History Literature / APlaceOfGreaterSafety

And [[LoadsandLoadsofCharacters many, many others]].

It is notable for being fairly epic in scope while maintaining an intimate tone and character-driven focus, and for averting [[HollywoodHistory Hollywood History]]. It also features [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters vast supporting cast]], all of whom are [[HistoricalDomainCharacter real historical figures]].

* '''Stanislàs Fréron''': An old school friend of Camille's and a fellow journalist. Everybody calls him "Rabbit".
* '''Eléonore Duplay''': A humble carpenter's daughter and art student. Robespierre's friend, later his mistress.
* '''Louise Gély''': A ten-year-old girl whose family lives upstairs from Georges-Jacques and Gabrielle Danton.

* '''Eléonore Duplay''': A humble carpenter's daughter and art student. Robespierre's friend, later his mistress. Likes to be called "Cornélia".

* '''Georges-Jacques Danton''': A gifted, pragmatic, ambitious young lawyer. "Erotically ugly" and thuggish in appearance due to a [[NearDeathExperience violent animal husbandry incident]] in his childhood. '''Married to:'''

* '''Camille Desmoulins''': The sweetheart of the Revolution. [[TheGadfly A provocateur]] with a vulnerable-yet-audacious charm, he is Robespierre's [[ChildhoodFriend childhood friend]] and Danton's right-hand man. Outwardly dashing, sensitive, and polite, Camille has a strange and destructive personality. '''Married to:'''

* '''Georges-Jacques Danton''': A gifted, pragmatic, ambitious young lawyer. "Erotically ugly" and thuggish in appearance due to a [[NearDeathExperience violent animal husbandry incident]] in his childhood. Married to:

* '''Camille Desmoulins''': The sweetheart of the Revolution. [[TheGadfly A provocateur]] with a vulnerable-yet-audacious charm, he is Robespierre's [[ChildhoodFriend childhood friend]] and Danton's right-hand man. Outwardly dashing, sensitive, and polite, Camille has a strange and destructive personality. Married to

* '''Georges-Jacques Danton''': A gifted, pragmatic, ambitious young lawyer. "Erotically ugly" and thuggish in appearance due to a [[NearDeathExperience violent animal husbandry incident]] in his childhood. -->[[AC: Married to:]]

* '''Camille Desmoulins''': The sweetheart of the Revolution. [[TheGadfly A provocateur]] with a vulnerable-yet-audacious charm, he is Robespierre's [[ChildhoodFriend childhood friend]] and Danton's right-hand man. Outwardly dashing, sensitive, and polite, Camille has a strange and destructive personality. -->[[AC: Married to:]]

* '''Georges-Jacques Danton''': A gifted, pragmatic, ambitious young lawyer. "Erotically ugly" and thuggish in appearance due to a [[NearDeathExperience violent animal husbandry incident]] in his childhood.
-->[[AC: Married to:]]

* '''Camille Desmoulins''': The sweetheart of the Revolution. [[TheGadfly A provocateur]] with a vulnerable-yet-audacious charm, he is Robespierre's [[ChildhoodFriend childhood friend]] and Danton's right-hand man. Outwardly dashing, sensitive, and polite, Camille has a strange and destructive personality.
-->[[AC: Married to:]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''History is fiction.''[[note]] From top to bottom: Camille Desmoulins, Maximilien Robespierre, Georges-Jacques Danton.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

!!Tropes appearing in ''A Place of Greater Safety'':

* FreudianTrio:
** Initially:
The Id: Camille.
The Ego: Danton.
The Superego: Robespierre.
** Later:
The Id: Danton.
The Ego: Camille.
The Superego: Robespierre.

!!Tropes appearing in ''A Place of Greater Safety'':

* '''Georges-Jacques Danton''': A gifted, pragmatic, ambitious young lawyer. "Erotically ugly" and thuggish in appearance due to a [[NearDeathExperience violent animal husbandry incident]] in his childhood. [[AC: Married to:]]

* '''Camille Desmoulins''': The sweetheart of the Revolution. [[TheGadfly A provocateur]] with a vulnerable-yet-audacious charm, he is Robespierre's [[ChildhoodFriend childhood friend]] and Danton's right-hand man. Outwardly dashing, sensitive, and polite, Camille has a strange and destructive personality. [[AC: Married to:]]

* '''Maximilien Robespierre''': An earnest young provincial lawyer; slight, sober, and punctilious. He is unassuming, reliable, and competent, but a bore. Abhors the sight of blood.

