The Pale Assassin

Eugenie de Boncoeur is the beautiful daughter of a wealthy marquis. In spite of being an orphan, she and her brother have been well provided for and she's lived a life filled with glittering parties and gorgeous, outrageously expensive clothing. Until the moment the French Revolution breaks out. In addition to her whole way of life being destroyed, she is horrified to discover that her guardian has promised her in marriage when she turns 16 to Le Fantome, the Pale Assassin. This shadowy, evil man has had a grudge against her father for many years, because the marquis humiliated him as punishment for cheating at cards. This is an action-adventure historical novel with a heroine in the vein of Scarlett O'Hara, though with a less compelling goal. Unlike Scarlett, she is not seeking to save her home at any cost, rather to escape her awful would-be bridegroom and the violence against aristocrats in her war-torn country. The heroine encounters spies, revolutionaries and double-crossing suitors in her frantic journey across France. Though the heroine starts out understandably spoiled from her life of privilege, she grows across the course of the book. For teens who have never read a historical novel, or who have read and enjoyed them, this book is a satisfying journey through a deadly period of history.

Although orphaned at a young age, fourteen-year-old Eugenie de Boncoeur has never known much hardship. Raised by a wealthy guardian, her life is carefree. She is more concerned with parties and dresses then the growing unrest around her. But in July 1779, she is suddenly and violently made aware when the French Revolution begins. Eugenie is sent to a convent for her own safety, but even there she cannot escape the violence. And she soon learns that she is in danger from more then just the hatred the revolutionaries have for aristocrats like Eugenie and her family. Her guardian has betrothed her to a mysterious man named the Pale Assassin, a man who wants to marry her to get revenge for a wrong he feels her father committed against him years ago. Eugenie attempts to flee to safety with relatives in England, chased by both revolutionaries and the sinister Pale Assassin. I had mixed feelings about this book. It starts out a bit slow, and Eugenie was a hard character to like at first - she is spoiled, selfish, and immature. However, as the book progresses the story picks up pace, and Eugenie becomes more likeable as she matures and develops an awareness of the world around her. Ultimately I did get into the story and am interested to find out what happens next in the sequel, which will be published next year. This isn't the best book I have read recently, but if you can overlook the slow start and enjoy historical fiction, I would suggest giving this book a try.