A Place of Greater Safety: A Novel

This rating is not enought for this marvelous novel.
The theme was extremely interesting and even though I'm familiar with the French Revolution, I had never read so much about the people involved in the revolution, such as Robespierre, Marat, Desmoulins,etc.
Couldn't put it down and was sorry when it ended.

Very long but seemingly factual and very real and amazing feat. Hillary can keep the interest and I never skipped ahead or got bored but was in awe of her capability to make this aspect of the French Revolution such a personal account.

Mantel is the very best at writing with historical accuracy and at the same time with a touch of fictional sensitivity. If you liked Wolf Hall you will also like this read about the French Revolution.

I enjoyed the author's Wolf Hall and Bringing up the Dead, so I thought this novel would be worthwhile. I discovered that Miss Mantel has a British sensibility. She's good when covering British topics, but off key when the topic concerns France. When her characters get exasperated they say bloody this and bloody that. Imagine! Les Francais! According to her everyone in the French Revolution was on the make, in the pay of the English, or worse yet the Duc d'Orleans. After strugglng through this book, I can only hope that she writes a sequel to the two others of hers that I enjoyed and stays safefy in country.

The big book brings the French Revolution to life, The main characters of the Reign of Terror become human beings with strengths and weaknesses and this makes the book magnificent at times. As always with Hilary Mantel's books, there can be confusion at times but overall this is a great read.

This is another of Hilary Mantel's fantastic historical novels. She focuses on 3 main people, Camille Desmoulins, George-Jacques Danton and Maximilion Robespierre. Each one comes to life brilliantly. She takes great care with the surrounding personages as well such as Mirabeau and Marat. The atmosphere of the times is well shown. The work feels very well documented.

Reading the book inspired me to read a short history of the French Revolution and now I am reading a biography of Rebespierre because he seemed the most interesting of the 3 people.

I have always been fascinated by the French Revolution, a fascination that even survived "learning it" at school. Hilary Mantel brings key characters of the Revolution into three-dimensional life. We get to know Danton & Camille Desmoulins intimately, as well as know Robespierre as well as anyone could & through the power of her narrative I now understand how the Revolution they helped to create, spun out of their control.

I would have given "A Place of Greater Safety" five stars, but for the plethora of other characters - perhaps necessary, but also at times confusing. the store, could you introduce a 4,5 star rating?

This is just a wonderful book. A great read for anyone who studies the French Revolution or even for those who don't know much about it. Hilary Mantel is a wonderful writer and this is truly one of her best.

Like her later books, this is an expose of individuals known historically, but not as individuals. As such, one could now feel that famous characters such as Danton and Robespierre were real people. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the genre of historical novels.

I love Hilary Mantel's work, and I wanted to read this earlier historical novel, about a period in history I love. The book arrived in no time so, it was instant gratification. I thought about inter-library loan and such, but this was faster and easier. Not as good as her prize-winning works, but worth the read.

I accept that it is a historical novel, but just too many characters and plots to comfortably follow the story line without an awful lot of concentration and re-reading of certain passages. Quite hard work! Not a patch on the two on England.

Hilary Mantel brings her unique writing style to the French Revolution. She follows from childhood the lives of men and women who became leaders of the bloody rebellion that brought the king and queen of France, the French aristocracy (including Lafayette) and ultimately these leaders as well to the guillotine. Good intentions (and greed) led to severed heads as "the Revolution ate its children." Vivid, gory but elegant writing.

This book gave an unepectedly sympathetic view of characters I had previously seen as monsters of the Reign of Terror. In this authors hands they become flawed but human. I regretted the inevitable end, but I had never believed I would have so much empathy for these characters that I had seen as examples of pure evil. It isn't everyday that one feels sorry for Danton.

A different sort of book from Mantel's other historical docudramas. Sometimes the reader has to work hard to follow the characters and the timeline but a fascinating presentation of a dramatic piece of French history.

Hilary Mantel opens a window into the lives of the revolutionaries of the French Revolution. Husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, children, everyone's perspective is addressed while being informative and remaining riveting.

I'm always interested in history. It's interesting to see what authors think famous people in history would do or say in the context of their place in time. The bad thing about the book was most of the characters went to the guillotine. Even so the book was entertaining for me.

This was the most difficult book to read I have ever finished. I don't view it as true historical fiction - more as a character study of the generally accepted movers of the revolutionary side (only). Too much detail verbiage (meant as character development, I guess) to wade through. To me Camille Desmoulins comes off here as some kind of psychotic(?). Was he? Not enough development of motivation or the cause-and-effect situations surrounding the actions of the main revolutionaries in Paris. Why was there no food? Cause of the "price of bread"? Why was England involved? Who controlled the Army (before Napoleon)? Not enough of the "history" side developed to understand the revolution. I have read both "Wolf Hall" and "Bringing Up the Bodies" which I considered excellent.

I was amazed that anyone could duplicate the language and customs of the period so well. it is a long and involved story, but worth the read. I will be reading this one again and again. first time I have read Hilary Mantel, but she will be on my list of favourite authors.

This novel is a fascinating insight in to the minds, behaviours and reasoning of a number of the "feared" figures of the French revolution e.g. Danton, Robespierre, St Just. Mantel is a first-rate writer whose books are to be savoured.

The idea of this novel is quite a good one; to depict the French Revolution from inside the private lives and thoughts of the revolutionaries. The sense of the revolution or the amabiance is created but the writing in terms of simple rules of identifying whoever is speaking, thinking or being talked about is so abysmally neglected that the reader spends too much time trying to figure out what is happening. Sometimes it is so bad that the subject shifts even in the personal pronoun being changed from masculine to feminine within the same paragraph with the line of thought continuing. I had to force myself to finish the book and after two tries gave up on the five hundreth page as just not being worth it.

I have not been able to finish this novel. It is well written as have her other books I have written. This book, because of the multitude of characters (and I know there were many and what she is trying to do) becomes very confusing to the point that even though you know the history of the French Revolution, you tend to lose the story in the individual lives of the characters. I have never encountered this before. Eventually I will finish the book.

In the years leading up to the French Revolution, Hillary Mantel explores the lives of those who would change history. The characters are all to human in a time when the value of life was negligible. In the style of her works about James Cromwell, this volume is filled with the intricacies and foibles of life: characters are deeply drawn and their interactions pull the reader into the story. Not an easy read, but worth the effort.

I purchased this book because of Wolf House etc. However, this book is slow going, even for a voracious reader. The names are similar, and it is very difficult to differentiate between various personalities, so I always felt somewhat lost, going back to the beginning to try to figure out who was who. It's also very dense, and slow to take off.

Unfortunately the obvious accuracy displayed is lost by constant deviation from narrative to attend to the friends and relatives of EVERYONE in the story, including the friends and relatives !!!Tedious.

This is a long and interesting novel of the personal lives of several of the key figures in th in the history of the French Revolution. Those with an interest in that event will be aware of the details of it: the Reign of Terror, the deaths of many of the principal actors, the response of neighboring countries, etc. This novel focuses on the lives of the makers of that revolution, and does not focus on the larger picture of the revolution itself. This is my kind of novel; perhaps not for everyone

An important, complicated historic event, the French Revolution, becomes in the hands of Ms. Mandel, an interesting, absorbing read. Especially good is her rendering of the major participants. The reader comes away with a sense of real people living in a tumultuous time.

One of the best books I've ever read. It's superb in all aspects. I bought this book in 1994 and read it first then- bur somebody just "loaned" i and I simply did have to buy it again. It is one of few books you can read over and over again.

I have read the other two books by Mantel and have found them all very difficult to read. The two on Henry VIII were easier to read because I had read sufficient number of books about his life and the life of Cromwell to know what she was talking about. However this book left me in a fog for most of the story.

