Great book: "Liberty: The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France."

[Sequoia]

by Lucy Moore



From Booklist
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" for the six women through whose public and private lives Moore presents a fresh history of the French Revolution. Salonnieres Germaine de Stael and Manon Roland were early enthusiasts but later paid a price (a very heavy price in the case of Roland, who was guillotined) for their moderate views. Theroigne de Mericourt and Pauline Leon sought more activist roles. One of glamorous beauty Theresia de Fontenay's romantic entanglements helped trigger Robespierre's fall, and Juliette Recamier, a schoolgirl when the Revolution began, became an icon of the next generation. Using the Revolution's progress as her framework, Moore (who also wrote Maharanis, 2004), interweaves the six women's stories to show how each helped steer or was steered by the course of events. For all their talk of equality, some of the Revolution's most fervent leaders were uninterested in, if not violently opposed to, women's rights, and Moore's subjects had to contend with this as well as with the general havoc of the time. Riveting and revelatory.

*****
Fascinating can't begin to describe this book. It's very captivating and well written. For a long time I've been wanting to read a good and insightful book on this period of history. After having read the classic "A Tale of Two Cities" years ago, I've been interested ever since. The book is just amazing!

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Thank you, I'll check it out!

nt

[Sequoia]

2. One thing that strikes me about the French Revolution

is how very involved women were. To the point where men did now want them meddling in politics or having organizations. These men did not women to vote or speak their minds because they viewed it as unnatural and vulgar. A lot of the times it seemed women were the driving force for change and sadly some lost their lives because of it. It seems that any history of that time leaves out how influencial women were. In Charles Dickens classic, "A Tale of Two Cities", where he writes about that knitting women making red hats was basically true in a fictionalized sense. The women were allowed to attend the political meetings but couldn't speak out but you could hear their knitting needles clacking making bonnets rouge, or the Phrygian cap.


http://www.languedoc-france.info/06141204_libertycap.htm

When women wore these some men would get angry and snatch them off their heads and stomp on them in the mud. What is it about men who fear political awareness in women, some things just never change. Interstingly enough, this same cap is used in the USA on some state flags and organizations.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. Speaking of the knitting and wearing of

the bonnets rouge, have you read Tracy Chevalier's latest novel? She wrote Girl With the Pearl Earring and the new book is Burning Bright, about some of the neighbors of William Blake in London. It's a good read for anyone who likes historical novels, and has strong female characters, too.

Blake wore the bonnet rouge in public early in the book, later there was much anti-French sentiment, people coming around wanting everyone to sign petitions of loyalty to King George. Much like "Love It or Leave It" in the Vietnam era and "Support Our Troops" today.

[DemBones DemBones]

3. Sounds a bit like a reprise of Marge Piercy's "City of Darkness City of Light"

which has three female and three male characters. (Book Review below.)

Pauline Leon is in both books, and the Manon Philipon of City of Darkness City of Light who marries a bureacrat may be the Manon Roland of Lucy Moore's book. I think she is because one review of Piercy's book refers to Mme. Roland. Theroigne de Mericourt sounds familiar, too. (Obviously, there are characters in Piercy's book besides the six main characters, literally mobs of them!) Piercy's approach is feminist and socialist. It's worth reading but not a light read. You might want to see if your library has it, see how you like it compared to Liberty .It's out of print or at least Amazon just has 1 used copy available.

Also, a couple of the customer reviews at Amazon suggested Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety and said they liked it better than Piercy's book -- but, then, they read it first, which always affects how you view another book on the same topic. I would like to read Lucy Moore's book and Hilary Mantel's book now. It's always interesting to see different author's takes on the same people and events in hisory.


From Publishers Weekly

Depicting the experiences of three brave women, Piercy (Gone to Soldiers) explores the human reality of the French Revolution, bringing to life the immense role women played in bringing down the monarchy. Claire Lacombe escapes the grinding poverty of her youth by becoming an actress in a traveling troupe. Beautiful and filled with the determination that can be forged by enduring hardship, she becomes an inspiring symbol as she dares to participate in pivotal events. Manon Philipon, a jeweler's daughter, idolizes Rousseau and the life of the mind. Marrying an austere government bureaucrat, she learns that she has an innate grasp of politics. Pauline Leon, the owner of a chocolate shop, is galvanized when she witnesses the executions of poor people rioting for bread. Their three stories are deftly braided with the lives of three men?the incorruptible Robespierre, the opportunistic Danton and Nicolas Caritat, an academician trying to walk the high wire between old and new. Men may be necessary to drive the plot, but women are its engine. It is women who take to the streets looking for "justice, bread and freedom," and who win concessions on issues like divorce and inheritance rights. Piercy skillfully juxtaposes the political debates, painfully slow reforms and bloody confrontations against the ironies and absurdities of everyday life. Since the novel offers multiple perspectives, events sometimes overlap and readers must pay close attention to the dates listed with chapter headings. This is a minor obstacle, however, in a novel that adds fresh, powerfully grounding perspective to accepted historical fact. QPB featured alternate.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

[Sequoia]

5. Thank you, I'll check it out.

I want a red liberty cap, but the one I found on Ebay is made of fleece, not wool. Of course, I can't seem to find a knitting pattern for it either.

[DemBones DemBones]

6. Thanks for this thread! I'm interested in the book

you suggested and the one suggested at Amazon, too. Any books I read about this time period are passed on to my daughter, who is greatly interested in the French Revolution. Marge Piercy's book got me more interested in this period and now I look specifically for books that I can share with my daughter because we love to discuss books.

A fleece bonnet just doesn't get it, does it? Tres inauthentique!

Is the bonnet rouge not just a really tall stocking cap that's draped over and pinned with a rosette? I can't see your illustration now but that's pretty much how it's described in the book about Blake, IIRC. If women were knitting a lot of them, I'd think that would be the case. Next question is where did they get the rosettes? Presumably, other women were making those. . .