The Voice of the People (A Phoenix House book)

The Voice of the People (A Phoenix House book)

by JeanVautrin (Author)

Synopsis

Horace Grondin, deputy head of the Surete, is in fact Charles Bassicousse, sentenced sixteen years earlier for a murder he did not commit and obsessed with wreaking his revenge on Antoine Tarpagnan, the man he believes did commit the crime. Tarpagnan, an army captain, has fallen in love with Gabriella Pucci, the mistress of Paris's greatest villain. As Tarpagnan searches the underworld for Gabriella, unknown to him, Grondin is searching for him. Reminiscent of Victor Hugo's LES MISERABLES, with the zest for characterisation of Dickens, Vautrin's novel revels in the chaos and passion of the period culminating in the savage repression of the Commune. The final climactic moments between Grondin and Tarpagnan take place on the barricades as Paris descends into a fury of bloodletting and panic. Fiction on a grand scale, Vautrin's multi-peopled novel exuberantly recreates the moment.

$11.52

Save:$10.84 (48%)

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 481
Edition: illustrated edition
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Published: 11 Apr 2002

ISBN 10: 1861591748
ISBN 13: 9781861591746
Book Overview: A major novel from one of France's most distinguished writers 'Through the many adventures in his novel, the love affairs, the political intrigues, the linguistic fireworks, Jean Vautrin lets us hear in its fullness the cry of the people, springing from the depths of helplessness and despair, a cry of hate and of love inextricably entwined.' Le Monde Sold over 97,000 copies on publication in France

Media Reviews
We've had a couple of great reviews for this translation of the Prix Goncourt winner: 'this is a swashbuckling saga narrated in brief, pacy chapters often of a few pages, which never stays still long enough for the reader to become bored'George Walden, The Sunday Telegraph 'The Voice of the People is full of big action, grand passions and fine touches.'Michael Thompson-Noel, Financial Times '[a] juicy, full blooded, highly enjoyable melodrama...Vautrin setsup enough plotlines for half a dozen costume dramas and juggles them neatly.He teases the reader with enticing red herrings, pores the gore and pauses to give the life stories of minor characters...Vautrin's storytelling is compelling...Where Dumas used history as a peg on which to hang an idea, Vautrin uses it to dangle a thumping, spangled tale - and Howe catches all its colours.'David Coward, TLS '...I can recommend this book most warmly.'Historical Novels Review There has also been a review in Prize Quest magazine (who are also
Author Bio
Jean Vautrin was born in 1933. He has enjoyed a long and varied career, including a spell teaching French Literature at the University of Bombay in India, working as reporter and cartoonist on the Illustrated Weekly, and working in films alongside directors Roberto Rossellini and Vincente Minnelli. His novels include UN GRAND PAS VERS LE BON DIEU, which won the Prix Goncourt, France's highest literary accolade, in 1989, and SYMPHONIE GRABUGE, which won the Prix Populiste in 1994.