La condesa de Charny. Novela de género histórico, político y social que enmarca a la Francia del siglo XVI haciendo referencia a los sucesos posteriores a la Toma de la Bastilla. Luis XVI secretamente y con ayuda de Charny y Bouillé empiezan a planear la huída. Andrea, la condesa de Charny, empieza a conocer la felicidad; aunque ésta duraría poco, para ella sería suficiente. Realizada en 1857 por el escritor francés Alejandro Dumas en tres tomos y publicada por la editorial española Alejandro Dumas en 2013. Edición en cuatro tomos, que refleja la continuación de Angel Pitou.

MBB-5

"La Comtesse de Charny", roman écrit par Alexandre Dumas en 1853 fait suite d'une certaine façon au roman "Ange Pitou", prenant sa place dans les Mémoires d'un médecin.

"Ange Pitou" devait à l'origine comporter six tomes, mais à la demande d'Émile Girardin il fut réduit à un tome. Ce roman fut inachevé, ce qui explique sa fin étrange.

"La Comtesse de Charny" se déroule pendant la Révolution française à Paris et dans les villages d'Haramont et Pisseleu, près de Villers-Cotterêts.

Le roman débute sur les journées des 5 et 6 octobre 1789 alors que la famille royale quitte Versailles pour Les Tuileries. Le roman s'attache à certaines personnalités révolutionnaires, comme Maximilien de Robespierre, Jean-Paul Marat, Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, comte de Mirabeau, mais met également en scène des personnages de fiction tels que le comte Olivier de Charny, amoureux de la reine Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche qui néglige sa jeune femme, Andrée, la comtesse de Charny qui donne son titre au roman. Son cadet, le vicomte Isidore de Charny, seigneur de Boursonnes, est amoureux de Catherine Billot dont il a un fils, le jeune Isidore.

The Countess de Charny begins where Taking the Bastile leaves off after the attack on Versailles and the Royal family is "escorted" back to Paris by that same mob and are installed in residence at the Tuileries Palace, while the various factions of the National Assembly sort out the politics and fate of the Royal Family going forward. Gilbert returns as a royalist trying to keep Louis on the throne, albeit without absolute power, and the ever mysterious Count Cagliostro (formerly known as Balsamo) plots with the Freemasons to manipulate the revolution to a higher level. Also returning is the beauteous Andrée who shares a secret with Gilbert that promises to destroy the happiness she and de Charny are finally on the verge of finding (I did not see that one coming!!) and Marie Antoinette (who loves de Charny) is happy to use Andrée's secret to keep the two lovers apart.

Much of the book details known history as Louis attempts to take his family out of the country to safety, their ultimate capture and return to Paris, as Dumas weaves his fictional characters and their lives amongst those of Louis, his court and the battling factions of the National Assembly. From a secret meeting with the Freemasons as the Duc d'Orleans is sworn into membership and plots against the crown, to Dr. Guillotin's tests on his "humane" invention on life size models (very creepy), to the angry mobs of Paris, to the battling parties of the National Assembly Dumas takes the reader on a fascinating journey leading up to the final horror of the revolution as The Terror begins in the sixth and last book in the series, The Chevalier De Maison Rouge a Tale of the Reign of Terror. Some readers might find parts of this a bit slower paced as it's more a retelling of history and not too much action, but I loved every minute of it.

Note -- there are several newer publications out there that may or may not be good translations. With one exception, The Queen's Necklace (a disappointing read due to bad translation), I've stuck to the early 1900's version published by a PF Collier and Sons. If you are interested in reading this series I recommend you stick with those. I had no problems getting copies of my via the library and they are available used online at a reasonable price. ( )

Jamais déçue avec Dumas ( )