Louisiana, 1704, and France is clinging on to a swampy corner of the New World. Into this situation arrive Elizabeth Savaret and Auguste Guichard. Soon both fall for the charismatic Jean-Claude Babelon, Elizabeth as his wife, Auguste as his friend. But Babelon has little regard for loyalty, love, and trust. When his treachery forces Elizabeth and Auguste to start playing by his rules, the consequences are devastating.
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"This wasn't an easy 'airplane read'. The author clearly communicated the difficulty of settling the Louisiana territory and the horrible management of the Mississippi Company by Law and the French. " — Lee (4 out of 5 stars)
"This wasn't an easy 'airplane read'. The author clearly communicated the difficulty of settling the Louisiana territory and the horrible management of the Mississippi Company by Law and the French. "
" Nothing special. Picked it up from the library on a whim because I like historical fiction, but the writing was overblown and the plot not interesting enough. "
" I would have made a veeeery bad colonial settler. "
" The story started out well, however about 1/2 way through the book the story began to drag and become repetitious. The last 1/4 of the book seemed disconnected from the rest of the book. It almost seemed like the author tried to combine 2 books into one. "
" Enjoyed many of the passages but did not find the characters compelling. Settlement of the New World conceived as childbirth in which all participants are equally savaged. Acknowledges the essays of Michel de Montaigne, which the author applies without the humor and wit they encompass. "
" Outstanding novel in every sense of the word. A beautifully worked masterpiece. Look forward to savoring Clarke's other two novels. "
" While not guilty of 'purple prose', there are some definite shades of lavender here! But, still a good historical fiction - realistic in its depiction of the early Louisiana settlement. I learned something from the reading. "
" Boring... both historical and hysterical. I spent most of the time wishing it would end already. "
" I should have loved this book. It has all my favorite elements, but man was it a chore to get through. Dull one dimensional characters with no redeeming qualities. A storyline that skipped big chucks of time leaving me scratching my head. Just a disappointing read... "
Clare Clark is the author of several novels, including The Great Stink, which was long-listed for the Orange Prize and was named a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and Savage Lands, which was also long-listed for the Orange Prize. Her work has been translated into five languages.
Julia Franklin has a passion for audiobooks and has been narrating them for over twenty years. Her credits include Faith by Lesley Pearse, Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser, and The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes. Franklin combines her work as a narrator with radio broadcasting and scriptwriting.
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