Tea at Trianon: My Own Revolution

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, March 7, 2013

My Own Revolution

Communism in Eastern Europe ended only a few decades ago. I grew up hearing about the social injustices behind the Iron Curtain, but many members of the younger generation have no idea what a Marxist dictatorship was like. With poignancy and suspense, Carolyn Marsden tells of life under a totalitarian government as seen through the eyes of a young Czech boy.

It is the 1960s in Eastern Europe, where American rock music is strictly forbidden as the regime works to indoctrinate the people with Marxist-Leninist philosophy. Patrik, age fourteen, decides to revolt against the Communist dictatorship through a series of pranks which he describes as his “own revolution.” Too late, he realizes the danger he has created for his family, who are already suspect for not being Communist Party members. In the meantime, Patrik realizes that his childhood sweetheart is keeping company with another boy, adding to his growing feelings of frustration and isolation. As the noose begins to tighten around Patrik and his family, he sees clearly that the things he values most in life are worth making sacrifices for. Marsden brings her characters to life, and I found it easy to identify with the boy and his family as their world begins to fall apart, and they no longer know who is a friend and who is an enemy. My Own Revolution is a page-turner full of heroism, adventure and pathos behind the Iron Curtain.

(*NOTE: This book was sent to me by the Historical Novel Society in exchange for my honest opinion.)

(This review originally appeared in the February 2013 edition of the Historical Novels Review.)