I adore novels of the French Revolution and this one takes an relatively unusual perspective, that of the countryside. Although the revolution centred around Paris, where the great political personalities clashed, the monarchy were deposed, and the people rioted, its impact outside the capital is also very interesting. Du Maurier's novel is really a family saga set during the revolution. Although its upheavals impinge significantly upon the family's fortunes, they themselves are in no sense central to it. The differing political viewpoints of the siblings are well-presented, though, as are the roles they take on (National Guard, Émigré, etc).

It took me about a hundred pages to really get into 'The Glass-Blowers', but once I did I read it compulsively. The section about the 'Grand Peur', a period in which rural France was swept with rumours of brigands and disaster, was especially vivid. It highlighted how poor communications were at that time, with unreliable word of mouth all that those outside Paris had to go regarding the status of their government. The all-pervasive fear of chaos seems ironically more powerful as a rumour than when it later becomes a fact, during the revolt of the Vendée and subsequent civil war. The latter is also evoked very powerfully. It is also notable that the Terror is of relative unimportance by comparison, which is another reminder of differing rural and urban experiences. After all, it was the French Revolution, not the Parisian Revolution.

I found the depiction of women in this novel especially striking, and very moving. The deaths in childbirth and the terrible levels of infant mortality are too often swept aside in historical novels. 'The Glass-Blowers' is narrated by a woman, whose mother is depicted as its most steadfast, strong, and wise character. There is little explicit discussion of women's rights, but their importance is made very clear. I came to care about the characters very much. Although the narrator, Sophie, is in some senses the least vivid of her siblings, that is perhaps due to it being her voice trying to tell the truth of the family story. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel, both as a moving family drama and as an account of the late 18th century and early 19th in rural France. ( )

Although the backdrop for the book is the French Revolution, the real story is about the siblings making the journey from the world that was, through revolution and life, each in their own way, into the new world order. A young couple, devoted to each other, understand their world and their place in it as they raise their five children. They are comfortable in their lives until revolution comes to France, until their country and their family begin to unravel.

The oldest son dreams of becoming a member of the new aristocracy, only to lose everything he has again and again, without learning any lessons, without valuing the great gifts he has already been given, always wanting more.

The second son breezes through life without building much for the future, but he wants to help his fellow man. He finds his niches that give him temporary satisfaction but pays no attention to building a lasting life and legacy. His dreams are destroyed by the ongoing unrest as well as his inability to plan ahead.

The third son, who has been neglected and discounted, eagerly dives into the revolution, only to find that overturning the old regime does not lead to lasting wealth and the recognition that he craves. There is only continuing destruction and a newfound willingness to engage in behavior that would have previously been unthinkable, earning his family's disdain.

The younger daughter's determination to secure a marriage with an older man who will guarantee her future financial security does not lead to that, only to her contempt and abandonment of him after he has lost everything materially, the only reason she had married him. She rediscovers her devotion to her family and returns to care for her siblings.

The infants that die, siblings and the children of the narrating older daughter, could be the stillborn hopes and dreams of both the old regime and the new one. Life goes on and the narrator makes concessions enough to survive and finish with a satisfactory, if not perfect life. The parts about glass making were interesting and I recognized the turning points and major events in the French Revolution, but this is no more about the French Revolution than Rebecca was about a housefire. This allegory could be a story of any time and place, before or after this historical event, a story of men and women on a journey throughout history. ( )

Using her own family history as inspiration, Du Maurier gives us the aging Sophie Duval, who has promised her nephew that she will tell the story of their family, starting with her mother marrying into the local community of glass blowers.

The story starts with Sophie's mother getting married in the 1770s in rural France, where the glass blowers are situated beside the forests that provide the fuel for the furnaces.

Sophie herself gets married in 1788 in a joint wedding with her younger sister. It's not long before the issues building up in Paris spills out into the countryside. The storming of the Bastille and other important events is told via gossip and second hand scare mongering as panic spreads across the land, and thieves and brigands are seen in every shadow, ready to burn crops and steal wood.

Over the next few years, we see how the revolution happening in the bigger towns and cities filters down into the countryside, where neighbour can turn against neighbour and family fortunes can be made and lost by a word in the wrong place.

Sophie's family is directly affected where one brother, who gambles with his money and reputation, emigrates to England having been declared bankrupt too many times, and stakes his living (badly) with the other french emigres.

Pierre becomes a notary, Edme works first with Pierre and then Michel as local leaders in the revolution. Both men die in their old age, tired and worn out, and Edme is left to continue her fight for a revolution that has long lost it's spark. Sophie lives into her old age where her nephew (Michel's son) has become the mayor of the local town and we're back to where the story started.

The book is sub-400 pages long in this edition, so this is not an in depth detailed look at the French Revolution. du Maurier has chosen some set pieces to highlight on and there is much that is told briefly (or not at all). Therefore this is not a book for someone looking for a non-fictionalised account of the Revolution, should be seen more as a lead-in story.

This is another example of du Maurier's skill is telling historical fiction, and should be much better known than it is.


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Too political. ( )

Set in 18th and 19th century France following Du maurier's ancestors family as glass blowers and how her generation came to live in England and what happened to the families during the French revolution. Well told, with interesting insights into the politics of the time. ( )