Being a retired history teacher, I enjoy novels with an historical background and had devoured "Wolf Hall". However, I found " A Place of Greater Safety" quite a struggle to read, although I am familiar with the period in which she sets it --the French Revolution--and the characters, such as Robespierre and Danton. I felt there were too many characters of little importance to contribute and her style surprisingly turgid. Often, the domesticity became quite boring, in light of the tumultuous happenings, although I understand she was attempting to show the impact (or lack of same) on other family members/friends. Having said that, she has redeemed herself with her latest!

Like Wordsworth sez, bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven! Some of us geezers remember the sixties and early seventies, it was kind of like that, the old order was passing away, swiftly and surely...and then it all went to pot. Revolution is like being in love. This book really conveys that feeling.

I'd already read Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies, both of which I adored. This is Hilary Mantel's first novel (I think) and it shows. I couldn't finish it - too many characters introduced very early on and very quickly. I rarely give up on a book, curiosity usually drives me on, but not with this one. Read her other books instead. Sorry

The plot didn't flow and hoped to find more the historic details and feel the atmosphere of that period and that definatly dind't hapened. English is not my native language and this turned the book a chalenge because of the vocabulary and the lack of flow. I dindn't finished the book.

I was expecting something like New York the Novel, by Rutherfurd.

a noble attempt to create a linear passage for the reader in dealing with the complex issues of the French revolution i suppose the book could have had more impact if a more finite slice of time was used as it tends to get diluted and difficult to understand as the book progresses and continual characters are added Mantels soaring cromwell novels are far superior and you can see her "working it out' here as she matures as a writer

Mantel is a master at character development, using dialogue to reveal history, plot and the times through the characters' eyes and mouths. Came to know the French revolution as a work in progress, at many times out of control of even the players who set events in motion in the first place. She has an amazing ability to see sometimes well known history from the time advantage of before or during the events, rather than as a fait accompli.

I gave A Place of Greater Safety a two. Obviously, Mantel learned much from writing this book before the Cromwell books. It is too wordy, diffciult to keep track of characters. It is just becoming itneresting and I've already read 50% of the book.

Not suited to kindle. Because of the number of characters, there is a constant need to refer back to earlier pages to properly identify the person and with kindle this is not easily done without losing one's place. Very frustrating!

I picked this up because I was so impressed by Wolf Hall. Probably I enjoyed Wolf Hall as much as I did because I know something about the period. I was very confused by Place of Greater Safety - I think I'll study the French Revolution and then go back and re-read it. I'd give this book five stars for those who already know the history.

If I could have given it 0 stars, I would have.
Ms. Mantel is a wonderful lecturer, and I enjoy hearing her speak about writing historical fiction.
Her writing style is very disconnected, so it's hard to tell who is in a a scene. She gives no background information, or very little, so at the end of an 800+ page book, I don't feel like I really understand the French Revolution anymore than at the start.
There are so many characters, but only 5 or 6 that are developed at all. I won't be reading anymore of her books, I started with such high hopes and couldn't wait to finish.

While Wolf Hall completely captured the personalities and flavour of the period I found this book far too detailed and eventually virtually unreadable as a result. Disappointing, as I was expecting a lot from the period in French history which promises much.

An over-acted anachronistic costume drama of a book.

In a novel about 18th Century France, a line like ' "That bloody church is freezing," he said. ' is absurdly bad writing, bloody being such a specifically Anglo expletive, and there being no need to indicate that the character said anything, the quotation marks having already done the job.

I will give Wolf Hall a try because of all the trumpets and the hoopla. But warily.

I was really enjoying reading the content of this book. Then the narrow inside margins were making it very difficult to handle this paperback and when I opened the book to hopefully make easier reading, the binding started squeaking. . One star goes to the publisher Picador for this truly slipshod production, I mean, how cheap can you make a book? PICADOR, SHAME ON YOU. I will return this book and take my chances on a hard cover. Terrible, terrible news for publishing in this era.

I was really enjoying reading the content of this book. Then the narrow inside margins were making it very difficult to handle this paperback and when I opened the book to hopefully make easier reading, the binding started squeaking. . One star goes to the publisher Picador for this truly slipshod production, I mean, how cheap can you make a book? PICADOR, SHAME ON YOU. I will return this book and take my chances on a hard cover. Terrible, terrible news for publishing in this era.

I just read the excellent history on the French Revolution by Sylvia Neely, and turned next to Hillary Mantel to bring that history to life in the form of her fiction. It didn't happen. I stopped reading after 150 pages, convinced that it would never happen. I longed for being there, experience the atmosphere, but all that Mantel served were some dull desprictions of the characters and interactions between them. So I'm still looking for some good (modern) fiction on the French Revolution. Let me know if have something.

Marcel, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

I received a hard copy of this book as a gift and was unimpressed, so much so that I accidently ordered an ebook version - not only was the content confusing and annoying as in the printed book, the number of spelling and grammar errors was appalling. I've purchased now over 800 eBooks and have noticed a serious decline in quality over the past year or so....going forward, regardless of the writing, I've decided to protest the only way possible, with ratings.
Excluding the quality issues, this is still not a great book, perhaps a 3 rather than 1

I fear I must disagree with those readers who have given this one a thunderous ovation. What time in history could be more fascinating, full of action and suspense than the French Revolution? With this riveting background, how could this book fail to captivate and engross? Mantel shows us how. Getting through this overblown tome was an exercise in discipline and tedium. I kept waiting to be caught up in the action, but never was. Despite being populated by the proverbial cast of thousands, none of them seemed particularly interesting. These are the pivotal figures in a great historical movement, yet I found them lackluster, irksome and confusing in temperament. Most of the peak moments of the Revolution take place "off camera," as it were. We get one paragraph about the executions of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, the murder of Marat, and the storming of the Bastille. What was surely a fascinating and fast-moving time in history is bogged down here by endless colloquy between the principals. After 800 pages of listening to them blab, I still did not get much of a feel for who they were and what motivated them. Could these men have been as cynical, self-serving and puerile as they appear? Camille Desmoulins comes off as an obnoxious adolescent; all I felt I knew about Danton pertained to his scarred face and sexual appetites; and Robespierre - who must have been a powerful and charismatic person - seems no better than a bore and a prig. How could individuals such as these have galvanized the nation into a total overthrow of an ancient regime? This book would have been greatly improved by some incisive editing, for starters. I consider myself an educated and fairly savvy reader, but this one left me cold. Perhaps better suited to those who are already well-informed about the French Revolution than for those who are reading to be enlightened.

I am an avid reader & have read Mantel's other very interesting books. This book is one of the hardest to read that I have ever encountered. The long descriptions, jumping around and lack of character development left me bored and confused. I barely forced myself to finish the book.

Have no idea how Mantel managed to do this, but by keeping every iconic scene "off-camera" despite this being a 700 page tome, she's managed to make a novel about the French Revolution dull and plodding. Characterization is poor, with many key characters indistinguishable all the way til the end, focus is off so we have side characters appearing briefly centre-stage then disappearing forever, and the style shifts abruptly from play-like dialogue to stream of consciousness to newspaper reports with little purpose behind it. A truly amateurish effort and really, really badly edited. Can't believe the author won a Booker - she must have improved vastly or had connections with the literary establishment. If you don't like it a quarter of the way in I would suggest you not waste your time on this novel. I rarely return books but simply had to with this one.

Brilliant but very unusual. Certainly not traditional historical fiction, I found it to be more of a psychological examination of what violent events bring regular people too as told through their conversations with each other. As with real people in real life, the conversation is not always witty but as presented by Mantel it is always important. Viewing the French Revolution and particularly the Terror through this lens was terrifying and will be with me for a very long time.

