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Le Vin Press
Pub date July 14, 2023
ASIN B0BYKFQGLG
Price $8.99 (USD) Kindle edition
A young woman forges a treacherous path to save hundreds from the Guillotine in Borchert’s electrifying second installment in her historical series. Seventeen-year-old Geneviève Fouquier-Tinville had attended University under a false disguise. But to exercise her independence, she must escape to America. Moreover, her lover Henri is also there. Trying to earn her passage to America, Geneviève begins to work as a court clerk in her father’s office. While copying lists of names scheduled for execution, she comes across the name of her old classmate and the fallen noble Louis LaGarde. She replaces Louise’s name with a dead person, unaware her one action will throw her in a deep web of deceit and lies. Borchert handles the psychology of her characters well, particularly Geneviève’s who works through her conflicted feelings about gender issues and her place in the world. With the brutality and barbarism of the human race on full display (even young children and pregnant women are not spared), the plot threatens to become heavy-handed. However, Borchert lends a gentle touch, showing how the power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of us all. With its high-stakes conflict, breezy romance, memorable characters, and a satisfying ending, the novel proves both compulsively readable and tremendously enjoyable. Borchert is a writer to watch.
***
Categories: historical drama, historical fiction
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