Catherine Delors

Another intelligent and well-researched novel based on historical events from Catherine Delors.

On Christmas Eve 1800, three royalist agents plotted to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul and soon to be Emperor of France, by blowing up an 'infernal machine' in a busy Paris street. Bonaparte, supposedly warned by a prophetic dream, escaped harm, but blamed the explosion and the resulting massacre of innocent citizens on extremist Jacobins, and had 130 'suspects' rounded up and show more imprisoned. Catherine Delors seamlessly blends fact with fiction by placing her own detective, Chief Inspector Roch Miquel, in the centre of the investigation to find the bombers and clear the name of his own father into the bargain.

More political intrigue than traditional detective novel, the real strength of For the King is how flawlessly Delors translates documented history into a dark thriller, and the atmospheric detail with which she brings post-Revolutionary Paris to life. Roch is very similar to Susanne Alleyn's Inspector Ravel, or Parot's Nicolas Le Floch, and his proud, priggish persona adds little sympathetic charm to the mix. Basically, he is a fictional point of focus in a cast of historical figures, but his dalliance with a married woman not only takes Roch down a peg, but also creates a surprise twist to the established course of events. His lover Blanche Coudert, based on the beautiful and enigmatic Juliette Recamier, is a strong, individual heroine, yet long-suffering Alexandrine, Roch's childhood sweetheart, is far more believable.

Overall, despite the obvious lack of mystery and an abrupt, convenient ending, I was able to lose myself in the story, and enjoyed being transported back to Paris in the winter of 1801. Delors occasionally goes overboard in translating French place names and terms - I think it's fairly obvious that Rue Paradis means Paradise Street - and the modern dialogue is perhaps the weakest part of the novel, but she has a remarkable talent for cleverly adapting complex political situations into intriguing novels. show less

I truly enjoyed this fictional account of the attempt to assassinate Napoleon Bonaparte. Catherine Delors has a talent for creating compelling and well-developed characters as well as merging history and fiction together in a believable story.

For the King is a flawed but readable novel, set in Napoleonic Paris and based on real events. On Christmas Eve 1800, royalists detonated an 'infernal machine' on the Rue Saint-Nicaise, hoping to assassinate Napoleon and instead killing dozens of innocent people. The fictional Chief Inspector Roch Miquel is put in charge of finding the conspirators and thus saving his own father's life. The best parts of the novel were Delors' evocation of post-Revolutionary Paris, and I wished she had show more focused more on those rather than on burdening the book with too many points of view and an ending which felt tacked on and by-the-numbers. Pared down a little, focusing solely on Roch's voice and on a Paris populated by the poor and by the striving middle-classes, where rabbit-skin men walked the streets and sodomy had been decriminialised (a fact I was unaware of!), and I think this could have been a much stronger work. show less

I will not say that Catherine Delors is a bad writer, but I will say that I hated the Mistress of the Revolution. I'll tell you why. I was immediately drawn into the first 60 pages or so. Gabrielle falls in love with Pierre-Andre at the age of fifteen, but is forced to marry another. Eventually, according to the back of the book, Gabrielle will be reacquainted with Pierre-Andre. The back of the book also says that Gabrielle was supposed to be "more independent," a woman shaped by her show more experiences, when she meets Pierre-Andre. I was eager for her to change her incredibly docile attitude that she had toward her two husbands. However, while Gabrielle matures, she never really changes.

Okay, so I was incredibly disappointed because it wasn't even until the last 100 pages (out of a 500 page book) that she even encountered Pierre-Andre. But I tried to push through by telling myself that maybe Delores doesn't want a conventional story full of romance, so she is saving the meeting until the end. I wouldn't have minded reading the mundane life of a woman living in 18th century France if I had at least cared for Gabrielle in any way. However, Gabrielle had no personality, so reading about her going to the opera, gossiping (which fills, it seems, at least 50 pages of the book), hating her husband, and then loving him again was torturous. There are also way too many characters introduced that were hollow and undeveloped.

I finally got to the part where Gabrielle meets Pierre-Andre and became instantly confused. Pierre-Andre is absolutely like all the other husbands Gabrielle has had. Upon their first meeting, Pierre-Andre slaps Gabrielle with no remorse. There was even a part, which I loudly scoffed at, where Pierre-Andre strangles Gabrielle because she is lying! Their whole relationship is based on Gabrielle apologizing for speaking her mind and Pierre-Andre putting her in her place--"do not make requests to me!” Gabrielle pleads and begs and apologizes throughout the entire relationship. She will, occasionally, muster the courage to ask a favor of him, but only after apologizing for interfering with his business first. The only difference this relationship has with her past husbands is that she claims to love Pierre-Andre. Oh wait, no she claimed to love her second husband, too--and even took him back after he cheated on her. Now, I could have handled the book if the relationship was based on some historical character--then I might have understood the concept of the story. However, Gabrielle is completely made up. The back of the book was misleading, Gabrielle never becomes independent and Pierre-Andre is no different than the other husbands Gabrielle received and loved. I was also taken aback by Gabrielle's total of four marriages -- she seemed to go through men like the French's ever changing fashions. If Gabrielle had been based on a historical character, I would have understood the book. However, she is completely fictional and a character I would have preferred be sent to the guillotine. show less