The Last Campaign of
Marianne Tambour:
A Novel of Waterloo
(historical fiction – Napoleonic)
by
David Ebsworth
Release date: January 1, 2015
at SilverWood Books
at SilverWood Books
360 pages
ISBN: 978-1781323212
***
SYNOPSIS
June 1815. Bonaparte has returned from Elba and marches with his army to defeat the Prussian and English enemies of France. Within his ranks is Marianne Tambour, a battle-weary canteen mistress for a battalion of the Imperial Guard’s Foot Grenadiers. Just one of the many cantinières who provide the lads with their brandy and home comforts, both in camp and also in the thick of the fight.Marianne is determined that, after this one last campaign, she will make a new life for herself and her young daughter, since neither of them has ever known anything but the rigours of warfare. But she has not reckoned on the complications that will arise from a chance encounter with another of the army’s women, Liberté Dumont – Dragoon trooper and sometimes spy for the Machiavellian French Minister of Police, Fouché. And Marianne wonders what she really wants, this hawk-faced trooper with her visions, dreams and fancies.
Yet, for now, Liberté Dumont is the least of Marianne’s worries. Her position as canteen mistress has not been easily won and she has made enemies in the process. Lethal enemies. And creating a new life, breaking with the army, needs money. Lots of money. So when Hawk-face Dumont accidentally provides an opening for Marianne to rid herself of a dangerous rival and also extends the possibility of fortunes to be made, it looks like an opportunity too good to be refused.
The battles that both women must survive, however, at Ligny and Quatre Bras, create their own problems. The closer they come to the English Goddams, the more Marianne is haunted by the memory of the way her adopted mother was butchered at their hands just a few years earlier, in Spain. Thoughts of revenge torment her, distract her from her goals. But her daughter’s capture by the Prussians, and Liberté Dumont’s help in the quest to find the girl creates new and very different bonds, between mother and daughter, and between the two women themselves.
The climax will take place on the blood-soaked fields of Waterloo, where Marianne Tambour and Liberté Dumont must each confront their deadliest foes, their worst nightmares, find answers to the secrets of their respective pasts, and try to simply survive the slaughter. Yet the fortunes of war are not easily won, and the fates may, after all, only allow one of these women to see the next day’s dawn.
David Ebsworth’s story, The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour: A Novel of Waterloo, is based upon the real-life exploits of two women who fought, in their own right, within Bonaparte’s army. (provided by the author)
My Review
Five Stars
Copy received from France Book Tours for an honest review
I can't express how much I loved this amazing book, told by an equally amazing author about amazing women! Edsworth took stories of real-life women and included them in this amazing book. I personally don't know much about European history but I enjoyed reading about the horrible struggles at Waterloo. Marianne was an amazing heroine she is worthy of admiration. Liberté was a worthy adversary and the story was filled with tension and triumph.
The writing is engaging and I could not put the story down. I was riveted by the authenticity of the story line and also by the bravery of these two fascinating heroines. I found the story and plot rewarding and I highly recommend it to anyone that either likes history or brave heroines.
***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Ebsworth is the pen name of writer, Dave McCall,
a former negotiator and Regional Secretary
for Britain’s Transport & General Workers’ Union.
He was born in Liverpool (UK)
but has lived for the past thirty years in Wrexham, North Wales,
with his wife, Ann.
Since their retirement in 2008,
the couple have spent about six months of each year in southern Spain.
Dave began to write seriously in the following year, 2009,
and The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour is his fourth novel.
a former negotiator and Regional Secretary
for Britain’s Transport & General Workers’ Union.
He was born in Liverpool (UK)
but has lived for the past thirty years in Wrexham, North Wales,
with his wife, Ann.
Since their retirement in 2008,
the couple have spent about six months of each year in southern Spain.
Dave began to write seriously in the following year, 2009,
and The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour is his fourth novel.
Visit his website. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter
Subscribe to his newsletter (see on the right side of the site)
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