About the book

After the storming of the Bastille and the upheaval at Versailles, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette travel toward a capital where their presence is expected to solve the people's hunger. Dumas moves between the royal procession, the surrounding crowd, and conversations whose apparent ordinariness conceals political calculation. Dr. Gilbert occupies an especially uneasy position: his democratic convictions coexist with a determination to protect the endangered monarchy, while his earlier conduct has created bitter personal enemies. The novel makes public allegiance and private history intersect at moments of crisis. Readers encounter recognizable figures within a dramatized account shaped by invented dialogue and intrigue. The promise of liberty has not settled the question of loyalty, and apparent pauses in the Revolution give competing interests time to reorganize.

Revolution and loyalty
Private guilt and public duty
Political manipulation

Why read it

Gilbert's divided position complicates any simple opposition between court and people.

Henry Llewellyn Williams's English translation, J. S. Ogilvie Sunset Series text

Contents and reading sections

About the book

Why read it

Read next