Sophie Perinot
Author of Ribbons of Scarlet
Works by Sophie Perinot
Associated Works
Songs of Blood and Gold — Contributor — 4 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- writer
historical novelist - Agent
- Kevan Lyon (Marshal Lyon Literary Agency)
- Short biography
- I’ve always been passionate about history. I was the first member of my college graduating class to declare a history major (first quarter of freshman year – not that I was over-eager or anything). Next I attended law school. Whatever else can be said about lawyers (and please, spare me the bad jokes), we get a lot of practice writing. It’s a much larger part of the job than most people realize. Eventually, however, my muse was stronger than my inner-litigator and I left the legal side of things to my husband (aka my law-school-sweetheart) and “retired” to the happier job of raising my children and pursuing artistic interests, including writing.
It’s often said writers are readers first. I am no exception. I have always been an avid reader, especially of the classics. Deciding what to write was easy. As a life-long student of history, from a family of history-nerds, historical fiction was destined to be my niche. My attraction to French history was equally natural — I studied French abroad, and I am a hopeless devotee of one of the grandfathers of the genre, Alexandre Dumas, père.
I live in Great Falls, Virginia surrounded by trees and books. My books are time machines. Currently I am traveling daily to the 17th century, but it is anybody’s guess where I will be off to next and who I will meet. I can’t wait! [website: https://www.sophieperinot.com/home/abo... ] - Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Great Falls, Virginia, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Virginia, USA
Members
Reviews
Liberté, égalité, sororité!
Six of my favorite historical fictions writers, referred to as the "Scarlet Sisters" (Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Eliza Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn and Heather Webb), have combined forces in this exquisite compendium of tales of the French Revolution. The book features seven sections in chronological order - each told through the voice of an historic female figure of the revolution and written by one of the "Scarlet Sisters". The stories intentionally show more intersect from time to time, imagining how these women of note may have interacted. These historic woman come from all walks of life whether peasantry, royalty, aristocracy, merchant class or enlightened philosophy and were assuredly aware of one another.
The research which went into telling these tales is herculean. The writing is exquisite and the tales are deftly rendered. I loved how well the stories segued into one another and how beautifully the women's lives were brought to life. My own senses were heightened through the writing as I could easily imagine the stench of a prison, the wafting of a ladies rosewater perfume, the shimmer of light against the guillotine's blade and the din of an angry mob beyond control.
Although her own schedule did not allow for participating in the writing of one of the book's sections, renowned historical fiction writer, Allison Pataki provided a wonderful foreword, drawing the reader into these pages of "herstory". To the beloved "Scarlet Sisters", bravi pour un travail bien fait! show less
Six of my favorite historical fictions writers, referred to as the "Scarlet Sisters" (Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Eliza Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn and Heather Webb), have combined forces in this exquisite compendium of tales of the French Revolution. The book features seven sections in chronological order - each told through the voice of an historic female figure of the revolution and written by one of the "Scarlet Sisters". The stories intentionally show more intersect from time to time, imagining how these women of note may have interacted. These historic woman come from all walks of life whether peasantry, royalty, aristocracy, merchant class or enlightened philosophy and were assuredly aware of one another.
The research which went into telling these tales is herculean. The writing is exquisite and the tales are deftly rendered. I loved how well the stories segued into one another and how beautifully the women's lives were brought to life. My own senses were heightened through the writing as I could easily imagine the stench of a prison, the wafting of a ladies rosewater perfume, the shimmer of light against the guillotine's blade and the din of an angry mob beyond control.
Although her own schedule did not allow for participating in the writing of one of the book's sections, renowned historical fiction writer, Allison Pataki provided a wonderful foreword, drawing the reader into these pages of "herstory". To the beloved "Scarlet Sisters", bravi pour un travail bien fait! show less
The French Revolution is a major turning point not only in European history, but world history. Most often, men are the figures talked about in association with the revolution: King Louis, Robspiere, Lafayette. What is extraordinary about this book as it takes the perspectives of six (sort of seven) women and tells the story of the revolution from their eyes. It is through, enjoyable, and enlightening.
We start early in the revolution with Sophie Grouchie who is a noble woman who writes and show more fights for women's rights. Then we meet Louise, who is a fruit seller who leads the revolt and meets the king. Then we meet Princess Elizabeth, on the run with her brother, King Louis, and his family. Next is Manon Roland who is a politician's wife who would be a politician in her own right in a different time. After her, we meet Charlotte, a noblewomen looking to exact justice with a knife, and Pauline, a poor woman who stands strong in her belief for women's suffrage. Finally, we meet Emilie, the most beautiful woman in France, who has more to offer than just her looks.
