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"A plot of cunning construction, worked
out with finished technique. There is just that amount of
suspense which is necessary to to charm the imagination of
the average reader, just enough heroic gestures to satisfy
the child that survives in all of us." The New
York Times, June 26, 1921
Scaramouche
How through the crowded days of the French Revolution, Andre
Moreau, fugitive, strolling player, master of the sword,
gained fame and happiness because he fought equally well with
tongue and rapier. Never will the reader forget the sardonic
Scaramouche who was "born with the gift of laughter and
a sense that the world was mad."
published by The Riverside Press
Cambridge, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1921
I love a good adventure, and Scaramouche was probably
the second book of this genre I had read. Pulled along
through the trials of Andre-Louis, I was genuinely surprised
by many of the plot twists.
Re-reading the book almost 20 years later, I still find the
plot exciting, the characters believable and the writing
clever and evocative of the time period without being
difficult to read.
Andre-Louis Moreau seems to be able to land on his feet no
matter what the circumstances. Of unknown parentage, he
nevertheless starts out with the patronage of the Lord of
Gavrillac who has him educated as a lawyer. After his friend,
Philippe deVilmorin, is killed by the Marquis de La Tour
d'Azyr, Moreau becomes a master orator for a cause in which
he does not yet believe and moves the people of Rennes and
Nantes to embrace the ideals of his dead friend.
Fleeing the enemies he has made because of his speeches,
Andre-Louis joins a troupe of travelling players and
discovers his talents for writing and acting. He becomes
Scaramouche, a master manipulator. When he is unable to
resist an opportunity to denounce de la Tour d'Azyr from the
stage, he must escape again.
This time he goes to Paris and becomes a fencing instructor.
After gaining expertise in weaponry, Moreau again is
presented with an opportunity to foil his enemy's plans, this
time as a representative in the States General. But, his fate
and that of the Marquis are interlocked and the action
continues to build to a climax and conclusion that was as
surprizing for me as it was reasonable.
It is no wonder that reprints of Scaramouche are still widely
available.
A. G.
Lindsay (rimfire)
Another review, by Simon
McLeish, is available at his home page.
If you have a review to submit, please send it to
the webmaster, rimfire
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