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The French Lesson

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

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

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 refuge to the sumptuous home of Grace Dalrymple, notorious courtesan to the aristocracy. But loyalties are tested when she meets Agnes de Buffon, committed revolutionary and mistress of the most powerful man in France. Trapped in an unpredictable game between two dangerous women, Henrietta is about to learn a brutal lesson.

A tale of friendship and loyalty in tumultuous times, The French Lesson is a gripping drama of female power and influence, as the women written out of history tell their own astonishing story of ingenuity and sacrifice.

'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

'A gleefully modern retelling of a juicy chapter in history' The Times

'Rubenhold unfolds a complicated plot with great dexterity' Sunday Times

© Hallie Rubenhold 2016 (P) Penguin Audio 2016

 Action & Adventure Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Science Fiction Thriller & Suspense Fiction Mystery

Critic reviews

Henrietta Lightfoot's exploits in Revolutionary France are irresistible. She's a heroine you can't put down.
A deliciously dark novel
Georgette Heyer meets Flashman ... A gleefully modern retelling of a juicy chapter in history
Rubenhold unfolds a complicated plot with great dexterity, brilliantly evoking a society in which traditional bonds are being sundered.
'Compelling and operatic . . . Reads like a modern thriller’
All stars
Most relevant
Sadly I had to give up on this audible book; I will however return to it and read it for myself as the story was actually quite captivating.

Although I persisted for several hours, in the end I just couldn’t stand the poor Irish accent associated with the character of Andrew Saville!It was a horrible strained mix of northern and southern Irish and did neither justice. As the character hailed from County Mayo, the accent should have been southern. It wasn’t. Either you can ‘do’ accents or you can’t. If you can’t, then don’t. Such a shame.

Dreadful attempt at an Irish accent put me off!

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