July 2023 - Revolutions

By way of preface I should introduce myself for those who may not know me. I am Paul, a Yorkshireman who has lived in Malaysia since 1994. I work as a construction consultant and am presently involved in the construction of the world's second tallest building in Kuala Lumpur.

REVOLUTIONS

This month's theme is about Revolutions through time and here is a link to a helpful definition by the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/revolution-politics

For the theme we could be thinking of one of the five major world revolutions:

The British Revolution (The Glorious Revolution) of 1688
The American Revolution (1775)
The French Revolution (1789)
The Russian Revolution (1917)
The Chinese Revolution (1947)

or we could be less specific :

The Industrial Revolution
or
The revolutions of 1848 across Europe.
or
Revolutionary thought/thinkers in general

or we could be slightly more obscure :
The islamic revolution in Iran
or
The Haitian revolution for example

What will I read?

For the Russian Revolution it will be

Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridale

Hmmmm, I have several on my shelf. I'm leaning toward Scaramouche: A Romance of the French Revolution because it's been on the shelf since 2011!

>4 Tess_W: Not a bad call - It has been on mine forever too!

One that I've been meaning to get to for a couple years or more, and it's been on my radar for more than one RTT topic, Gandhi's An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth: A Critical Edition, which is a heavily annotated (800+ pages) version published by the Yale University Press.

I have many books, fiction and non-fiction, set in and around the French and Russian revolutions. So I will have plenty/too much choice for July.

I haven't checked yet if my library has this, but I'm hoping for:
Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 / Eric Foner

I intend to read In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. This is a novel of the lives of the Maribel sisters. It is set in the 1960's and is about their role in the Revolution in the Dominican Republic.

I’m currently reading The Lacuna which is historical revolution covering Mexico but also Stalin and Trotsky so it might work. And I will consider reading Doctor Zhivago

>10 Kristelh: I read Zhivago back in college, but I may do a reread of it in the Pevear-Volokhonsky translation.

>11 CurrerBell: Mike, my book is quite old so probably not the best translation; Max Hayward and Manya Harari and Poems of Yurii Zhivago translated by Bernard Guilbert Guerney. I would also try to audio along with the book and the audio is translated by Pevear/Volokhonsky. The audio is read by John Lee.

I am planning on reading about the American Revolution with Arundel by Kenneth Roberts.

My tentative plan is to read The Underdogs (Los de Abajo) by Mariano Azuela (1915), a classic novel about the 1910 Mexican Revolution. Azuela was a medic during the conflict.

>11 CurrerBell: I've not read that for 30 years. Well overdue for a re-read.

I've found one fiction and one nonfiction book that I hope to read. I've had a copy of Doctor Zhivago sitting on my shelves forever, never read, and I may as well pull it off and read it now. For nonfiction, I've got Revolutionary Summer by Joseph J. Ellis about the American Revolution that also looks like a good read.

I think that Reporting the Revolutionary War: Before It was History, It was News should give an overall look at the American Revolution. How unbiased the reporting was remains to be seen. My own perspective is coloured by the fact that I'm English/Canadian but have a direct ancestor who fought on the side of the patriots - not something I was expecting to find when I started my genealogical research.

Thinking of the agricultural revolution, not sure where to start. suggestions?

>18 cindydavid4: There were 2 of them: Neolithic Age, and then beginning in England and spreading 17-19th century.

If you are interested in the newer revolution, I have 2-3 books that are good, but are college level (2005) and may be difficult to get or too expensive, but here they are:

Agricultural Revolution in England: The Transformation of the Agrarian Economy 1500-1850 by Mark Overton
The Real Agricultural Revolution: The Transformation of English Farming, 1939-1985 by Paul Brassley.

However, instead of a wide overview, you could pick and invention, inventor, etc., and read that way--it might be more readable. Some suggestions:
Jethro Tull-Seed Drill
Robert Bakewell-selective livestock breeding
Lord Charles Townsend-crop rotation (turnips, barley, wheat, clover)
King George III--he was actually a "gentleman farmer" (while not bothering the colonists!) and he maintained large gardens at Windsor and Richmond. It was during his reign that the agricultural revolution was at its brightest.
The ENCLOSURE MOVEMENT was both good and bad for farmers and the revolution.
THE US: John Deere, Cyrus McCormick
Mark Carleton developed a strain of wheat that could withstand Russian winters
James Oliver invented the chilled iron plow that could be used on prairie soil that was very different than regular soil as it had never been tilled and had been tramped down by the buffalo. (The Deere plows would break)

Or you could take my course in the fall about the Industrial Revolution where I dedicate a week to the agricultural revolution which made the Industrial Revolution possible!;)

Hope this at least gives you an idea!

