Hallie Rubenhold and published by Doubleday an imprint of Transworld Publishers Ltd
