 |
In April of 1598 Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes which gave Calvinist Protestants (Huguenots) in his predominantly Catholic nation some limited rights. However, his grandson, Louis XIV, in 1685 revoked the edict, ushering forth a new age of intense persecution. The ensuing panic resulted in the flight of hundreds of thousands from their villages, with an estimated 400,000 managing to cross the French borders into neighboring countries. This is the backdrop to the author's engaging first volume in a trilogy about the Huguenot dispersion.
Set in the Luberon region of Provence in Southern France, Joubert's story focuses on a small band of villagers who are fleeing from the King's enforcers, or Dragoons, who have been charged with the forcible conversion of Protestants to Catholicism. In a suspenseful tale fraught with treachery, danger, and heroism, the Huguenots always manage to stay one step ahead of the obsessed Captain Benoit and his men in their flight to freedom.
One of the greatest strengths of this book is not only its historic accuracy but also its attention to detail. For example, the author paints a vivid picture of a Huguenot wedding with its attendant ceremonies that serves to pull the reader further into the time period. Joubert's characters are also well developed and, in the case of the protagonists at least, very likeable. Pierre's courage in the face of injustice, Renard's quick and clever mind, and Isabeau's spunk should endear them to almost any reader. In this first book the author lays a solid and entertaining groundwork to the rest of his series.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review