P.S. "They" say we are in the midst of an agricultural revolution right now dealing with the move to sustainable farming.

>19 Tess_W: oh Id love to take your class! but thats months from now Have you read Rob Swigart? He wrote Mixed Harvest: Stories from the Human Past which might be what im looking for

>20 cindydavid4: I have not! However, that is going on my "list." I'm not a fan of short stories, but this might do for the Neolithic period!

What a great challenge topic!

As tempted as I was by the appeal of reading more about the Chinese revolution (Revolution is not a Dinner Party was left behind by one of my sons), I think I'll tackle Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. I'm nearly finished with Ben Franklin's autobiography, and this book will make a nice "and then what happened"!

I have been doing lots of reading in the last year about "Bad Girls." Women who were muses, or mistresses in one way or another. Therefore, for this months theme I am going to continue in that vein and read another "Bad Woman" book. I have also decided that I am going to stick with Historical Fiction and will be reading two books for this months challenge. I pulled Annette Vallon by James Tipton from my shelves and will start with that one first. It is a novel set in the French Revolution and is about the woman who was the mistress and the muse of William Wadsworth.

I am also going to try to read In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. This is set during the Dominican rebellion of the 1960's. I have been wanting to read this book for a long time and it seems like a good time to read it.

>23 benitastrnad: the alvarez is excellent. One of those 'I had no idea" books that got me reading more.

>24 cindydavid4:
I have to get In the Time of the Butterflies from the library and since it is too hot to move outside, I am going to do Annette Vallon first, simply because it is already in my house. It is much cooler than the Julia Alvarez book, even though, by most reports the Alvarez is the better book.

>19 Tess_W: Don't forget Eli Whitney's cotton gin.

>26 cfk: Good one, and such a great story behind that invention, too!

Here is the link to our Monthly Wiki for Revolutions for those who wish to add their books to the list:

https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Reading_Through_Time_Challenge

can I be a bit silly and include a book about the beatles? Asking for a friend

cool!

>29 cindydavid4: Well I suppose they did revolutionize popular music.

I am pretty terrible at enforcing rules Cindy in that I very rarely seek to enforce them anyhow. If you think it fits or your friend does then for me that is fine!

The friend is me. Im just being silly coz I still cant decide what I want to read. Ive got lots I could reread, Tell me more about inventions that might work for agricultural revolution

>7 john257hopper: I read a fascinating one about the Russian Memories from moscow to the Black Sea Teffi was a famous journalist in Russia and fled with many others aftre the war trying to get to paris. Very well written personal account as well as an account of what refugees faced

First time here! I have chosen the Russian Revolution!

I am going to attempt to read The House of Romanov Trilogy by Robert Alexander. The books are:
1. The Kitchen Boy
2. Rasputin's Daughter
3. The Romanov Bride

I have read The Kitchen Boy before, and loved it!

I have a lot to read this month, so I hope I can get through all three!!

>19 Tess_W:
If you want to read about the Agricultural Revolution then a biography of John Deere would be good. As would a book on the Homestead Acts in the U.S. that started in 1862. Homesteading the Plains: Toward a New History by Richard Edwards would be a good recent academic book to start with for nonfiction. It sort of sets the traditional academic view that the Homestead Acts were a failure on its head.

For fiction there would be O Pioneers by Willa Cather or Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson. The latter book is about women homesteaders in eastern Montana.

Canada and Australia also had variations on Homestead Acts. The ones in Canada were very similar to those in the U.S. but the only work of fiction I can think of that would be about homesteading is Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner and most of it doesn't take place in Canada - only the section about homesteading is in Canada.

I'm going to read Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson, set during the Revolutionary War (U.S.)

>34 Katie-Rose: I've got the Kitchen Boy on my shelf. I hope to get to it soon!

>37 Tess_W:

That’s great! I read it many, many years ago, and my enjoyment of it has stayed with me! I’m looking forward to reading it again!

>34 Katie-Rose: Welcome to the Reading Through Time Group!

I have also read and really enjoyed The Kitchen Boy!

>38 Katie-Rose: It's been a number of years since I read The Kitchen Boy, but I really liked it, as well! Might have made my favourites that year, but don't quote me on that! If it didn't, I think it was close.

