The French Lesson
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  • Published: 1 June 2021
  • ISBN: 9781784162153
  • Imprint: Black Swan
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $27.99

The French Lesson

By the award-winning and Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FIVE

Formats & editions
EBook
21 Apr 2016
Audiobook
21 Apr 2016
Paperback
1 Jun 2021
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Rivetting, atmospheric novel of female espionage and revenge set in the French Revolution by the Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling and highly acclaimed author of THE FIVE and COVENT GARDEN LADIES

'A thrilling novel of female intrigue, betrayal and revenge. Read it!' LUCY WORSLEY
'Dark and delicious' Red Magazine
'Utterly gripping and highly relevant' SIMON SEBAG-MONTEFIORE
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Fear your neighbour. Praise the Republic. Preach liberty. Hate monarchy. Speak in whispers. Trust no-one.

Revolutionary Paris, 1792: As the city spirals into bloodshed, Henrietta Lightfoot a young Englishwoman runs for her life to the extravagant home of Grace Dalrymple, notorious courtesan to the aristocracy.

But loyalties are tested when she befriends Grace's arch rival, a committed revolutionary and mistress of the most powerful man in France. Trapped in a terrifying game of wits between these two dangerous women, Henrietta is about to learn the most brutal lesson of her life.

A tale of friendship and betrayal, The French Lesson is an eye-popping drama of power and manipulation, as the women written out of the French Revolution tell their own story of smarts and sacrifice.

PERFECT FOR FANS OF HARLOTS and BRIDGERTON
___________________

'A gleefully modern retelling of a juicy chapter in history' The Times
'Rubenhold unfolds a complicated plot with great dexterity' Sunday Times
  • Published: 1 June 2021
  • ISBN: 9781784162153
  • Imprint: Black Swan
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $27.99
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About the author

Hallie Rubenhold

Hallie Rubenhold is the Number One Sunday Times bestselling and Baillie Gifford Non-Fiction prize-winning social historian whose expertise lies in revealing stories of previously unknown women and episodes in history. By drawing upon a wealth of formerly unseen archival material and adding a full historical context to the victims' lives, The Five changes the narrative of these murders for ever. Rubenhold's books include Lady Worsley's Whim, dramatized by the BBC as 'The Scandalous Lady W', and Covent Garden Ladies: The Extraordinary Story of Harris's List, which inspired the ITV series 'Harlots'. She has also written two acclaimed novels of female intrigue, revenge and betrayal: Mistress of My Fate and The French Lesson. She lives in London with her husband.

portrait photo of Hallie Rubenhold

Also by Hallie Rubenhold

The Five
Story of a Murder
The Scandalous Lady W
Harris's List of the Covent Garden Ladies
The Covent Garden Ladies
Mistress of My Fate
See all

Praise for The French Lesson

Henrietta Lightfoot's exploits in Revolutionary France are irresistible. She's a heroine you can't put down.

LUCY WORSLEY

A deliciously dark novel

Red Magazine

Georgette Heyer meets Flashman ... A gleefully modern retelling of a juicy chapter in history

The Times

Rubenhold unfolds a complicated plot with great dexterity, brilliantly evoking a society in which traditional bonds are being sundered.

Sunday Times

'Compelling and operatic . . . Reads like a modern thriller’

SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE, author of The Romanovs
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