Name that historical novel

October 28, 2009 6:12 PM

NameThatNovelFilter: Early twentieth century (first couple of decades) historical novel by a Russian emigre to France, set around the time of the Napoleonic Wars. IIRC, it's part of a trilogy. Near the beginning of the novel, our hero is recruited by William Pitt the Younger (whose interest in said hero seems not entirely professional). What is this? I'm drawing a complete blank, and GoogleFu has failed me.
posted by thomas j wise to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

Since you are drawing a blank so far I'll hazard a wild guess: the Scarlet Pimpernel series by Baroness Orczy: googling her I see she was Hungarian, not Russian, and lived only briefly in Paris, but the novels are adventures set in late C18 France and they are a series of 3-4 books.
posted by londongeezer at 10:57 PM on October 28, 2009

Response by poster: No, but around the same time period. I forgot to mention that the emigre was a man.
posted by thomas j wise at 5:53 AM on October 29, 2009

Could it have been Dmitry Merezhkovsky's Alexander the First (1911)? I haven't read it, but it's the second part of a trilogy of historical novels by a Russian who later emigrated to Paris, and it's set at the time of the Napoleonic Wars.
posted by languagehat at 6:49 AM on October 29, 2009

Response by poster: Hmm. Right time period, but still the wrong author. I know I didn't imagine this book :)
posted by thomas j wise at 2:00 PM on October 29, 2009

Got any more details? "Around" could be before, after, or in between the wars. Pitt wanted a spy, was that it?

Frankly, I want to read it too, at this point.
posted by IndigoJones at 3:00 PM on October 29, 2009

What was the original language it was written in?
posted by IndigoJones at 3:01 PM on October 29, 2009

Best answer: Mark Aldanov the boy? The Ninth Thermidor?
posted by IndigoJones at 3:07 PM on October 29, 2009

That's got to be it—it's online (in Russian) here, and Pitt is a character. Well done! (Though of course I await confirmation from thomas j wise...)
posted by languagehat at 3:15 PM on October 29, 2009

Alas, I've no Russian. Here's hoping the translation isn't a travesty. (As well as hoping the book itself isn't a travesty.) How's the Russian?
posted by IndigoJones at 3:51 PM on October 29, 2009

Response by poster: Ding ding ding! IndigoJones has it. Thanks much!
posted by thomas j wise at 5:00 PM on October 29, 2009