I’ll be reading Waiting for Snow in Havana:Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire, which is about the Castro revolution. Presently waiting to get it from the library’

>34 Katie-Rose: Welcome to your new habit! Saw the books you have on your profile, you go for some heavy books (we call them BBs) youre going to fit in here justs fine!Feel free to ask questions as you are browsing and figuring things out!

I am probably in a minorty on Kitchen Boy. Read numerous book on the Romanovs fiction and non. I found this book really lacking in historical accuracy. Is been too long ago to give an example t give an example but it was very close to the ending. I do however remember closing it with a sigh that it wasnt better.

Edited to add: just looked at some other reviews elsewhere and noted many of thim compared this book with The True Memoirs of Little K which I actually enjoyed quite a bit, but had the same contrived ending. It is possible I am conflating the two books and really have no Idea what im talking about....

>35 benitastrnad: my problem is that Im not as much interested in the second agriculural revolution as I am in the first. Ive got a book i ordered that might do the trick If not Ill go thro the slew of books I have on russion, french and chinese revoltions and see what I havent read. There is a possibiility that Hillary Mantels a place of greater safety might work. I read it before and while I was blown away by it, I don't think I had enough background info to get it. A second read might just do the trick

I completed Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini This novel takes place during the very early stages of the French Revolution. Andre-Louis Moreau, the protagonist, unsure of his parentage, seeks revenge throughout the book for the seemly unjustified death of his friend. During the course of the years, Moreau takes up with an acting troupe and plays the role of Scaramouche, much to the delight of his audience. Later, he flees and settles into a fencing school which he inherits when the owner dies. Later, he becomes a part of the Constituent Assembly. While light on the revolution storyline, it is heavy on the swashbuckling! I listened to this on audio. 11 hours 12 mins (438 pages) 4 stars CAT: RTT Revolutions

P.S. If somebody can post the link to the Wiki......I will post!

>42 cindydavid4:
Thank you for the welcome!! I will say my library is quite diverse! Hehe!

I absolutely agree The Kitchen Boy isn't very historically accurate...I like it in the way that I like the animated film, Anastasia, full well knowing it's just fiction!

I will have to look into The True Memoirs of Little K!

>39 DeltaQueen50:

I love hearing others have read a book that I have as well! I don't have many people around me who read, so this group is going to be great!

>40 LibraryCin:
When I read it the first time it was definitely one of my favorites of the year!

>45 Tess_W:
Here is the link to the monthly Wiki.
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Reading_Through_Time_Challenge#JULY:_Pau...

I put my book for the month on it while I was there, so your book won't be alone.

I read Scaramouche some years ago and enjoyed it, but didn't continue on with the series after reading the first one.

>35 benitastrnad: Sold ;-) One BB for Homesteading the Plains: Toward a New History has landed in my TBR list; it may or may not get read in July, depending which local library(s) have it, if any.

>46 Katie-Rose: ok then. I like a little history in my HF, and dont get me started on Anastatia, but to each her own :)

I am very lucky that my husband reads, and now and then we share books but he usually isnt big on discussions. My big sis reads lots of what I do, and we talk about them on the phone. But this place had readers and discussions in one place. 24/7 So yeah I totally how great this place is. Like I said, welcome to your new habit, or rabbit hole if you will

>49 benitastrnad: I'm with you; only so much swashbuckling I can tolerate! TY for the link!

I have completed my read of Arundel by Kenneth Roberts. Originally published in 1930, I really enjoyed this book. The author provides a stirring story of Benedict Arnold's doomed expedition to Quebec in 1775 and also provides lots of historical detail on the food, clothing, weapons, and politics of the day. Although both Native Americans and women in general get less than fair treatment, I think the book is an accurate picture of the times it was portraying

I am about 2/3 through One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which deals with more revolutions than I can keep track of, many of them of the “revolt against the powers that be” kind (the liberals against the conservatives kind), others of technological revolution, not to mention Marquez’ revolutionary new writing style (somewhat new to me at least). I hope I can count this extraordinary novel for this theme.

>21 Tess_W: Mixed Harvest stories from the human past is excellent!
the stories are really connected, moving from mini events from early huntng and gathering to the development of cities. What i loved is that each story is followed by an archaeological find or two that fit the events. I think this is perfect for the agricultural revolution, a very long journey to get there of course and hence to our present I havent finished it yet so Ill write a review later But its worth taking a look at

I’ve finished One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is a brilliant book. Its approach is not that of historical fiction, but it speaks to the history of any country in Latin America. And as I mentioned, it is filled with revolutions against unjust and exploitative powers and with the effects of revolutions in technology.

