Virago

by Ellie Valsin

Paris, 1828. Claude Enjolras is a severe, single-minded soldier of the revolution, the leader of a secret political society that is always ready to go to battle against injustice and oppression. She is also, however, a woman disguising herself as a man in order to reject the demands of society and instead follow her ideals. For four years Enjolras' disguise has worked well for her, and her contributions to the underground revolutionary movement have at last begun to win her the respect of her colleagues. But when her secret is inadvertently revealed to her lieutenant, it throws her two separate worlds onto a collision course and sets in motion a chain of events that will force Enjolras to come to terms with her family, her friends, her political allies, and herself. Through five crucial summers of her life, one unconventional woman describes how her faith, courage, and love are tested in the flames of a revolution that will change everything.

VIRAGO is a new story based on characters from Victor Hugo's classic novel "Les Misérables." It began as an experiment to see what would be the wider consequences of altering one little canonical detail, but it turned into an intimate exploration of gender and sex, of duty and emotion, of the nature of friendship and love, and above all, of a complicated character who quickly took on a life of her own.

798 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

I'm a lifelong fan of French history who went on to earn my PhD in History. After graduating, I decided against going into academia and chose to pursue my interest in fiction writing and illustrating instead.

Virago was begun on a whim in July 2012, while I was beginning to work on my doctoral dissertation. It was meant to be a fun side project that provided some welcome relief from the more structured style of scholarly writing that I had to use for the thesis. The story quickly took on a life of its own, and two and a half years and 582 pages after that "why-not" first chapter, Enjolras and her adventures are finally ready to be shared!

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Fantastic. Edge of your seat. Well written. Great characters and plot development. I recommend this book