The Green Gallant

It was a cold, dark day in the depths of winter when the Imperial Russian Army, hot in pursuit of Napoleon after his defeat at Leipzig, arrived at a small village in Eastern France. Major Vladimir Karachev billeted himself in one of the better houses in the village and settled down to his first comfortable night for some time. But the night was to bring more than he expected, for hiding in a closet in his room he discovered a young and beautiful woman, Blanche de Marain. Falling instantly and mutually in love, the fate of the pair was to become inextricably entwined in the long months that followed. Blanche was a Royalist with a price on her head, but Vladimir helped her escape to safety in Paris, and when his regiment eventually arrived in the city he sought her out. With Napoleon defeated and the prospect of peace at hand it seemed that there was a bright and happy future for Vladimir and his mysterious Frenchwoman. But Blanche was hiding a dark and bitter secret. On the day when Vladimir's regiment was parading before Talleyrand, an attempt was made on the French statesman's life, only prevented by the brave action of Vladimir himself. It was only as he lay recovering from his wound that Vladimir learned the tragic truth about the woman whose devoted but blighted passion he had inspired. Rich in historical atmosphere, this novel by a new and exciting writer carries the reader across Europe in a masterly evocation of a campaigning army, with all the passions, jealousies and sorrows that come from a love affair beset by the troubles of two countries at war.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.