The French Lesson

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

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Summary

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

Reviews

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

About the author

Hallie Rubenhold

Hallie Rubenhold is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling and Baillie Gifford prize-winning author of The Five, the Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. A renowned social historian whose expertise lies in revealing stories of previously unknown women and episodes in history, she is the author of The Covent Garden Ladies which was the inspiration behind BBC TV's 'Harlots'. Her biographical work, Lady Worsley's Whim, was dramatized by the BBC as 'The Scandalous Lady W'. Her most recent work of non-fiction, Story of a Murder, the wives, the mistress and Dr Crippen, will be published in March 2025. She has also written two acclaimed novels Mistress of My Fate and The French Lesson which give voice to the women written out by eighteenth-century literature. She lives in London with her husband. Meet her @HallieRubenhold

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