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Dross

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Pages: 141

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About this book

Paris celebrates Napoleon's centenary in 1869 while an English narrator watches the ceremony beside John Turner, a banker with a dry sense of humour. The narrator has reached France after escaping his creditors in a piano case, a story that keeps Turner amused even in church. Henry Seton Merriman sets this historical novel amid the display and ambition of the Second Empire, where public emotion can also be a bid for favour.

That festive atmosphere changes as news of military defeat reaches Paris. At the Bourse, a crowd welcomes a reported French victory before learning that the report is false. Turner's composure contrasts with the surrounding panic, while Alphonse Giraud announces that he has volunteered as a soldier. The book offers readers a view of political upheaval through private conversations, financial anxiety and an observant narrator whose comic memories sit beside the pressures of approaching danger.

About the author

Henry Seton Merriman

Henry Seton Merriman is the pen name of Hugh Stowell Scott (1862-1903), an English novelist. Under that name he published books including "Barlasch of the Guard" and "Dross".