The Sieve of the Revolution

The last vestiges of Royalty have just disappeared. I wish that the same may befall all the public buildings of Paris.

—Jules Bergeret

Image: Panorama of Paris, 24 May 1871. The palace was set on fire on May 23, 1871 during the chaos surrounding the suppression of the Paris Commune.

Madame du Barry, an old courtesan, sits beside me and clasps my hand in hers. I remember her death. All of Paris does. She screamed her head off. Quite literally. Please, she wheedles now, think of apricots, the scent of roses, the pricking of champagne bubbles on the tongue.

The dead are bigger thieves than I ever was. They steal the most precious things from me. The feel of silk. The sound of rain pattering on the cobbles. The smell of snow on the wind. They take these things and leave me with the taste of dirt and ashes.

I think not of apricots, but of guillotines and graves.

She frowns. For those I do not need your help, she says, and flounces off.

-Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

I’m delighted to announce another book giveaway!

I will be giving away one new copy of Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly.

Giveaway Information

The prize will be one new hardcover copy of Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly.

This giveaway is open to Blogspot and Tumblr users living within the United States.

Rules

You may enter once through Blogspot OR once through Tumblr. Please do not enter on both sites. Only logged-in entries will be considered valid.

To enter, simply fill out the entry form and comment to the Blogspot contest page or to my Tumblr Ask Box. If you would like an additional chance to win, reblog this entry on Tumblr or post about this giveaway on Blogspot!

Entry Form

Name: (Blog name or first name)

Contact Email:

Did you reblog/post about this giveaway? If yes, please provide a link. edit: It completely slipped my mind that Tumblr blocked links in the ask. Please provide the link but leave out tumblr.com and it should work (So, http://vivelareine.tumblr.com/post/10461204604#notes would be vivelareine /post/10461204604)

The contest ends on September 27th, 2011, at 11 PM EST. I will announce the winner on both blogs on September 28th.

I made my final trip to the local Borders today to see what was still there. I ended up buying For the King, The Diary of a Napoloenic Foot Soldier, Parrot and Olivier in America, The Black Tower, Eutopia, and a few movies. Something I love about Parrot and Olivier and For the King is how nice the actual books are - I wasn’t going to pick up P&O but the dust jacket had this old, almost vintage sheen to it that I thought was interesting. Same with For the King, I love how the portrait of the woman continues to the spine.

I also picked up a copy of Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly for a giveaway, so that should be coming up soon!

Madame du Barry, an old courtesan, sits beside me and clasps my hand in hers. I remember her death. All of Paris does. She screamed her head off. Quite literally. Please, she wheedles now, think of apricots, the scent of roses, the pricking of champagne bubbles on the tongue.

The dead are bigger thieves than I ever was. They steal the most precious things from me. The feel of silk. The sound of rain pattering on the cobbles. The smell of snow on the wind. They take these things and leave me with the taste of dirt and ashes.

I think not of apricots, but of guillotines and graves.

She frowns. For those I do not need your help, she says, and flounces off.

-Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly