Liberty: The Lives And Times Of Six Women In Revolutionary France
The French Revolution and its aftermath is such a well-trodden path that it always needs a fresh focus. In this beautifully bound volume, Lucy Moore has chosen to focus on six individual women, each one representing a different aspect of the revolution. The ‘Salonnière’ and ‘Emigrée’, are both represented by Madame de Staël. Pauline Léon is the ‘Fille Sans Culotte.’ The other four women under scrutiny are Thérésia de Fontenay, Manon Roland, Théroigne de Mericourt and Juliette Récamier.
This welcome new addition to the cannon reminds us that one of the cornerstones of the Revolution – Fraternité – excluded women. However, Lucy Moore vividly shows us that women, too, could and did risk all for a revolutionary ideal. And who knows, they may inspire the novelists amongst us to choose one of them as a heroine.
