regshoe

Funnily enough I started reading Les Misérables a few days ago, for precisely the reason you cite -- I felt like I had overdosed on French royalists :D (As well as Broster, I've also been reading historical naval adventure novels from the British point of view, where any sympathetically drawn French characters tend to be royalists.) Based on your post I almost wish I had started with Ninety-Three instead, because I'm such a slow reader that I guess it will a long time before I have finished Les Misérables! Though I don't want to stop now... I'm surprised how readable I'm finding Hugo given that so many of his characters seem to be just talking heads for various points he wants to make... but very vivid and memorable talking heads, I guess, which makes all the difference.