I find that I disagree with those who have spoken about how vividly Mantel portrays the times and events of the French Revolution. She offers almost no descriptions of either the scenes or the events of the French Revolution. We don't see the sans coulottes charging into the Bastille or Louis XVI going the guillotine. We have no idea what Danton's house looked like (other than a chaise lounge) or how he was strapped to a board to be placed in the guillotine. The story told by Mantel could be in 20th century Bejing during the Cultural Revolution or 21st Century Cairo during the Arab Summer. It is the story of how these men were changed by these events and how they presented those changes to those around them. Mantel presents this brilliantly largely through Danton's, Desmoulins', and Robespierre's own words. It should thus not be a surprise that these three disappoint us in the end by not being heros.

This is not an easy read and will clearly disappoint those that are looking for an adventure story along the lines of Sharon Kay Penman. But for those that enjoy putting the effort into thinking about the implication of words and how events mold people, this is a great book.

In her novel "A Place of Greater Safety," Hilary Mantel demonstrates she's a good writer, but not a great novelist. Words come to her effortlessly, and her prose is pristine and lucid, simply a pleasure to read and often heartbreakingly in its beauty. But she lacks the devastating psychologist insight of her contemporaries Iris Murdoch and Alice Munro, and she seems while obsessed and intrigued by the grotesque truths of the human condition reluctant to touch them.

The novel follows three reluctant friends, as their destinies interweave and ultimately unravel in the great tumult that is the French Revolution. Max Robespierre is the Incorruptible, his ally and arch-nemesis Georges-Jacques Danton is the Corruptor, and his childhood friend Camille Desmoulins is the Corrupted.

Ultimately, the protagonist of this novel Camille, and to a lesser extent his darling wife Lucille. I think the book would be much stronger and interesting if it were entirely written from the perspective of Camille, a charming and seductive rake. The way that he falls in love with Lucille, his paramour's daughter, is both hilarious and poignant, and that their union -- originally borne out of spite and defiance -- should blossom into a strong, death-defying love is edifying and redeeming. The hopeless romantic and crass opportunist Camille would make a name and a fortune for himself in the French Revolution only to be destroyed by it when he finally makes a stand for what is right.

Hillary Mantel is certainly obsessed with the subject matter and the characters, and had been for many years -- perhaps even one or two decades -- before finally setting her thoughts onto paper. But while she has exhaustively researched the French Revolution, she doesn't really understand it. Ultimately, she fails to appreciate that revolution is a drug, and while its birth may have reason its life often does not. Its participants become wildly addicted to it, as they would to a most impetuous and mercurial mistress. It energizes them, gives them a superhuman strength, and excites them while sapping them of their very soul. For those who actually believe in it, revolution can only end in death, and that is precisely what happened to the three friends. By failing to understand this point, Mantel doesn't really imbue her characters and her novel with any passion -- it's well-written, but it's as trite as any historical analysis.

Ms. Mantel has been in the press quite a bit lately thanks to the critical success of her latest, Wolf Hall: A Novel. Almost every review I've read mentions the unusual writing style she uses, so when I received this book for Christmas, I was curious. Her style is different, though not difficult as I had feared. She jumps around to different tenses and points of view; from omniscient to third to first, some scenes are in the present tense, some feature a character addressing the reader, some are written as screenplay with stage directions...it sounds like a big mess, but oddly enough, it works in this context and seems to enhance rather than detract from the story. To me, the style seemed to mirror and reinforce the frenetic, tumultuous and paranoid culture that was the French Revolution.

The story focuses on three of the most recognizable and controversial participants of the Revolution, beginning with childhood and following each of them through education and early careers to the point where they come together to help shape the beginnings of the Revolution.

It took me a week to get around to writing my review for this novel because I needed some time to digest it and decide how I wanted to rate it. There's no question this is an extremely well-written book, meticulously researched and peppered with excerpts from newspapers, diaries and letters; full of zippy, witty dialogue and poetic narrative. The scope of the book is huge but the author does a great job of bringing it into focus. It was a slow read for me because it is a dense book, each page packed with words and each word not to be missed for fear of misunderstanding, but I really enjoyed it, though I was rather depressed afterwards. It left me feeling a bit resentful towards the population of France during the Revolution, and with a sense of mourning for humanity's loss. It's not the type of book I could read over and over again.

The French Revolution was far different from its American counterpart. The French people were not united against one common foe, but divided into violent factions, each opposing a different foe and always opposing each other. Add to that the fact that the rest of the European powers decided it was a great time to take advantage of a weakened France and invade and you've got a recipe for a time of terror and confusion, where virtually the entire ruling class was executed along with many of the brightest and most capable minds of the time, and where there was, in fact, no place of greater safety.

Whew....I made it.

As with Mantel's other novels, she throws out all the rules for writing a novel and comes up with an astounding result that is uniquely hers. She unapologetically assumes that her readers will already be familiar with the triple threat of the French Revolution and feels free to recreate them in her own style. Camille Desmoulins, Georges-Jacques Danton, and Maximilian Robespierre go from awkward school children to gods of their own making in this epic novel.

I saw a lot of Mantel's future Cromwell in Camille. He was dark, glowering, arrogant, snarky, and somehow sexy. In fact, many of the turns of phrase and characterizations used for this character could fit very nicely into Wolf Hall or Bring Up the Bodies.

Of course, it is heartbreaking. One spends 750 pages growing to love these bold characters only to see them snuffed out by their own policies. If you don't already know about the French Revolution before picking this up, you may want to give yourself a little lesson. I was admittedly not an expert and found myself frustrated in certain sections, wishing I had a better idea of what was going on.

I adore Mantel's Cromwell series, but reading this really opened my eyes to why so many others find her writing difficult. I didn't realize how much I was leaning on prior knowledge in order to enjoy those stories, but it became painfully clear in this one. Still, I loved her humor, her crazy style of writing that no one else can get away with, and her clever way of turning historical facts into a fresh story.

I hope to read this book again sometime when I am not so distracted by life - and after studying the events of the French Revolution in a little more detail. I feel certain that this is a book, like Mantel's others, that are rich enough in content to be enjoyed more than once.

Beautifully written as we are used to with the stunning Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety is also a monumental work that puts those great men of the Revolution under a human, realistic, belivable light. None of the main characters (or the secondary ones) feel flat or unrealistic; when they are on page, they feel like real people in the real world (and I take my hat off for the spectacular level of historicañ accuracy of this book) and not simple mouthpieces of ideology. It is impossible to dislike any of them and I found myself tearing up even at Danton's death, someone I didn't really care about before.

Regarding Danton, there are traces of Cromwell's voice in him. There are points in common between the both of them, their realism, their popular touch, their charisma. Maybe that help me to connect with Danton in this book.

My only dislike was the fact that it ended after the Germinal purges and we never got to see Robespierre careening to his untimely death. I would have loved to read Mantel's account of MR's last months, his declining health and the conspiracy that ended his life. The end of the book is amazing, there is no denying in that. The way Robespierre's remembers his mother in particular "He sees the girl on the window seat, her body swollen, pregnant with death" (and kudos to Mantel for adding the -true- detail of MR learning lace work from his mother) felt like a punch on my chest. This image, a girl seating, swollen, pregnant with death has stayed with me since I've read it and I think it's such a beautiful metaphor for the Revolution itself that I will never let it go. But, as I was saying, I would have loved to follow him to the very end. I know that Camille is the centre of the book, the glue that binds the threads together, but Robespierre was, as I expected, my favourite character and I feel like I am missing something.

The way Mantel uses different formatting: theathre scripts, articles, quotations from the characters' speeches and papers is amazing and contributes to the feeling that you are there, in media res, submerged in a restless and dizzying narration of one of those world-changing events that leave no one indifferent.

This book is a great disappointment. It is an account of the French Revolution, grotesquely swollen with an endless procession of gossipy fragments, each of them well-written but either unconnected or confusingly attributed. It is impossible to keep track of all of the characters--what was Mantel trying for, giving half of Paris a bit part? There is a cast of characters at the end of the book--it covers about a dozen pages, which should be suggestive to prospective readers. It might have been good to know, when beginning to read, that this key was present, but, as I've said, it was at the end of the book. The book might also have been improved by a chronology of events. The author makes frequent reference to events (usually when something trivial is happening), but offers no context. In fact, the absence of context is the book's chief flaw. How anyone can read it and know who is doing what to whom and why at any given moment, I have no idea. And it's a shame--the subject is perfect for an historical masterwork. And Hillary Mantel has written terrific books. There is nothing wrong with the writing here--the sentence formation, that is--but this is does not even remotely resemble a well-crafted story. I read the whole thing, always hoping, and that last couple of hundred pages--when events are coming hot and heavy--is better than the rest. But if I did not have the neurotic need to finish every book I started, I would have abandoned this tome many times over.

"92, '93, '94. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity or Death."

Beginning in blood and ending in blood, this, to paraphrase Edmund Blackadder, 'huge rollercoaster of a novel, crammed with sizzling Frenchies', deals with the French Revolution and the life and times of 3 men behind (or in one case, in front of) it.
George-Jaques Danton arrives in Paris to practice law. He marries a daughter of a cafe owner. He makes friends interested in change. He is interested in money.
Camille Desmoulins arrives in Paris to practice law. After a long struggle he marries a civil servant's daughter, while being in love with his wife. He can usually be found right in the middle of a gathering talking about change. He is interested in revolution and blood.
Maximilien Robespierre arrives in Paris as a practicing lawyer from the provinces. He never marries. He doesn't make friends. He is interested in nothing.

I was quite ignorant on the subject of the French Revolution when I picked up the book but, through 'Wolf Hall', I was familiar with Hilary Mantel.
This book has all the familiar and much loved trademarks of her writing - the easy humour, the well structured plot, the well defined, quickly becoming familiar, characters, the assumed intelligence of the readers who don't need information spoonfed to them.
One of my favourite features of this book is that all the characters, while behaving clearly French, speak in a clearly English manner, which is completely deliberate and, being familiar, makes for a much easier read.

ETA after a second reread:

How can a book so full of violence and politics have such an ethereal quality? Its words, its concepts, are weightless, floating, subtle, not burdened by unnecessary explanations and redundancies. Impropriaties, events sensitive in nature that shouldn't be spelled out, aren't. They are described with a word, a glance, a shrug. The King's execution would go over your head if you weren't pouring over every single, "precicely chosen" (points if you know where this phrase is from) word.
It's hard for me to accept that this is one of Mantel's first literary endeavours. This is a work of a professional, someone whose convictions are strong, whose vocabulary is vast, whose ideas are endless, whose spirit is free and irreverent.
Mantel takes everything that is good about classic writers and introduces it to the modern times with a wink and a slap.
This book might have been written yesterday. Its lessons could be applied today. It'll still be remembered tomorrow.(less)

"A Place of Greater Safety," proposes that revolution is a deadly game, even when you win it.

Hilary Mantel uses brushstrokes broad, thin, short, and long in rendering the French Revolution's three main characters: Georges-Jacques Danton, Camille Desmoulins and Maximilian Robespierre, along with enough secondary and minor characters to fill a 1940s period film.

The novel depicts the desperation of those who want to be the protagonists of recorded history. For these hallowed names are certainly larger when attached to their political achievements than when cleaved to their actual personalities.

The author confects the expansive Danton, master orator, accumulator of wealth in defense of the people, slave to his appetites. Desmoulins is stripped down to an uneven boy who craves his father's love, but can write a mean-streak across genres. The in-house scribe to the bloody insurrection.

And then there's Robespierre: ascetic, asexual, emotionally economical, but increasingly haunted by conspiracies and complots, both real and imagined.

Each of them dreams a society the world can adore and imitate.

Robespierre dreams of "a free people, gentle bucolic, and learned. The darkness of superstition had drained away from the people's lives: brackish water, vanishing soil. In its place flourished the rational, jocund, worship of the Supreme Being. These people were happy; their hearts were not wracked or their flesh tormented by questions without answers or desires without resolution. Men came with gravity and wit to matters of government; they instructed their children, and harvested plain and plentiful food from their own land."

But the only gravity in matters of government visible is that pulling the guillotine's blade down on some poor, and second rank, royal's neck as the radicals' dreams usher in something infinitely more ghastly, something they'd like to purge from their resumes, but can't, because they are its architects.

"A Place of Greater Safety," is a behind-the-scenes tale that takes the reader from the house of one member of the troika to another, imagines what the wives and lovers of these famed players might have thought, what those drawn to their political strength saw in them, what their nasty habits were and how they impacted the course of Western civilization.

Lady Mantel loves her politics.

If "Wolf Hall" is mostly restrained to the inner workings of the English court and a reduced company of players, "A Place of Greater Safety," takes in the sweep of raging Paris. There are many sly and slippery exchanges among the wittiest men and women of their time, detailing the policy stuff that drove these manic activists.

The piece's tone oscillates dramatically with heroic descriptions of the terrible riots and rampages the revolution unleashed, while dishing up small-bore details like the little red chokers women took to wearing as the terror and guillotine became fixtures of city life.

"Greater Safety" is long and meandering, begging a reader's complete commitment, taking the time for multiple characters to affect one another in organic ways, for planting the deep seeds of their ultimate antagonisms, cutting the sails so that all the windy power of this historical chapter can be captured and drive events forward.

But then becomes quite tedious in the last 200 pages - at just such a time as the action should be most interesting. The author seems to want to avoid any real description of the major events of the French Revolution, and spends an inordinate number of pages explaining who is NOT sleeping with whom. The repeated, unwavering description of the three major characters becomes quite wearying.

And you really need to know enough about both the historical roles played by the three characters, and the French Revolution itself before much of this makes a lot of sense. It could have been racier, or it could have been more historically interesting, but it is neither.

On the whole, it is a miss.

Recognizing that it took Mantel a painfully long time to bring this book to publication, I am glad she eventually prevailed. Her inaugural work of historical fiction is definitely a winner in so many ways, paving the way for her ultimate success as an internationally acclaimed novelist. To start things off, she has chosen the French Revolution - one of those most dramatic and baffling periods in modern times - as her subject. While there is a lot of material available to aspiring authors on this most calamitous of times, she has chosen to view it through a different prism than is traditionally available to historians: personalities rather than ideas in collision. On this score, she has plenty to work with within the traditional ranks of the old regime versus the republican cause, but has chosen instead to take the more difficult course and look three seeming allies within the latter movement. From the individual lives of fellow revolutionaries Danton, Robespierre, and Desmoulins she weaves a fascinating tale of intrigue, dare, innovation and treachery emerging from relationships born out of desire for revolutionary change. All three of these exceptional men came from provincial backgrounds that did not seem to appreciate their potential abilities in oratory, writing, and reasoning to change the world for the better. as Mantel's story progresses, these three young men move to Paris to seek professional careers in a place that lives and breathes humanity. Invariably, Paris in all its appealing glory and deplorable ugliness will turn them and their kind into passionate and ruthless revolutionaries who will learn to kill on principle alone. Interwoven in this journey of dangerous enlightenment is the role that very special women play in helping to bring these careers to a tragic end. While Gabrielle, Lucille and Adele are often seen as naively complicit in and, at times, sadly overwhelmed by their men's phenomenal rise to power during the early days of the revolution, they come across as noble in their steadfast loyalty to the bitter end and a desire to protect them from harm. The underlying irony in this whole drama is that while ideas and ideals can initially foment a sense of greater freedom and equality, they also possess the terrible capacity to destroy those who get in the way because of differences of opinion, personal failings, and individual wants. In the midst of political revolution, as described here, there are few safe places to hide. This work of fiction is a cautionary reminder that no history can truly be understood without first examining the lives of its main participants.

