The Firefly of France

by Marion Polk Angellotti

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Marion Polk Angellotti was born, in either Irvington or San Rafael, California. She was the daughter of Frank Marion Angellotti and Emma Cornelia Angellotti (Clearey). Frank M. Angellotti was a chief justice of the supreme court of California from 1915–1921.

Angellotti served as a volunteer with the American Red Cross in France during the First World War.

She wrote short stories for pulp magazines such as Adventure, including several based on 14th-century condottiere John Hawkwood. Her novel The Firefly of France, based on the life of Georges Guynemer, was adapted to a film.

She died in 1975,(some sources say 1979) and was buried in Bellevue Memorial Park, Ontario, California.

from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this historical fiction/suspense set just prior to America's getting involved in WWI, when France and Germany were in the throes of war. I did find the main character Devereaux Bayne extremely niave and not suspicious enough of the wrong people, and capable of extreme false modesty after performing some heroic act, almost to the point of being humorous. I thought it was a good period drama and enjoyed it. This was read for group reading challenge & buddy read.

[Lanelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wonderful story was published in 6 editions of the Saturday Evening Post beginning Jan.12, 1918 as a serial novel.

The tale is about a 30-year-old man, Devereux Bayne, who is staying at a hotel in New York City. He will be leaving for Bordeaux the next morning. He plans on helping France in their war with the Germans prior to WWI by driving an ambulance. Mr. Bayne quickly gets caught up in some mysterious circumstances with a burglar, a beautiful young lady, smuggled papers in code and a menacing stranger.

I love the line in the book when Mr. Bayne sees the beautiful young lady, Esme Falconer, for the first time. He thinks to himself, "Well, all clouds have silver linings; some have golden ones with rainbow edges."

"The Firefly of France" reminds me of John Buchan's "The 39 Steps". Both protagonists are pulled into events innocently, but manage to triumph against the odds. Ms. Angellotti certainly manages to tell a fantastic story.

[Deanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

World war spy romp, where our hero accidentally gets mixed up in espionage with a beautiful woman and some dastardly German spies.