Argentum

I enjoyed this book very much. Pacy, engaging & populated (mostly) by well known characters it felt like a veritable smorgasbord of huge historical times & events all cleverly linked by a little nugget of precious metal. An excellent debut novel.

This is a fascinating book, with a hugely enjoyable sweep through history. I especially enjoyed the chapter on Marie Antoinette, which offers unusually vivid details on this character, who is usually swept aside in a trite account of bread and cake. Leslie-Melville describes the Paris crowds in the streets as disappointed that it was she and not the playwright Voltaire who arrives by carriage. I learned about Voltaire nearly 50 years ago and I wish I'd had some of these insights back then! There is a breadth of historic knowledge evident in this book, and the author helpfully offers a historic note at the end of each chapter, explaining what is known as fact and what he has inferred. The cover of the book is itself beautiful and serves as an alluring introduction to an absorbing read.