A Place of Greater Safety

Georges-Jacques Danton: zealous, energetic and debt-ridden. Maximilien Robespierre: small, diligent and terrified of violence. And Camille Desmoulins: a genius of rhetoric, charming and handsome, yet also erratic and untrustworthy. As these young men, key figures of the French Revolution, taste the addictive delights of power, the darker side of the period’s political ideals is unleashed – and all must face the horror that follows.

I felt it was time for a new book review. I find Christmas, though, is not ideal reading time for me and so I've picked one I read a while back and one of my favourites: A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel.

It's fair to say, this is an historical novel of epic proportions. Yes, it tackles the monstrous subject of the French Revolution in literary HD, but it is also very long. The first hundred pages of character exposition, although necessary rather than indulgent, have yourself looking at your watch wondering if you'll be able to read a hundredth of this novel before tea time ( *cough* 3pm sharp...I can't help it that my life revolves around food).

The novel is meticulously researched though and, with help from Mantel’s name guide, most characters are explained and easily followed. The more minor personalities, the Seamus Finnigans and Dean Thomases if you will, can though sometimes become a little lost in the bustle of the rest of the plot. Consequently, scenes that were particularly dramatic or well-known, such as Marat's murder in the bath (it really doesn't spoil that much), ended up being more caricatured than sentimental.

Saying that, Mantel’s female characters are strong. Witty, opinionated and far from submissive, Mantel’s women give Katniss a run for her money and protect us all from nine-hundred pages of the traditional phallocentric drivel present in so many other historical novels. This in partnership with great writing (I actually prefer the writing in this than Wolf Hall...) makes this vast brick of a novel and all Mantel's meticulous research accessible to the average, slightly apathetic reader - aka me. And she does it without writing all the characters into an orgy a la Philippa Greggory, not that orgies don't have their place in historical fiction... 

Mantel throws you into the action of the revolution, she doesn't position the reader too far away. Importantly, though, she didn't try to impinge a particular viewpoint on me - I like that. All in all, I'm quite happy for this book to sit alongside earlier more famous interpretations by Dumas and Dickens, as a more modern, pool-side alternative. And you really do need to read this at the poolside.. it needs a chunk of undisturbed time. It's really not a commuter read ladies unless you want massive man shoulders from lugging it about for months on end...

This novel gets 9/10