Going into this book, I was concerned that the six writers would be too many to handle. But in reality, this book is very cohesive while still having six distinct narrators. The women all have their own personal dilemmas, but the revolution bonds their narratives. COver the course of six distinct sections, the reader follows the revolution over all its different phases and significant events. I fell in love with the majority of characters, some were not as exciting as others, but it didn’t really matter because the book was on to the next.
The themes of this book are still important and relevant in this time as they were then. While this book was published in late 2019, I read it in mid 2020. The themes of distrusting the government, protesting in the streets, and women fighting for their rights to be a part of society, are still prevalent today. Women who use their husbands to spread their opinions, or want to be more than their looks or to be more than a mother. The world has changed a lot, but not enough. I think people of all backgrounds should read this book. It is both educational and entertaining. But most importantly, it is enlightening. show less
We start early in the revolution with Sophie Grouchie who is a noble woman who writes and show more fights for women's rights. Then we meet Louise, who is a fruit seller who leads the revolt and meets the king. Then we meet Princess Elizabeth, on the run with her brother, King Louis, and his family. Next is Manon Roland who is a politician's wife who would be a politician in her own right in a different time. After her, we meet Charlotte, a noblewomen looking to exact justice with a knife, and Pauline, a poor woman who stands strong in her belief for women's suffrage. Finally, we meet Emilie, the most beautiful woman in France, who has more to offer than just her looks.
Going into this book, I was concerned that the six writers would be too many to handle. But in reality, this book is very cohesive while still having six distinct narrators. The women all have their own personal dilemmas, but the revolution bonds their narratives. COver the course of six distinct sections, the reader follows the revolution over all its different phases and significant events. I fell in love with the majority of characters, some were not as exciting as others, but it didn’t really matter because the book was on to the next.
The themes of this book are still important and relevant in this time as they were then. While this book was published in late 2019, I read it in mid 2020. The themes of distrusting the government, protesting in the streets, and women fighting for their rights to be a part of society, are still prevalent today. Women who use their husbands to spread their opinions, or want to be more than their looks or to be more than a mother. The world has changed a lot, but not enough. I think people of all backgrounds should read this book. It is both educational and entertaining. But most importantly, it is enlightening. show less
Ribbons of Scarlet showcases six historical women as each of them make their way in what becomes the French Revolution. All six women come from different places both in society and mentally. Some start off as optimistic. Others are bitter from a lifetime of being hungry and doubt that the revolution will bring enough change to fill their bellies. Each narrator ended up in a different place too, as the one unifying factor became the idea that no one was spared during the revolution.
I show more actually enjoyed a majority of the stories in this anthology. In general, I thought they were all pretty strong and compelling. My favorites were the strongest were Dray's "The Philosopher", Perinot's "The Princess", and Quinn's "The Politician". In all of these stories, you met characters who started out looking at the world one day, but by the end of their time on the page, they had become someone else. In the case of Sophie Condorcet from Dray's story, she became more optimistic by the end of her narration, which I still felt true to form since hers is the first story that kicks off the revolution. Perinot's Princess Elisabeth and Quinn's Manon Roland are almost mythical figures from the French Revolution. Princess Elisabeth is a saint while Manon Roland is a tiger mom. However, the authors do a phenomenal job painting the complexities of each woman. There are the moments when these women are weak or angry or vindictive, but they stand by their principles for better or worse. I enjoyed reading about them and understanding what motivated them, and I sympathized for them. To me, that's the sign of a truly great author, and that's why I enjoyed these stories so much.'
I also really enjoyed Kamoie's "The Beauty" and Knight's "The Assassin". These were just a smidge below my first three favorite stories. Mostly because there wasn't as many shades to these characters. Emilie from the "The Beauty" is a fascinating person, but there's never really a moment where her worldview are challenged or where she's shocked by the society around her. Having been groomed by her mother to the view the worst of society's (especially men's) impulses, she's never surprised by Robespierre's narcissism or even her lover's cowardice. While her story is very touching, I didn't feel touched in the same way. It was like reading more about someone who was stuck rather than someone who had to undergo an identity shift, compared to a lot of the other characters.
Knight's characters of Pauline Leon and Charlotte Corday were similar: they were so convinced of their ideals that nothing really shook them out of it. Even when Charlotte is getting man-handled, she's never really in doubt about whether murdering Marat was a good thing or not. Pauline gets distracted with a man, but while this physically distracts her, it doesn't mentally distract her. I had hoped to see more of her inner workings. As these two are the more violent characters in the book, I had hoped the author would delve more in their psyche that made them think that killing people (whether it's Marat or soldiers) was the best option to save France. I didn't feel like Knight went far enough with these characters.
