num_pages: 348
description: Charles-Henri Sanson has good looks a fine education and plenty of money: everything in fact that a stylish young Parisian could ask for. He also has an infamous family nameand hes trapped in a hideous job that no one wants.The last thing Charles ever wanted to be was a hangman. But hes the eldest son of Pariss most dreaded public official and in the 1750s after centuries of superstition people like him are outcasts. He knows that the executioners son must become an executioner himself or starve for all doors are closed to him; although he loathes the role and would much rather study medicine societys fears and prejudices will never let him be anything else. And when disaster strikes family duty demands that Charles take his fathers place much sooner than he had ever imagined.Miles outside Paris high-spirited Franois de La Barre is the carefree teenager who Charles would like to have been instead of the somber public servant bound by the Sansons motto of duty and honor who carries out brutal justice in the kings name. Franois proves though in the elegant treacherous world of prerevolutionary France to have a dangerous gift for making enemies . . . and when at last their paths converge in this true story of destiny and conflicting loyalties Charles must make a horrifying choice.Alleyns exhaustive research pays off handsomely in well-drawn characters and colorful historical context. ... A well-researched robust tale featuring an endearing executioner. (Kirkus Reviews)Charless personal crisis and clashing loyalties evoke Greek tragedy and speak to the issues that will resonate with readers. (Publishers Weekly starred review)
language: English
title: The Executioner's Heir: A Novel of Eighteenth-Century France
publisher: Spyderwort Press