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1670, Restoration England. Bawdy, sensual and in the shadow of renewed conflict between King and Parliament. The prospect of a new civil war haunts English life. Royal advisor Samuel Pepys is dispatched by Charles II to negotiate a secret treaty with Louis XIV of France.
Troubled by failing eyesight, the acclaimed diarist requires a scribe. After a chance meeting, he employs the beautiful Camille, a fugitive French actress, pursued by powerful French nobility and driven by terrible revenge. As they journey to Paris, tracked by violent and mercenary agents of Parliament, an improbable literary love story unfolds in an atmosphere of deadly danger and political intrigue.
My thoughts:
I did actually not know anything about Pepys, and I did not google either. Mostly cos the book started at the end so I knew he would die...since we all die, duh. Not of anything else. I knew nothing of this diary either, but after did I did google and did see that he did write a diary.
Which takes us back to England. A tense time. They have a king again. There has been a civil war. There are the boring ones in boring clothes being all down with the monarchy. And there are the rest.
Which then takes us to France where life is good, except for the fact that women can't act at the moment, boooo! So Camille dresses as a man who dresses as a woman on stage ;) Confusing? Ha, I would not want to be her. This also gets her into trouble which takes us once again to England where these two meet.
The story itself spans under a month. But we do get to see flashes from Camille's life at first. But after that, well it happens fast. And then there is this 30 years later thing so we can catch up again. But I would love to have seen what happened to both during those years. Not just the exciting time.
The story felt light to read, things happened, some famous people walked by, but still the best part was still her early life. I liked the normalcy, and as she was like she was, she would have had fame and adventure whatever she did.
Kindle Edition, 352 pages
Published February 23rd 2016 by whitefox
Historical fiction
For review
The parts about her early life do sound good
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, when I am enjoying a tale I want all the deets in-between.
ReplyDeleteAnd we got nothing at the end either, just that she was..older
DeleteI feel like the time jump is too much. It would be nice to get the proper story.
ReplyDeleteOh the book was about the early days The end was just an epilogue
DeleteThe title is a mouthful :)
ReplyDeleteTotally
DeleteNo knowledge here either. Sounds good. I need a good Historical - its been a while.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of him, not a thing
DeleteI don't know much about Pepys either but this sounds good.
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteGlad you enjoyed her early life bits :) Liking the cover too!
ReplyDelete:) aye
DeleteCover??? :)
ReplyDeleteMeh
DeleteCool :)
ReplyDeleteOh poor HF
ReplyDeleteJust like that move Shakespeare In Love...
ReplyDeleteNothing romantic in this one
DeleteI should read more HF set during Restoration England. The Tudors and Victorians take over most of my HF. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThose dang Tudors
DeleteSounds well done. :)
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteI love stories where the female protagonist disguises herself as a man! But yeah, the fact that she plays an actor who plays a woman on stage, that's pretty funny!
ReplyDelete~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
I wonder how no one saw it since she had been herself before the edict about no women
Deletecomplicated thing in France lol
ReplyDelete;)
DeleteThis would have been perfect if there was more of the "in between" life. I'm not sure this one would work for me, since I'd want all the details.
ReplyDeleteI guess there would have been no point to it, nothing happened
DeleteI've heard of Samuel Pepys and that's about it. It would be neat to read more of his story and Camille sounds fascinating with what she did so she could act on the stage.
ReplyDeleteShe really love acting
DeleteThis sounds like one I'd enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteIts always good to have great historical context...but I agree I would prefer to see more of her life inbetween the two stages.
ReplyDeleteBut then nothing happened in that time, that later time was just her thinking back to another time
Delete