The weakest story and the weakest character was Webb's Louise from "The Revolutionary". After reading Webb's note about how she created the character, I learned that while Louise the person existed, much of her life was shrouded in mystery and rumor, making it difficult for Webb to piece together who this person really was. All of the characters pop in and out of each other's stories, Louise most of all, and in every appearance, characters are befuddled about what Louise is thinking. It seems like no one knows what to do about Louise. Is she insane? Is she the new Joan of Arc? Is she just a victim? This indecisiveness made it difficult for the reader to understand this character's mentality and motivation. Just like with Knight's heroines, I don't think Webb went far enough with Louise. The heroine was introduced as this scrappy everywoman who just wanted to be part of something big, but she ended up sounding generic. And none of that prepared readers for the character's tragic demise. I felt like more could've been done to show Louise's instability or how all-consuming the mob mentality is. As a result, she didn't stand out compared to the other heroines.
Overall, this anthology is very strong, and it's compelling. The French Revolution and the subsequent Reign of Terror were full of tragedy and pain, but the stories here still manage to share optimistic views of love, women's rights, and democracy. Highly recommend this book for history lovers. show less
I show more actually enjoyed a majority of the stories in this anthology. In general, I thought they were all pretty strong and compelling. My favorites were the strongest were Dray's "The Philosopher", Perinot's "The Princess", and Quinn's "The Politician". In all of these stories, you met characters who started out looking at the world one day, but by the end of their time on the page, they had become someone else. In the case of Sophie Condorcet from Dray's story, she became more optimistic by the end of her narration, which I still felt true to form since hers is the first story that kicks off the revolution. Perinot's Princess Elisabeth and Quinn's Manon Roland are almost mythical figures from the French Revolution. Princess Elisabeth is a saint while Manon Roland is a tiger mom. However, the authors do a phenomenal job painting the complexities of each woman. There are the moments when these women are weak or angry or vindictive, but they stand by their principles for better or worse. I enjoyed reading about them and understanding what motivated them, and I sympathized for them. To me, that's the sign of a truly great author, and that's why I enjoyed these stories so much.'
I also really enjoyed Kamoie's "The Beauty" and Knight's "The Assassin". These were just a smidge below my first three favorite stories. Mostly because there wasn't as many shades to these characters. Emilie from the "The Beauty" is a fascinating person, but there's never really a moment where her worldview are challenged or where she's shocked by the society around her. Having been groomed by her mother to the view the worst of society's (especially men's) impulses, she's never surprised by Robespierre's narcissism or even her lover's cowardice. While her story is very touching, I didn't feel touched in the same way. It was like reading more about someone who was stuck rather than someone who had to undergo an identity shift, compared to a lot of the other characters.
Knight's characters of Pauline Leon and Charlotte Corday were similar: they were so convinced of their ideals that nothing really shook them out of it. Even when Charlotte is getting man-handled, she's never really in doubt about whether murdering Marat was a good thing or not. Pauline gets distracted with a man, but while this physically distracts her, it doesn't mentally distract her. I had hoped to see more of her inner workings. As these two are the more violent characters in the book, I had hoped the author would delve more in their psyche that made them think that killing people (whether it's Marat or soldiers) was the best option to save France. I didn't feel like Knight went far enough with these characters.
The weakest story and the weakest character was Webb's Louise from "The Revolutionary". After reading Webb's note about how she created the character, I learned that while Louise the person existed, much of her life was shrouded in mystery and rumor, making it difficult for Webb to piece together who this person really was. All of the characters pop in and out of each other's stories, Louise most of all, and in every appearance, characters are befuddled about what Louise is thinking. It seems like no one knows what to do about Louise. Is she insane? Is she the new Joan of Arc? Is she just a victim? This indecisiveness made it difficult for the reader to understand this character's mentality and motivation. Just like with Knight's heroines, I don't think Webb went far enough with Louise. The heroine was introduced as this scrappy everywoman who just wanted to be part of something big, but she ended up sounding generic. And none of that prepared readers for the character's tragic demise. I felt like more could've been done to show Louise's instability or how all-consuming the mob mentality is. As a result, she didn't stand out compared to the other heroines.
Overall, this anthology is very strong, and it's compelling. The French Revolution and the subsequent Reign of Terror were full of tragedy and pain, but the stories here still manage to share optimistic views of love, women's rights, and democracy. Highly recommend this book for history lovers. show less
Just when I think I know most of the historical figures who took part in the French Revolution, there's a novel like that casts light on another, or this case, on six. I was happy to encounter women I hadn't known of previously and women whose perspective I had rarely encountered in accounts of the French Revolution. I found the novel overall compelling and would highly recommend it to fans of historical fiction.
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