The Devil's Laughter

Frank Yerby was one of the most prolific and best authors of the 40's and 50's - writing over 50 novels. Trust me. He never wrote a bad one, even though he wrote with a pulp fiction style. This particular novel's setting was in the French Revolution. The main character, Jean Paul Martin, starts out as a poor country lawyer, and through the revolution rises to become one of the most important men in France. While politics play a integral portion of the novel, a bigger part was his love affair with three very different women. His romance with his Fleur is still one of the best romances in the world of fiction. Do yourself a favor, track all of his books down and treat yourself to read after read of great fiction. Side note - Frank Yerby was one of the first African-American authors to attain recognition; however, in the 40s and 50s, this was not an enviable thing. I'll never forget how horrified I was when I read that he was not allowed to attend the movie premier of his own bestselling novel, The Foxes of Harrow. The theater did not admit "people of color". Mr. Yerby was a groundbreaking author, who was a major player in the family saga genre of that era.