Hilary Mantel has produced a masterpiece of intelligent writing in "A Place of Greater Safety" giving her reader a wonderful participant's view of the first half of the French Revolution. What is so compelling about her account is that it plays out on the contemporary political stage where everything is new and the future unknown and uncertain. Of course we know what comes next, but being immersed in the day to day lives of a selection of the major protagonists gives a powerful sense of how much happened by chance and how much was the result of politicking and plotting. Mantel is quoted in a recent interview as writing her fiction around and in support of historical reality. If you follow this book with a little research of you own, you will find out just how much this is so. In the process she gives new meaning and respect to the whole genre of historical fiction. This is a long and at times very detailed read, but this underscores just how real she tried to make it and how well she succeeded.

Ever wanted to read a history of the French Revolution but just couldn't chow into a weighty academic tome on the subject? This novel is for you. Some people drop the book in terror when they light upon the opening - six pages of dramatis personae. Worry not. You don't have to remember all those people - you don't even have to refer to Mantel's useful guide to the players ever again. I didn't. Mantel is that good of a historical storyteller. While sweeping us up into these years of political ferment and bloody power plays, Mantel keeps us firmly attached to just three epoch defining characters: Camille Desmoulins, the revolution's colorful, Dandyish propagandist; Georges-Jacques Danton, lawyer and revolutionary leader playing both ends for his own material gains; and Maximilian Robespierre, the revolution's philosopher, conscience, and dry stick. She also teaches us, by the by, how things were and why.

Mantel's prose scintillates. (Honest!) It's thrilling, I think, to come across a single sentence that nails a character, a circumstance, a place and a relationship. I just now flipped to a random page and found this: "Lately Camille had retreated to the blue chaise longue, fenced in by books, his long legs curled up beneath him as if to disassociate himself from Lucile's taste in carpets."

Mantel's control of this tsunami of a story - and she does make the French Revolution her own with her flair for blending historical fact with the storyteller's interpretations - is masterful. She earns a "five" just for keeping everything in order.

I've been obsessed with the French Revolution for a long time, and I've never seen anything that does it the justice Mantel does. For one thing, her research is impeccable. It's amazing the amount of reading she did to prepare this book; so many of the details she includes are from obscure memoirs that she must have spent years preparing.

Amazingly, she combines all her erudition to make a book that shows so much empathy for her famous main characters-Robespierre, Danton and Desmoulins-and is so entertaining that you hardly feel you're reading a work of real history, although I would say it is, despite being called a novel. Obviously there is poetic license taken, but overall it is astoundingly insightful to the nuances, mores, personalities of the times. This is a book that truly understands the eighteenth-century mentality, the passion and torments unleashed by the Revolution, and the fact that it was a very scary time to live in indeed.

I especially want to thank Mantel for giving the much reviled Robespierre some real humanity. Yes, he made some pretty big mistakes-but he is a sympathetic figure, and Mantel skillfully demonstrates this. Perhaps more than any other figure of the Revolution he deserves contextualization-a man of his times, he was subject to its glories and its constraints. Deeply idealistic yet deeply flawed, he is best understood as deluded rather than evil.

But more importantly...I love this book! It does read like a novel even if it is history, and even if you know or care nothing for the Revolution you will want to know the fates of these fully developed characters.

It's easily one of the best books I've ever read. I had trouble with the length--though not the longest novel I've read, it was still pretty daunting. There were a lot of places, events, and people to remember, and Mantel does an amazing job of finding little quirks about each of them so they are easier to remember. It lagged a little after 400 pages, but around page 600, the momentum picked up again and it was well worth the lull.

Aside from A Tale of Two Cities (and it's kind of a given that it's mentioned in a lot of reviews), I never read much literature on the French Revolution. I just picked it up because I was impressed with Mantel's Wolf Hall and I wanted more. It doesn't really disappoint. Her writing is absolutely beautiful and she captures her characters almost perfectly. I was very impressed with her characterization in this book, especially. Danton, Robespierre, and Camille progress from chapter to chapter so naturally it's not even noticeable until the end, and then you have to wonder when exactly they changed.

Camille, quite naturally, was my favorite. It's unfortunate that she didn't include something from his or Robespierre's side at the end. I feel like there was an ending for Danton, but not for the other two. I didn't get that resolution that I wanted with them.

It's a terrific book. I can't really say enough. It really makes you think.

This novel is about the making of a monster. Of course, it's about more than that. The book is too rich and full and alive to limit itself to the evolution of one character to the exclusion of the rich world outside but the central thread of this exceptional book is the slow drift of one man's idealism toward the acceptance of tyranny. (At one point, in a heated argument, Danton says to Robespierre, "It's you idealists who make the best tyrants.") There are literally hundreds of characters in this book, but at the heart of it lie the three conspirators, sometime friends and sometimes allies Georges-Jacques Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Maximilien Robespierre. All three giants. Without Danton, the French Revolution would have died as it began. Desmoulins was its greatest pamphleteer. Robespierre ruled over the Committee of Public Safety, which ordered and stage managed the murder of all enemies the Committee imagined.

Danton -gross body, scarred face, nonetheless attractive to women, a charismatic speaker--he was a friend of Desmoulins. Sometime antagonist, sometime collaborator, his relationship with Robespierre was more complex. Desmoulins -erratic, sexually ambivalent- had a genius for making the right friends: his friendship with Robespierre protected him until near the end, when Robespierre, with much hand wringing, abandoned him to public justice and the guillotine. At the beginning, physical violence so disturbs Robespierre that it makes him physically ill. He's ascetic, pinched -Danton makes fun of him as a little monk--he forsakes all private life and pleasure the better to serve the republic. But the republic is a mother who eats her children. By the end, Robespierre coldbloodedly betrays Danton and abandons Desmoulins, signs their arrest warrants and consigning them to the tender mercies of the courts. In the interest of the state, emotions like compassion and friendship must be sacrificed. Justice and truth are unimportant in the face of public security. Soon it's chop, chop, bye bye, no more Danton, no more Desmoulins.

It is impossible to say too much positive about this book. It is that good. It is truly exceptional, filled with lightning characterizations of a succession of fascinating characters. Here's Desmoulins:

Once paper and ink were to hand, it was useless to appeal to his better nature, to tell him he was wrecking reputations and ruining people's lives. A kind of sweet venom flowed through his veins, smoother than the finest cognac, quicker to make the head spin. And, just as some people crave opium, he craves the opportunity to exercise his fine art of mockery, vituperation and abuse; laudanum might quieten the senses, but a good editorial puts a catch in the throat and a skip in the heartbeat. Writing's like running downhill; can't stop if you want to.

And Danton on Robespierre: "He feels something, in his heart, and then he sits down and works out the logic of it, in his head. Then he says the head part came first; and we believe him."

Camille's wife, Lucille: "Her emotions now seemed to lie just beneath the surface, scratching at her delicate skin to be hatched."

Mirabeau, Lafayette, Philippe Egalite, Louis and Marie Antoinette, Marat and Hebert, Saint-Just, Madame and Monsieur Roland, Fabre d'Eglantine --they all come alive in these pages.

Early in the novel, the Marquis de Lafayette, feeling hopeless out of date in the tumult of real social revolution, shakes his head and wonders: "Where do they come from, these people? They're virgins. They've never been to war.... They've never killed an animal, let alone a man. But they're such enthusiasts for murder."

By the end of this novel, there are no more virgins.

