Saturday 2 June 2018

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel (My Goodreads Review)

A Place of Greater Safety

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was engrossed from the start. I had some idea of the way the events went from history, but this was up close and personal. Camille Desmoulins, Georges-Jaques Danton and Maximilien Robespierre, are three main historical figures from the French Revolution. This story gives a reader the view of their households and friends over the years before and after the cataclysmic event that sent shock waves throughout Europe. The uprising left a profound change in the Western world. From the storming of the Bastille to the Reign of Terror.

The Republic will be born but maintaining the new French Republic is an endeavour that demands strict and diabolical things to be done. The guillotine begins to work overtime at an absurd rate as The Reign of Terror begins. The champions of maintaining the new and hard-won democracy will become consumed by the dreadful events. Despite good intentions to deliver the will of the downtrodden people of France.

I really enjoyed this book. It took a little while to get used to the style of presentation as we flit from various scenes concerning the main three characters. I quickly got used to this. There is a whole host of other historical figures too. It is hard to say more without accidentally putting spoilers in. So I must leave it there. Suffice to say, well worth five stars - splendid reading.



No comments: