When Napoleon first came into power in France, Amy and her mother escaped to England to live with Amy’s cousins. Years later, Amy is returning to France to live with her brother, and she has one plan in mind – to find the Purple Gentian and join his league. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s already met the Purple Gentian and hates him with a passion.

I think my friend must be psychic. Or maybe she just knows me too well, because she lent me this book about 2 weeks ago, right before I got back into my obsession with all things related to this time period. And so, when I was craving something with Napoleon in it, I didn’t have to search far at all.

Overall the book was pretty good. It wasn’t stunning, but it wasn’t a bad read either. A couple of things annoyed me about this book – how long it took Amy to figure out who the Purple Gentian was (even though she knew Richard’s voice when he wasn’t in disguise), and the fact that Amy’s 20 and she’s still throwing tantrums. Silly girls are all well and good in small doses (look at Lydia in Pride and Prejudice) but as the main character, it’s a bit much for me.