A book almost as long as the actual French Revolution.

I have no idea (off the top of my head) how long the French Revolution lasted, but I know it was a while (I’m a product of the American education system. We learned about the fact that the French Revolution happened, but that’s about it. I don’t recall any details, or I didn’t until I read this book).

Anyway, I’d heard good things about Hilary Mantel, so I thought I’d work my way through her ouvre, starting with this one. Oof. I enjoyed the book, but it took me a few tries to get through it. I also had to take a few breaks during my final attempt, to read something a bit lighter. Mantel’s research must have been meticulous and must have taken her years.  I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia whilst reading the book, because I needed to figure out who was who.

The book begins well before the Revolution, with the births of three major players – Danton, Desmoulins, and Robespierre. We follow them through their lives, educations, moves to Paris, loves, losses, and everything that makes a life. Mantel uses their own words to shape the characters, to make them human. Because they were. They’re only larger than life to us now, many years later. At the time, they were living their lives, trying to do what they thought was right. OK, maybe Camille Desmoulins had a greater sense of drama than the others, but his neck was on the line (literally), too.

It took a lot of effort to get through this book mostly because of the density (mine, and the book’s), but it was worth it for sure.