>56 dianelouise100: excellent choice, one of my all time fav reads

>57 cindydavid4: It’s going to be my “best book of the year,” I’m pretty sure.

The Romanov Bride / Robert Alexander
2.5 stars

This book follows two main characters: Ella, the sister of Alexandra (the last Tsarina of Russia); Ella was married to another high-ranking Russian royal; and Pavel, a peasant who becomes a revolutionary. Pavel’s wife is killed early in the revolution, and he becomes involved enough to help take the life of Ella’s husband.

I might not have that exactly right. I listened to the audio and missed much of it. It just didn’t hold my interest most of the time. I did appreciate two different people doing each character. I also liked the person narrating Pavel has a Russian accent. I don’t think I knew anything about Ella before. I did find it interesting that she later created a nunnery. I shouldn’t have been surprised at the end, but I was.

>28 DeltaQueen50: Thank you! I find it quicker to check this thread first for the link!

I'll be reading Les Chouans, starting this evening.

review of mixed harvest is here

https://www.librarything.com/topic/349922#n8189825

Franklin and Washington:the Founding Partnership

Larson has a solid reputation as an author of a number of historical nonfiction books. He crams in so much detail that it read too much like a classroom history book for my tastes. He did relate a great deal that I did not know even though I studied American History in college.

Washington and Franklin began their working partnership during the French and Indian War, Washington as a military leader from Virginia and Franklin both as political and military leader from Pennsylvania. Throughout their thirty years as colleagues and friends, Franklin supported Washington's military leadership with his wit, his newspaper, and his skills as a diplomat with broad connections.

The Continental Congress had little to no power whatsoever. Each state maintained its soverignty and refused to supply the funds needed to support the Continental Army. Consequently, there was a great deal of unrest and anger among the officers and troops during and after the war for lack of pay. Shay's Rebellion was a response to this failure to act. Without Franklin's ability to enlist France's financial support, the Revolution was doomed to failure.

There were two important and distinct differences between Franklin and Washington, both of which created conflict during the writing of the Constitution. Franklin was an abolitionist and Washington a slave holder, a prime issue in the writing of the Consitution. Franklin was also opposed to a powerful executive branch and supported a triumvirate approach like the Romans. Washington would not even consider such a possibility. Inspite of their difference, these two came together to win their people's freedom and to create the foundation of the American way of government and life.

I have read a gripping murder mystery set during the French Revolution by Anne Perry, the curiously titled The One Thing More.

This gripping novel is a murder mystery set during the French Revolution, in the run up to the execution of the former King Louis XVI in January 1793. In the desperate economic situation of the time, the inhabitants of Citizen Bernave's house, including his extended family, servants, and others, are shocked one night when a band of desperate citizens invade the house, wrongly believing they are hoarding food. Bernave confronts them, but when the confusion is over, he lies dead, stabbed in the back (i.e. by one of his household, not by the intruders). Needless to say, there is a complex set of motives, arising both from the turbulent politics of the time, with double dealing between the rival political factions, and from the past personal actions of the characters. This story has the reader guessing as to the exact motives of Bernave and several of the others right up until a dramatic set of revelations in the final chapter.

The central political thread running throughout the novel centres around moderate revolutionaries who think that the execution of the king, whatever his personal faults and the undoubted evils and injustices of the Ancien Régime, is an act of barbarism which will bring all the surrounding countries invading and tearing France apart, as was indeed the case. The novel has interesting and thoughtful things to say about how revolutions in seeking to destroy all that went before them, the evil and the good, so often end up not replacing them with values and institutions that are better than their abolished predecessors. As one of the non-political characters says, "All I want is safe streets and food in the shops...... I don’t care whether it’s the King, or Marat or the Commune, or who it is. And I think most of the women in France feel the same. What’s a revolution for if we’re all still cold and hungry, and scared stiff of our neighbours in case they take a dislike to us and make a false report to some Section Leader, and the next thing you know, we’re charged with something?". The fanaticism of the Jacobins is well illustrated by an oration by the cold Louis Saint Just: "The vessel of the revolution can arrive in port only on a sea reddened with torrents of blood! .....We must not only punish traitors, but all people who are not enthusiastic. There are only two kinds of citizen, the good and the bad. The republic owes the good its protections. To the bad it owes only death!". As Célie Laurent observes of the humourlessness of the radicals, "Was it really necessary to be humourless in order to be good? Could one not possibly bring about social change for the better, and still keep the ability to see the absurd, and to laugh at it?". A really gripping novel, though I am puzzled by its banal and seemingly meaningless title, what is that all about?.

