** spoiler alert ** This is one of my very favorite comfort books. It's a retelling of the French Revolution, but with magic, and it's really well done on top of that. Lots of authors, in writing in historical or historically-based settings (I'm looking at you, Phillipa Gregory...) cheat on making their main characters likable by setting aside any and all inconvenient beliefs of the day. The hero or heroine is the Lone Voice of Morality, somehow living in a culture and never adopting ANY of its beliefs that might be unpalatable to a modern reader. Paula Volsky resists that urge, and Eliste is exactly a product of her upbringing and her culture. The lessons it takes to bring her around, to help her grow up, are the central story of the book. It's a story that couldn't be told if Eliste were already in possession of modern morality; it would be a BORING story.

But in this case, we get to watch this character change and grow as her refined society falls apart, crushed by the weight of its inherent injustice. It's a fascinating rendering. Highly recommended.