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Review by Anna Garris Goiser
City of Darkness, City of Light is an enthralling, fast-paced tale that sweeps the reader into the maelstrom of history. Unlike many politicized histories, Piercy's French Revolution is captured in terms of its flawed human authors, and in this, the story rings as true to the ear as today's headlines. As Piercy says about the writing of this novel, "I thought looking at a society in crisis so very strange in some ways and so familiar in others might illuminate our own situation."
In Piercy's thirteenth novel, the French Revolution is a metaphor for the politics and social issues of our times. Modern politics, she suggests, began with that particular social upheaval, as did the women's movement. In her study of the period, Piercy found many parallels to current conditions in late twentieth century America -- an increasing acceptance of everyday violence; the growing chasm between the rich and the majority of the populace; a seemingly trapped underclass which inspires resentment and fear rather than compassion and assistance; women sacrificing themselves to fashion and mores dictated by a portion of society that views them as caged, gilded birds; and a number of social upheavals and philosophical revolutions that nonetheless seem to have fallen short of their promises.
Piercy recreates the French Revolution from the perspectives of six primary historical characters whose paths cross and recross in the years from 1780 to 1812 -- the austere moralist Maximilien Robespierre, the opportunistic pragmatist Georges Danton, the frustrated and pretentious Manon Philipon Roland, the disillusioned idealist Nicolas Caritat the Marquis de Condorcet, Pauline Leon the practical chocolatier, and down-to-earth actress Claire Lacombe.
At the center of the story is Paris, the City of Darkness for the poor and downtrodden, for women and for many children; or the City of Light for the privileged, the educated, the wealthy. Piercy recreates the late eighteenth century capital in a tapestry rich with detail -- the casual violence, the extravagance, the filth, the offhand arrogance, the poverty, the suffering, the glorious beauty. Against this brilliant backdrop, the struggle of the poor rather quickly evolves into a struggle for hitherto undreamed-of rights for a class considered barely human by the aristocrats: education, literacy, justice, and equality.
Piercy's recounting of the Revolution includes both the grand philosophical and political aspects with which most of us are familiar from school history texts and the day-to-day concerns of the average citizen, for whom life was often grim beyond our modern conception. The role played by the common women, rarely credited in the scholarly texts, is related here with intelligence and compassion, as is their ultimate dismissal and betrayal by the fathers of the revolution after they'd served their purpose. "Women have fought again and again in causes, that, when won, have not given us the freedom, the benefits we expected," Piercy says in her introduction.
The streets of Piercy's Paris are peopled with a large cast of characters, both major and minor, all of whom are vividly drawn balanced on the cusp of unimaginable change -- for better or worse, and in the looming shadow of the guillotine.
Anna Garris Goiser is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.