This month I have also read some short stories by Balzac, including two set during the French Revolution, An episode under the Terror and The Recruit.

>64 john257hopper: "Was it really necessary to be humourless in order to be good? Could one not possibly bring about social change for the better, and still keep the ability to see the absurd, and to laugh at it?".

think the bolshevieks had a problem with that as well.

Not quite a revolution, but the author refers to it as such in the title

Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877 / Eric Foner
2 stars

This is a history book that looks at the time period of Reconstruction in the U.S., following the emancipation of slaves.

I had hoped it would focus more on the social and cultural tidbits, but the bulk of the book focused on politics. So, I found it very dry, very academic. Unfortunately, it was also a fat book with small font, so even when I skimmed, it was slow-going. And I did skim much of it. There were a few parts that I found a bit more interesting and did slow down and take in a bit more, and it is a time I really don’t know much about, so I did learn a few things, but overall, it’s just too slow/dry/academic for me. I did learn that black people (men) were able to vote, and were even elected to office; they also sat on juries. Things actually did loosen up for a bit before tightening up again. I didn’t know this.

I read Revolutionary Summer: the Birth of American Independence by Joseph J. Ellis. I have collected several books by Joseph Ellis over the years, but this is the first one I've actually gotten around to reading. I have to say, I was quite impressed. I really enjoyed his style. There's a bit of wit with an occasional touch of irony in his writing.

Ellis' thesis in this book is that 1776 is the key year in the story of the American Revolution, but that historians have tended to tell the story in separate accounts, focusing on either the political story in Philadelphia with the Continental Congress, or the military events in New York. But Ellis argues that they were two sides of a single story that cannot truly be understood unless they are told together. These events were happening at the same time, and what happened in one place influenced outcomes in the other. He proceeds to give us the story, with details of what was happening on both fronts. He provides descriptive portraits of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin, as well as some of the leading figures on the English side. His descriptions of the political and military situations are clear and revealing.

The events surrounding the American Revolution are familiar, and we think we know what happened, but he provides details that I did not know. For one thing, we know all the stories about the deprivations that the Continental Army faced throughout the war. One of the problems being that enlistments were normally for just a year, so recruits were leaving at the time they had finally been trained, and they had to start over with new recruits. They were also usually woefully short of supplies. But Ellis points out that this was inevitable, because Americans at that time feared a standing army, and saw it as an embodiment of centralized military power, which was the very thing they were fighting against. Individual states were more interested in supplying their local militias than the Continental Army. And the Army was intended to be transitory, expanding as needed to fight battles, supplemented by the militias. This is a point I had never thought of before, and don't remember it being pointed out by any other historian. In describing the military campaign in New York, he makes it clear that the English forces had several opportunities to crush the Continental Army, but allowed it to escape to fight another day. Another surprise to me was that both General William Howe and his brother Admiral Richard Howe, leaders of the English army and navy, still actually hoped to broker a diplomatic solution and end the fighting. They hoped the superior show of force would cause the Americans to rethink their position. However, by the time they arrived, it was too late, and the Continental Congress could not be turned.

I found the book to be extremely well-written, making Ellis' points well, and clarifying the events of the American Revolution in 1776. I look forward to reading the other books by Ellis that are sitting on my shelves.

founding brothers was the one I read, and really liked. I should read that one.

>68 cindydavid4: I definitely recommend it!

>67 atozgrl: Going on my WL!

>70 Tess_W: I think you'll like it!

I have finished Les Chouans, set in 1799, when the Royalist rebellion in Brittany flared up again. We meet stalwart Republican soldiers, Breton peasants incited by their priests who are in it mostly for plunder, and self-seeking aristocrats. Ah yes, and a rather tedious pair of lovers on opposite sides of the drama.

>61 MissWatson: >72 MissWatson: Thanks so much for having mentioned The Chouans! I hadn't thought of it, but your mention made me use it for this month and I just finished a few minutes after midnight.

A couple or more years ago I found what I think is a complete set of the Centennary edition (published in 1899) of Balzac's novels scattered between two used book stores that share the same building in Doylestown PA. Most of the volumes contain two novels accompanied in many cases by a few stories. I think there's seventeen volumes all told, assuming I've got all of them. The other novel in the Chouans volume is The Wild Ass' Skin, and I think I'll go to that in a few days. (I started reading La Peau de Chagrin (en français) some half-century ago but only barely started.)

In addition to The Chouans, I also read a short story, "The Conscript," also of the French Revolution in the west, that accompanied The Chouans in the volume.

Might be time to do a complete read-through of at least what I've got of ol' Honoré (including the Graham Robb biography).

The series editor, in a short intro to The Chouans, compared it to Walter Scott. An apt comparison – and I'm not a particular fan of Scott. The concept of The Wild Ass' Skin is an intriguing one, though, and I'm quite a blt more hopeful on that novel.

ETA: Oh, and also at one of those Doylestown bookstores, I just recently found a volume of Balzac's plays. Not sure if it's complete or if there's another volume, but I can get around to that one too. I don't think it's part of the 1899 Centennary edition.

>73 CurrerBell: You're welcome! I have also found that I want to explore his work more deeply, but there are so many ways of tackling it! I would like to have an edition that gives more information about his revision of the text. I also read a few of his short stories this month, and I like the ones that start in a lawyer's chamber.
And now you've made me curious about La peau de chagrin...

>67 atozgrl: & >68 cindydavid4: The Ellis history I have read is The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789. It's the history of the creation of the American Constitution, and with it the ensuring that the states would bind together as a strong union rather than a loose and (as Ellis shows) almost assuredly ultimately doomed confederation. It was excellent, I thought. The quartet of the title is comprised of George Washington, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.

this has been a lot of fun! I found out about another agricultural revolution that Tess mentioned above, in the 1700s involving the affects of the Encloser Act that pushed farmers off the land to work in the mines or cities. (Orwells Roses is a very interesting look at this as well as other changes over the years

I started reading Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak in late July. I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish it before the end of the month, but I didn't expect it to take me this long to finish! This is one of those books that has been sitting on my shelf forever, and I had never gotten around to reading it.

Although the cover blurb touts it as "a love story for all time", and the movie played it up as a love story, to me it was much more about what was happening to the people in Russia during the time covered in the book and how the great events of the time affected them. It didn't really turn into a love story until about the last quarter of the book.

Doctor Zhivago covers a broad swath of Russian history, from the 1905 rebellion through World War I, the initial revolution in February 1917, the October 1917 Bolshevik revolution, and the following civil war. The lives of Dr. Zhivago, Lara, and their friends and acquaintances are set against this background. Their stories are complicated, and there are a lot of characters who appear, disappear, and turn up unexpectedly later in the novel. Dr. Zhivago's story is tragic, although this is somewhat his own fault. The overall tone of the novel was darker than I expected.

In sum, I'd have to say that it was an interesting story, but I doubt that I would read it again. I struggled a bit with the rating, but finally decided that 3.5 stars is closest to how I feel about it.

I finished reading Annette Vallon by James Tipton. This was a work of historical fiction set in the French Revolution and ending in 1820. Annette Vallon was the mistress and muse of William Wordsworth the English Romantic poet. She lived in France, and he was English. They had a daughter together but this relationship was not acknowledged until in the 1920's when two letters from Annette to William were discovered in French archives. That means that the historical record of their relationship is sketchy at best and this gives a novelist license for many liberties. Tipton takes them. The edition of the book that I have provides an extensive addendum to the novel in which the author explains the liberties that he took and that due to the lack of reliable documentation the novelist can do so.

This is a long book. The novel is 480 pages and there is a 20 page addendum that provides some greatly needed context and supporting information about the times and Wordsworth's trips to France during the French Revolution. As for Annette - she has great adventures and lives a long life. In the end the French government gives her a pension for her service to the country during the French Revolution but the available documentation does not say what that service was or when it was done. Therefore, details of her live remain sketchy.

The novel is written in a different kind of 1st person and I admit that the first 150 pages were hard going. As I became accustomed to the style the reading got easier. However, I find the exploits of the heroine to be over-the-top and simply unbelievable. That doesn't mean that I disliked the book. It does mean that I had to suspend belief at times in order to stay with it and finish the book. One of the strengths of the novel is that it lets the reader know that the farther away from Paris the populace was the less they cared about the ideals of the French Revolution and the more they cared about the practical applications of these laws on their lives. The constant shortages of food, and the constant conscription of men for the army were some of the main concerns and the author does a great job of explaining this and working it into the plot.

This is a book for a patient reader or one who comes to the subject (the French Revolution) with some previous knowledge. I would recommend it with those reservations. The Reader's Guide and the contents of the addendum were very helpful with providing extra information. This was a good move on the part of the publisher.

I seem to have stumbled upon a theme this year of reading about notorious women and this novel fit right into that pattern.