This book brought the French Revolution alive in ways that, a decade after reading it, are still vividly memorable. Each of the books I've read by Ms. Mantel have been very different from each other, demonstrating her extraordinary sklils as a storyteller. No happy endings in this book---the fate of each character is saturated with the blood and horror endemic to the era.

I loved this book to pieces; was enthralled by it for the past month. Mantel is a masterful writer, one of the best in English today (with the exception of the disappointing Beyond Black), and she brings characters to life through dialogue in a way no other author does. Her characters are always exceedingly witty, which makes for entertainment as well as intellectual stimulation--though it may not be entirely realistic. In the course of the book, one falls in and out of love with the main characters, alternately admiring and deploring their behavior, just as one might in "real life." Robespierre, for instance, is initially admirable, then horribly absolutist, then pitiable. The end is heartbreaking though inevitable. What I loved above all is the author's effort to figure out what actually drove these major players in history: a mix of principle, true belief, and vanity--perhaps above all vanity.

Hilary Mantel is the famous author of "A Place of Greater Safety" which is a long, complex, fact based and intellectual account of the French Revolution which began with the storming of the Bastille in 1789. Mantel is a famous novelist who recently took home the Man Booker Award for her smash hit and critcially acclaimed novel Wolf Hall.
A Place of Greater Safety is epic in scale but also personalizes the life of three of the leading lights of Revolutionary France. All three men were provincial lawyers who ended their brief candle lives on the guillitone in Paris. The trio are:
Camille Desmoulins: A lifelong friend of Robspierre he was a pamphleter of revolutionary rhetoric. He was in love with his wife's mother. The wife Lucile had numerous affairs. She too dies on the guillotine. Camille is a moody individual with an unpleasant personality. He wavers in his commitment to the cause. He was a young man not content for a sleepy and mundane life in village France opting for Paris and the dangers it brought his way. He sought a place of greater safety but his life ended in tragedy.
M. Robspierre. His name is synonymous with the reign of terror which took his own life. Robspierre was a cold, aloof, calculating lawyer-politician who sent thousands to their deaths under the cruel sharp blade. He married a homely but sweet peasant girl. He was an intellectual loner whose life was also tragic. He sought a place of greater safety but never found it. He was the Goebbels of the French Revolution and a repulsive person.
George-Jacques Danton. Big. Bawdy. Orator of genius and lover of wine, women and song. His first wife Gabrielle died young as did two children. His second wife was 15 while he was in his 30s when he married her. Their marriage was happy. Of the three main characters in this novel Danton is the most attractive. He had enemies in the French National Assembly and was condemned to death after a stormy trial. Danton was a man of political genius whose death is the saddest one recorded in this book of darkness and chaos in French political life.
Several other historical figures from the doomed Louis XVI, his Austrain wife Marie Antoinette to General Lafayette people these 700 small print pages. the most interesting of these is Marat who was murdered by Charlotte Corday.
Much of the novel takes place in dialogue between the main characters. Mantel delves into motives and the psyche of those involved in the bloody events. She has done her homework, written a brilliant book and moved herself to the first rank of British historical novelists. Bravo to Hilary Mantel!

3 stars for story and narrative flow and tension, 5 stars for history. Wow, not sure we really needed to know everything Camile, Danton and Robespierre did and said and thought for their entire lives, but here it is! About 60% through I was thinking "enough already, cut off their damned heads!". Maybe 100 pages less would have been better.
That said, what a wonderful lesson on the French Revolution - not sure any text book or other history will give you this sort of insight. Even if it is based on Mantel's own guesses, what better wrtier to make guesses!

I loved Mantel's Wolf Hall, and was interested to read her take on the French Revolution. In Wolf Hall, I was very familiar with the time period and the characters. In this book, I wasn't near as much, so I was worried how I'd fare. Not to worry - she starts out slow, introducing you to the three main characters, and introduces events and people as they happen. At times the number of people was very confusing, and I could have used a better index of names than the one she supplies at the start of her book (one perhaps that was alphabetical, rather than listed by sections of the book), but I managed to keep my place and figure it out. Of course, it helps that this was an exceedingly well written book, one that puts you in that time and place, and actually makes you care about the characters even if you know what role they play in the events of those days. She also manages to make the book very timely, as some of the same issues we have now are just copies of the ones they had then; some of the quotes she has her characters repeat sound eerily like some of our current politicians. Its enough to sound a tocsin, a warning if we would but listen. Its also one of those books that I didn't need to rush through. I read it in large chunks. I could set it aside a day or so and pick up where I left off with little trouble. It did take me longer to read this book than it might have, but I savored every page. In fact its amazing to me that such a large book (over 700 pages) could be such a page turner!

Looking forward to her next book, the sequel to Wolf Hall!

It has been suggested that being a soldier in wartime involves long periods of tedium punctuated by brief interludes of terror. Perhaps being a prominent figure during the French Revolution was rather similar. This immense and thoroughly researched novel has interesting moments, but it consists mainly of discussions amongst the members of a vast cast of people who had a role in creating the course of the revolution. Keeping track of who's who was a major challenge for this reader, at least. Most of the leading figures are male; the female characters are rather shadowy and not very interesting. Clearly the novel has its fervent admirers, but anyone planning to read it should be prepared for a long and demanding slog, and should not expect an experience as entertaining as the two Cromwell books.

Wow. A great read. This book transported me to a different time and place. It is historical fiction at its finest. While long, every scene is crafted to fulfill the author's purposes in character development. And Mantel develops characters magnificently. I never thought Robespierre could ever be the least bit sympathetic but Mantel shows him to be a vulnerable, lonely and sad person rather than the murderous cool machine traditional history has shown us. Her rendition of Camille Desmoulins and Georges Danton is perfection. The scenes between Lucille and Camille are a treat to read. It will be an investment of time but reading this will be well worth it.

This is quite likely ther greatest historical fiction ever written about the French Revolution.
It follows the careers of three of the revolution's architects - Georges Danton, who wants to be rich and famous; Camille Desmoulins, who wants just once in his life to make his father proud of him; and sensitive Robespierre, Camille's school friend who believes there's something wrong with the system but isn't out for blood.
Camille is center stage at the storming of the Bastille - a stage he will never quite again regain. Danton becomes involved in the political aftermath, and they drag Robespierre kicking and screaming into the bloodbath that follows.
Eventually Danton is softened by the death of his long-suffering wife and Camille is horrified when friends start to go to the guillotine. Robespierre, however, has indeed become the fanatic they wanted to make him. They realize he must be stopped - but with Danton involved in government corruption and Camille seen weeping publicly for a condemned prisoner and emotionally torn between his two friends, it may be too late...
The storytelling here is masterful, sympathies wavering from one of the trio to another - an amazing feat considering that the "Citizens" have to be among history's great mass murderers. The book is long, but nothing really could have been left out - the Revolution was this epic in scope. Other historical figures weave in and out of the narrative - an initially stupid and vain but ultimately moving Marie Antoinette; briefly but memorably a harried Lafayette who realizes they are at the brink of something far more horrible than the Revolution's older sister in America but can't change the tide of history by himself; and many others - above all a frightening Marat.
Mantel purposely kept Marat a supporting character because he was a bit older than the main characters and thus his story is a bit different than theirs. She hopes to write his story eventually, and I can hardly wait to see the results.

