The Count of Sainte-H

Product Description The Count of Sainte-Hélène, or The Lure of Infamy is a historical novel full of intrigue, mystery, romance, and colorful characters that begins in the year 1816. Napoleon has been defeated and the Bourbons restored to the throne of France. The Count of Sainte-Hélène, an intimate friend of the king, is Lieutenant-Colonel of the Legion of the Seine, the regiment charged with the security of Paris and the royal family. When the capital is rocked by a series of spectacular burglaries targeting the homes of the aristocracy, the brilliant ex-convict-turned-detective Vidocq, chief of the Police Security Brigade, is unable to solve the crimes. But a series of events leads him to suspect that Saint-Hélène himself is somehow involved. In accusing such a highly placed aristocrat, Vidocq may have made the biggest blunder of his career… From Kirkus Reviews As the novel opens, the “charming, if slightly obsequious” Count of Sainte-Hélène, along with King Louis XVIII and other French elites, is watching a play about the abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots. The upheaval depicted onstage reflects the novel’s 1816 setting, in which the Bourbons have been newly restored to the throne, one year after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and 27 years after the start of the French Revolution. The era’s social confusion has allowed the class structure to become more fluid than usual: Vidocq, the police detective, has his own history of criminality and prison escapes, and the aristocrats who frequent the king’s court don’t always have the highborn lineages they proclaim. When robbers strike the homes of some of those aristocrats, as well as the government’s Central Records Office, Vidocq is tasked with uncovering the mastermind, who appears to have an insider’s knowledge of the burgled homes. The disguise-loving Vidocq well knows, however, that appearances can be deceiving. The first scene’s setting is apt, as Blumenfeld’s novel is highly theatrical, adding fine flourishes to both its historical figures and its fictional characters. The king’s obsessive gluttony, a duchess’s strangely insightful malapropisms and a baron’s clueless seduction tactics (“Kiss me, my stuffed cabbage!”) would make any comedic actor exuberant. The novel’s third act centers on a series of trials, and the overall tension starts to dissipate as those trials progress; nonetheless, they would still make for vivid scenes on a lavishly designed stage. The author can sometimes be a bit showily clever and overly explanatory, as when he describes a man “whose moustache and beard hid not only his extreme probity, for he was the soul of honesty, but also his ruthless cunning, for he was the epitome of rapacity.” But his style is also precise, classic and witty, and an admirably faithful homage to 19th century French greats. A lively ode to the classics, and to the twin delights of mischief and mayhem. About the Author Robert Blumenfeld is the author of Accents: A Manual for Actors (1998; Revised and Expanded Edition, 2002); Acting with the Voice: The Art of Recording Books (2004); Tools and Techniques for Character Interpretation: A Handbook of Psychology for Actors, Writers, and Directors (2006); Using the Stanislavsky System: A Practical Guide to Character Creation and Period Styles (2008); Blumenfeld's Dictionary of Acting and Show Business (2009); Blumenfeld's Dictionary of Musical Theater: Opera, Operetta, Musical Comedy (2010); Stagecraft: Stanislavsky and External Acting Technique-A Companion to Using the Stanislavsky System (2011); Teach Yourself Accents: The British Isles (2013); Teach Yourself Accents: North America (2013); Teach Yourself Accents: Europe (2014); and the collaborator with noted teacher and acting coach Alice Spivak on the writing of her book How to Rehearse When There Is No Rehearsal: Acting and the Media (2007)-all published by Limelight Editions. He lives and works as an actor, dialect coach, and writer in New York City,