Loss of Innocence:  A Novel of the French Revolution

By Anne Newton Walther

ISBN-10:  0-9676703-4-9

ISBN-13:  978-0-9676703-4-8

375 pages

Published by Tapestries Publishing, 2006 Washington Street, San Francisco, CA  94109

Publisher's website - http://www.tapestriespublishing.com/

U.S. $24.95

Loss of Innocence:  A Novel of the French Revolution by Anne Newton Walther captures the intrigue, danger, and uncertainty that plagued France during this momentous time in its history.

French countess Eugenie Devereau looks forward to the social changes the revolution will bring to France.  From her quiet Bordeaux valley estate, she maintains a network of agents to keep her informed of all the events unfolding beyond the chateau’s walls. 

Civil unrest plagues Paris, growing worse as the hatred of the monarchy and all it stands for, deepens.  Eugenie, a long-time friend of Marie Antoinette, receives a cryptic message from the queen, and believes the royal family is in danger.  As things go from bad to worse, Eugenie sends her trusted aid to Paris to be her eyes and ears in a city filled with anger and resentment toward the monarchy.

Never one to sit still and let events unfold around her, Eugenie joins forces with the Americans and some of her countrymen in a secret plot to help the royal family escape from prison after being captured on their flight to Varennes.  American shipper, Bridger Goodrich, who fell in love with Eugenie when she visited Virginia at the onset of the American Revolution, plans to help Eugenie escort the royal family out of the country to a small town in America.  As the danger increases, Bridger and Eugenie are drawn closer together, never knowing if their decision to help the royal family will be fatal for either of them.

In Loss of Innocence, Anne Newton Walther has perfectly combined historical fact with fiction to create a story that will keep readers begging for more.  Her knowledge of the time period shines through in every detail and the reader is instantly transported to France in the late 1780’s.  Using the little-known plot by French nobles and Americans to rescue the queen from her prison in France and transport her across the Atlantic to the safety of the banks of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, Walther has developed a story of intrigue, danger, mysterious characters, and a hint of romance. 

I highly recommend Loss of Innocence to all readers of historical fiction.  Anne Newton Walther has written one of the best pieces of historical fiction I’ve read in a long time.

  *HIGHLY RECOMMENDED