Escape from France

The privileged son and heir of the Earl of Aubigny, Richard Carey was impatient with those he considered awkward or slow, and unconscious of the degree to which his family position had eased his passage through life. Dispatched to France by his father and uncle to evacuate the wife and children of the imprisoned Marquis de Vernaye—the head of the d'Assailly family, with whom the Careys had a long-standing history of friendship and inter-marriage—Richard found himself catapulted into the chaos of the French Revolution. When the plan to assist his d'Assailly kin did not proceed exactly as expected, the resultant adventure, in which Richard and his cousin Armand set out to free the Marquis, forced him to stand on his own two feet for show more the first time...

Originally published in 1960, Escape from France is the eighth entry in the Carey Family Chronicles—a loosely-connected collection of historical children's novels following the adventures of a noble family through some of the major events of English history—that I have read. The "series" (if it can be called that) is now arranged by historical chronology, rather than publication date. In any case, I found it an engaging tale, and I enjoyed reading it, although perhaps not quite as much as some of its predecessors. Perhaps my experience was undermined by my high expectations, as I had particularly been looking forward to this story, given my interest in the relationship between the Careys and the d'Assaillys—the Welsh and French families descended from Philip d'Aubigny and his friend, Sir Gilbert d'Assailly, of Knight Crusader. There's less of Ronald Welch's historical explanation here than in previous books, most likely because he assumed his readers would already possess the requisite knowledge about the French Revolution. But I think the real issue here, in terms of my reading pleasure, was that I just wasn't able to take Richard entirely to heart, as a hero, in the way that I have done with other Careys. I also think I was hoping for a more interesting character, in Armand, than Welch was able to deliver. He (Armand) is, after all, the first d'Assailly we really get to know in any real way, since the initial adventure with Sir Philip and Sir Gilbert.

Leaving that aside—and really, I don't wish to overstate matters, as I still found the story entertaining enough that I whizzed through it in two sittings—I would nevertheless recommend this one, both to those who have enjoyed other novels about the Careys, and to young readers who enjoy good historical fiction. It reminded me quite a bit of the story of The Scarlet Pimpernel, so readers who enjoyed that novel might also want to take a look at this one, if they also appreciate children's fiction. show less

The Carey family find themselves embroiled in the Revolutionary Terror. Welch is on top form, supplying all of the character, plot, military nous and historical detail that make the Carey series such a delight.