Liberty, Equality and Fraternity! This slogan which has become one of the symbols of the French Revolution. The first one to coin this powerful phrase was the lawyer and policician Georges-Jacques Danton (1759-1794). Danton was one of the leading figures of the French Revolution like Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794). This novel tells the story of how these two men, who were once once friends striving in a common cause, drift apart and finally oppose each other in a deadly sruggle when the revolution enters a crucial phase.
From april 1792 France is at war with almost all neighbouring countries, while internal political differences threaten to tear the country apart: there are royalist uprisings, ultra-revolutionary plots, there is corruption and speculation, famine, economic chaos and a galloping inflation.
Robespierre's solution to end all these threats to the revolution is a simple, direct and terrible one: it is the Terror: political opponents, royalist rebels, speculators, hoarders of food, usurers, foreign intriguers, speculators, bankers and spies are arrested, tried and executed by the thousands.
Danton wants a moderate use of and a speedy end to the terror, but Robespierre means to maintain it to safeguard the revolution.
Danton loves life, women, good food and drink. He is the type of politician who is not averse to money, and who, for the good of the revolution, is prepared to dirty his hands, make shady deals, and quite a bit of cash for himself.
Robespierre on the other hand is a pure idealist, his nickname is "the incorruptible". He is genuinely moved by the suffering of the common people, and wishes to make France into a paradise on earth. Anyone who stands in the way of this ideal is an enemy of the people acoording to Robespierre and the terror will ruthlessly deal with enemies of the people.
Their differences of opinion in politics stem from their different characters, childhoods and youths. Danton's childhood was a happy, carefree one. He is an uncomplicated man who wears his heart on his sleeve. Robespierre, however, had a miserable, loveless childhood. He is a loner, pessimistic and suspicious and his behavior in the company of others is odd, gauche and uncomfortable.
Their mutual friend was the poet, journalist, lawyer and layabout Camille Desmoulins. If Camille's old friends become the two most powerful men in France after the execution of the king the battle is on to decide whose vision on the future of the revolution will become reality. And Desmoulins must choose between them..........

This is an utterly beleivable and beautifully written book, exciting down to the last page, although you know what will happen, because that other symbol of the revolution, the Guillotine, will claim all these men in the end. Hilary Mantel recounts the fascinating lives of these men and the story of the time in which they lived. I've read quite a lot about the French Revolution and in my opinion the author has captured the atmosphere, the background and all characters great and small absolutely spot on. Mantel knows her history.
The historical events that take place, are presented truthfully. Where the author does give her own "spin" or twist to history (for example: How did the ragtag French army win the battle of Valmy?) her solutions show a great love for and knowlegde of the subject matter as indeed an enormous talent for making history come alive. A phenomenal achievement! At nearly 800 pages it's a big read but a highly satisfying one. If it were possible I would give ten or twelve stars! Highly recommended. Bit of a long(winded)review, and in quite a clunky an clumsy english (it not being the maternal tongue of my nativity and descent), I'm sorry about that, but do buy and read this book!

They all knew each other, either as friends, acquaintences, schoolmates or rivals. They worked together to destroy a corrupt, despotic regime. They improvised a government. Then everything spiraled out of control: good intentions were abandoned, mobs ruled Paris, corruption and a murderous government cost the lives of thousands of innocent people.

It is a tribute to Hilary Mantel's skill that she can take these deeply unattractive human beings and humanize them to the point that her readers care what they to to themselves. and what they do to each other. This is powerful book, and one that I hope every head of state will read and reflect on. Regime change sounds simple, but the consequences last for generations.

Having started Mantel with Wolf Hall - a work of genius - then moving on to Bringing up the Bodies (which seemed was a chore to her, not nearly so inspired nor precisely and richly imagined,) I then opened Greater Safety with anticipation. It is a greatly flawed work. At times riveting, at others tedious and bewilderingly peopled with a multitude of characters and factions. I am heading off to another, more historical account of the Revolution, and am chagrined to leave behind the remarkable individuals she created but left to spin distractedly for much of this account.

Often, historical novels add to our understanding of important historical events. But rarely do historical personalities and the world they lived in come to life as compellingly as in this fictional tale of the French Revolution and its unlikely heroes. It is clear that Mantel has done extensive research which she presents in a most entertaining and informative way. This novel perked my interest in the French Revolution and I am reading more tradional histories of the period.

Everything about this book is huge- its length, its scope, its cast, and its research. Mantel takes us to the razor's edge- showing how those brilliant men who engineered and orchestrated the French Revolution and its ideals lost control of their creation and became victims themselves of the Terror. It is immensely readable, with engaging, complex characters. Mantel does an excellent job of portraying Robespierre, Desmoulins and Danton in a way which leads readers to be sympathetic towards them while also being horrified of what they were party to. An excellent read for anyone who finds the French Revolution fascinating, and a wonderful novel overall.

This is one of the rare novels of historical fiction that completely captures the true spirit and essence of its subject. Powerfully moving, "A Place of Greater Safety" expresses the views and ideals of the Revolution, through the lives and words of Camille Desmoulins, Georges Danton, and Maximilien Robespierre. The author is, amazingly, able to depict her characters' emotions with so much depth and truth, that by the end of the novel, you will question all you think you understand of the French Revolution and the people who believed in its cause. This book gives the reader a taste of both the beauty behind the emotions which governed the people of France, and of the tragedy that sent so many to their deaths in the early, volatile days of the Republic. A story of the despair of a people and a merciless strugle for justice, "A Place of Greater Safety" is a masterpiece that will not soon be forgotten.

This novel is a benchmark in historical fiction---comparisons others have made here to Dickens and Tolstoy are not hyperbole. This is a stunning intellectual achievement in its depth of characterization and sheer narrative verve...and, to steal from one of the reviews on the paperback's back cover, all brought off with "Mantel's customary black sparkle."

There is a knowingness in this book about human nature which makes nearly everything else I've read lately taste of cardboard. Historicity aside---and it is very good history, if psychohistory of the Shakespearean stripe---the dialogue is so theatrically sharp, you wonder why no one has tried to film this. Short answer: it's probably [and thankfully] unfilmable.

There are gems [often drawn from sheer dint of research] any writer would be thrilled to have composed: the schoolboy Robespierre reciting a rote speech to Louis XV's closed carriage in the rain; the midnight meeting between Desmoulins and the Duc d'Orleans; Danton's slow circling of Lucile Desmoulins; the madness of the show trials, with the tumbrils already ordered, awaiting the walking dead.

Writers who look their art square in the eye know that they are called to write masterpieces: nothing else matters.

This, simply, is one. It will go down as one of the great fictional accomplishments of the 20th century.

And while you're at it, read Mantel's autobiography. It's terrifyingly real too: you'll understand where her eerily precise eye for human behaviour first saw practice.

I read this before Wolf Hall, etc, etc, and while I so enjoy her writing and her ability to simply mesmerize and pull you into the world she has created, this book was such a slog. I came to dread reading it, though finish I did. Unfortunately I think the experience has made me allergic to anything to do with the French Revolution - I opened another novel and saw the name "Camille" and put it down in a hurry! Nonetheless I give it 4 stars because of Mantel's writing and her ability to build atmosphere - so, so talented and I really hope she continues with historical fiction (albeit better edited!).

I absolutely adored "Wolf Hall," I love historical fiction, and the French revolution is a period I'd like to get into--so what would there be to dislike in "A Place of Greater Safety." Unfortunately, quite a bit. The book focuses on the lives of three pivotal individuals, Georges-Jacques Danton, Maximilien Robespierre, and Camille Desmoulins. Mantel's style can be hard to follow at first--she's a bit oblique sometimes, circling around a character or setting, letting the reader figure it out. It worked beautifully in "Wolf Hall"--but with three major characters I never quite got a handle on any of them. Mantel helpfully included a cast of characters chart in the front, as in "Wolf Hall," but far too many people were left out. I really had trouble getting into it. I gamely carried on but it was a struggle. The drama of the final betrayals and deaths came through, but getting there was hard.

This story is really about what happens in period of extreme chaos in which all social institutions--government, the Church and universities, and the civil organizations that we structure our lives around--are swept away suddenly and irrevocably. Think the Cultural Revolution in China. The destruction and bloodshed are always horrible. . .man's worst instincts are given full freedom. The results are terrible to witness--but the struggle to get into this book kept me from feeling it. I'll wait for the "Wolf Hall" sequel. This one was a disappointment.

