Rafael Sabatini (1875–1950)

This novel centres on the boy king Louis XVII of France, who never ruled in practice, as he was in prison at the time of his father Louis XVI's guillotining, and almost certainly tragically passed away two years later through abuse and neglect at the age of 10. There were several claimants who pretended to be him in subsequent years, but recent DNA tests on fragments of the boy's heart matched those of his mother Marie Antoinette's hair, so almost certainly he did not survive. In this novel, a Swiss farmer and clockmaker Charles Deslys is really the ex-boy king smuggled out of France. The drive of the narrative, however, is his being set up as a false King by those wanting to oppose the restored Bourbon king Louis XVIII, in particular the cynical political survivor Fouché, who has survived Royalist, Republican, Bonapartist and restored Royalist regimes. The irony is that Fouché initially doesn't realise in supporting Charles's claim that he is in fact the real McCoy. Or is he, after all? Until quite late in the narrative, the story seemed to me to leave some room for doubt about Delsys's absolute true identity. In any case, at the conclusion, Napoleon is making his dramatic return from his Elban exile, and Delsys is absolutely delighted to be able to give up his pretensions and return to his simple life in Switzerland with the woman he loves.… (meer)

Allow me to start this review with a piece of advice: if you buy a former library book off eBay, it may still contain the security tag. If you walk into a library with such a book in your bag, it will set off alarms and librarians will be suspicious of you. This I learned today.

Anyway, ‘Scaramouche’ is an entertaining adventure set during the French Revolution. A cynical young lawyer named André-Louis becomes a revolutionary, actor, and swordsman, after the tragic killing of of his best friend. The narrative is couched in the omniscient third person, as of a biographer commenting on André-Louis’ ‘Confessions’. I found this device a little odd in places but largely unintrusive. The protagonist himself provides an interesting perspective on the first few pre-Terror years of the French Revolution. He is sceptical and ironic about the usefulness of political change, until the systemic injustice of the regime becomes personal. He is eventually convinced of the importance of the constitution and curtailment of noble privileges, but remains ambivalent about the sans-culottes. In fact, his resolutely non-idealistic perspective seems more appropriate to the time that Sabantini was writing (1890s to 1950). This novel was published in 1921, by which time France had been through extraordinary political upheaval throughout the 19th century and had reason to view the Revolution with jaundiced hindsight.

I did find, however, that André-Louis seemed to have an extraordinary series of talents without very much in the way of failings. I was never concerned for him when he was in peril, as he seemed to extricate himself from every scape with little effort and much aplomb. That said, other characters repeatedly chastise him for heartlessness and lofty distance, as well as his sometimes unappetising cynicism. I liked him as a character, but suspect that he would make a maddening friend. The middle section of the novel was the most compelling part, as it involved duelling, disguise, and drama. The ending was rather too melodramatic and predictable; I saw the tragic revelations coming a mile off. Nonetheless, ‘Scaramouche’ was an enjoyable romp and would make a fantastic costume drama.… (meer)