Of course the novel is predictable since we all know how these characters end. Killed by the guillotine. It still is a wonderful, impressive tale of what started the French revolution, how the leaders had the highest ideals and how the people suffered under the reign of Louis 16 and Marie Antoinette.
But like always, power corrupts and Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Robespierre, Saint Juste, none of them escaped the inevitable ending; the guillotine. Hillary Mantel's novel is a historical masterpiec. Please give us more.

I first read this book when I was a senior in high school ten years ago. I was really interested in the French Revolution and all the personalities involved. This book was a beautifully written, sensitive and accurate portrait of the tragic figures of the Revolution. She knew things about Robespierre I thought only I knew that I had read in dusty old volumes you can't even get access to anymore. I remember in the forward she says "if it seems too unlikely to be true it probably is", and that's definitely the case. It was a very touching book and really brilliant in a number of ways. Mantel really understands the eighteenth-century mind better than most authors I've read. Now I'm getting my Ph.D. in history and looking into that period in even more depth! Get this book even if you aren't a history buff, though. It's a great read even if you don't know the first thing about history.

Mantel's dark humor shines through in this marvelous, fully fleshed novel of the French Revolution. From the incredibly seductive Demoulins couple and the forceful Danton to the dangerously pure Robespierre, all of these players are realistic and all (rather strangely) are easy to identify with. I have read this book several times and will undoubtedly read it again. Could it be that it makes sense of our times? Or is it just really good fun?

I really enjoy Hilary Mantel's writing; it's quick and witty. She also describes how her process begins with historical research about her "characters" and time periods, so that her story has such a true ring to it. The only thing I don't like about the two books of hers that I've read is that I feel she is sometimes intentionally unclear about who is talking and about what, which can be frustrating. It is also a little strange at times when she jumps from one style of narration to another without explanation or transition. Overall, though, I liked this book a great deal and would definitely read more of her work.

As a life-time ardent student of the French Revolution I can firmly say that this book is the most "enlivened" account of the French Revolution that I have ever encountered. The brilliant story-telling narrative is as dramatic as a virtual movie. I love this book and the awesome writing skills of its author.

After reading "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies," I was expecting another great read. Certainly not a book you can't put down. I was disappointed, but realized this was one of her earlier works. The later ones are definitely a huge improvement.

I first found this gem when I was a graduate student in London on a random trip through a local bookstore chain. I had never heard of the author, and purchased the book during a spell of summer boredom and because I have degrees in both French and History. It turned out to be an amazingly lucky find.
The book's most interesting facet is the view of the interior life of its characters. It does more than fill in the background of events, constructing private coversations between historical figures -- it offers insight and motive (or the lack thereof) for some of the most fascinating people in modern history.
I've reread the book several times and been pleased to give it as a gift to more than one friend.

I liked the characters not because they were "good" but because their flaws made the so real . The style changing sometimes was a little disjointed but seemed appropriate to the atmosphere she was trying to convey. It"s an instance in which you know what the outcome is going to be, but you keep reading hoping for different ending. I found it hard to put down

This novel is a texture of voices and documents in which the likely characters - Danton and Desmoulins - as well as the unlikely - mother & daughter Duplessis, Robespierre, Ste. Just, Louis XVI, Fouqier-Tinville, even Marat - are imagined from the inside and history is what results from the play of character and circumstance. Among many remarkable features is the increasing sense of loss as seat after seat at the Convention is emptied during the Terror, until nearly all the familiars are escorted to that place of greater safety which Desmoulins recognized as the grave.

After a while you get absolutely confused what is going on historically. Unless you are very interested in this period of French history I think you will get bored .I did and abandoned it at about 69% ( I read Kindle version).

I loved Mantel's writing style in Wolf Hall and I am a big fan of Andrej Wajda's great movie Danton. I know very little of French revolution except that there was a lot of chop-chop at the neckie. So, I was looking forward to reading this long very long book.
There is too much of soap in the book which distracts from the political drama. If someone can wash-off 200 pages of the soap , this good book would be a great 400-500 page book.

This book takes three main characters involved in the French Revolution and follows them from boyhood through to the Revolution and the ghastly time of the Terror. On the whole Mantel does this convincingly and with great empathy, relating the characters' interior monologues and intrigues, as well as providing a more omniscient interpretation. However for me the novel didn't really work beyond the first 500 pages (it is very long, at approx pages). We lose track of the multitude of characters as the author become more and more involved in writing a history of the period, and less and less involved in making a novel that engages and carries forward the reader. In the end, I gave up at around page 600.

I read Hilary Mantel's most recent historical novel - Wolf Hall - and thought it was as close to a masterpiece in the genre as one could get. A Place of Greater Safety satisfies equally. Her writing style is quirky and engaging and, similar to Gore Vidal's epic historical novels, she does not play fast and loose with historical events and personages. It was a joy to read. I look forward to her next creation.

Although I am keenly interested in the French Revolution, I was unable to read more than a few chapters of this book. I was not drawn in at all, I never thought, "Ah, that's just how it must have been". Very disappointing, especially in view of the author's reputation. [I plan on reading "Wolf Hall", but will borrow it from the library.] A much more satisfying book on the same subject is "Paris in the Terror", a work of non-fiction by Stanley Loomis.

I have never understood how this novel acquired the reputation it's got. It's a tedious rehashing of the French Revolution, featuring well-known historical characters acting in highly unlikely ways. The portrayal of the Duplay girls in particular has no historical basis at all. There is no psychological insight into the characters, no real explanation of why they act as they do, or the complex constellation of factors influencing them. I struggled to reach the end.

It seems to me that the editor and Ms Mantel could have created a much better piece of literature if they would have left off about half of the book. The author writes in a unique style and at times the reader has no idea of who is talking or of whom they are discussing. Although the history is fascinating, it would have been even more so had the book been edited better and they would have left out half of the words.

Mantel is an amazing storyteller. It is wonderful that she is able to develop such compelling and credible scenarios for the events that led to and followed the French Revolution. The research must have been amazing, because characters, events and people unfold within each page. My only regret with this book is that it had to end.

This narrative of the French Revolution, while somewhat interesting, was just too long and confusing to follow. So many characters and relationships to sort out. Would have been better in two volumes perhaps?

I'm afraid I can't provide much of a review--this book renders me speechless, mostly. I first read it five years ago, and it's still the best novel I've ever read. I've yet to encounter any competition.

I have to agree with the other two-star reviewers: this monstrosity is not worth the time. Having read multiple reviews, I thought I was in for a roaring read. Not the case. First, the book is way too long and features an interminable stream of characters that come and go like stray cats. Second, one learns early on that the scar-faced Danton has a strong sexual apetite; that Demoulins is a flake; and that Robespierre is inscrutable.Finally, over seven hundred pages later I felt no attachment to the three protagonists, much less the accompanying cast of dozens. I love the historical fiction genre, but I am left wondering what all the reviewers saw in this work. Two hundred pages into this interminable opus, I broadened my scope of reviews and found that others shared my opinion. Against my better judgment, I trudged on to complete it. I regret my persistence. Go back to Dickens, read "A Tale of Two Cities", enjoy a hear-thumping good read, and you will have learned all most of us need to know about the Reign of Terror.

A confusing, piece of schlock that dwells on elements of the French Revolution that are beside the point. This is written for the people who watch garbage like "Scandal" on TV. You will learn virtually nothing about the historical period. Many things that come out of the mouths characters just don't ring true. If you want the seedy, scuzzy, profane and exaggerated take on the Revolution this is your book.........otherwise don't waste the money!

Try reading actual history written by historians.