* '''Maximilien Robespierre''': An earnest young provincial lawyer; slight, sober, and punctilious. Unassuming, reliable, and competent, but a bore. Abhors the sight of blood.
* '''Fabre D'Églantine''': An eccentric playwright and general layabout. Theatrical and quick to anger, a pathological liar. Twisted mentor figure to Danton.
* '''Jean-Marie Hérault de Séchelles''': An young reformist aristocrat and legal dignitary, filthy rich and idle. Later called a "Dantonist". A gambler.

Contrary to the tendency in Anglophone media to focus on the crumbling of "l'Ancien Regime," A Place of Greater Safety is explicitly told through the eyes of the revolutionaries, opting to explore the lives of the previously-unknown men and women who gained fame and infamy in the swells of the [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution Great Revolution]].

It is notable for being fairly epic in scope while maintaining an intimate tone and character-driven focus, and for averting Hollywood History. It also features [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters vast supporting cast]], all of whom are [[HistoricalDomainCharacter real historical figures]].

It is notable for being fairly epic in scope while remaining intimate in tone and highly character-driven, and for averting Hollywood History. It also features [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters vast supporting cast]], all of whom are [[HistoricalDomainCharacter real historical figures]].

''A Place of Greater Safety'' is a 1992 [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Hilary Mantel, about the [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution French Revolution of 1789]]. It was the first novel she wrote, but her third to be published. It chronicles the Revolution through the dynamic relationships between three of its central players [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures Georges-Jacques Danton]], [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures Camille Desmoulins]], and UsefulNotes/MaximilienRobespierre. The novel is basically structured as a dramatized triple biography, covering almost the entirety of their intertwined lives from their respective formative years in the 1760s and 1770s all the way to the executions of the former two at the height of the Reign of Terror.

* '''Georges-Jacques Danton''' A gifted, pragmatic, ambitious young lawyer. "Erotically ugly" and thuggish in appearance due to a [[NearDeathExperience violent animal husbandry incident]] in his childhood. [[AC: Married to:]]

[[AC: Some of the principal characters include]]

* Georges-Jacques Danton: A gifted, pragmatic, ambitious young lawyer. "Erotically ugly" and thuggish in appearance due to a [[Near-DeathExperience violent animal husbandry incident]] in his childhood. Married to:
-> * Gabrielle Danton: A royalist surrounded my revolutionaries. Willfully naive but principled, and [[Obfuscating Stupidity subtler than others give her credit for]].
* Camille Desmoulins: The sweetheart of the Revolution. [[TheGadfly A ''provocateur'' with a vulnerable-yet-audacious charm, he is Robespierre's [[ChildhoodFriend childhood friend]] and Danton's right-hand man. Outwardly dashing, sensitive, and polite, Camille has a strange and destructive personality. Married to:
-> * Lucile Desmoulins: A beautiful young Parisian heiress. Clever, flighty, and fearless.
* Maximilien Robespierre: An earnest young provincial lawyer; slight, sober, and punctilious. Unassuming, reliable, and competent, but a bore. Abhors the sight of blood.
* Fabre D'Églantine: An eccentric playwright and general layabout. Theatrical and quick to anger, a pathological liar. Twisted mentor figure to Danton.
* Jean-Marie Hérault de Séchelles:
* Dr. Jean-Paul Marat: The famed journalist, insurrectionist, and martyr.
* Antoine Saint-Just: A young radical ex-poet, formerly emprisionné. A partisan of Robespierre's with significant ambitions of his own. Probably related to Camille, somehow.
* Stanislàs Fréron: An old school friend of Camille's and a fellow journalist. Everybody calls him "Rabbit".
* Eléonore Duplay: A humble carpenter's daughter and art student. Robespierre's friend, later his mistress. Likes to be called "Cornélia".
* Louise Gély: A ten-year-old girl whose family lives upstairs from Georges-Jacques and Gabrielle Danton.

''A Place of Greater Safety'' is a 1992 [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Hilary Mantel, about the [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution French Revolution of 1789]]. It was the first novel she wrote, but her third to be published. focusing on the lives of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures Georges-Jacques Danton]], [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures Camille Desmoulins]], and UsefulNotes/MaximilienRobespierre from their childhood through the execution of the Dantonists, and also featuring [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters hundreds]] of other [[HistoricalDomainCharacter historical figures]].

!!Tropes appearing in ''A Place of Greater Safety'':
* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: Danton will usually play with Camille's hair when standing behind him.
* AffectionateNickname:
* AgeGapRomance: Danton, 33, and his second wife Louise, 16.
* AnachronismStew: Deliberately invoked with language and expressions.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Camille confess to Lucile he slept with his male, middle-aged employer as a teenager because "he was a very nice man" and "somehow, [[EthicalSlut it didn't seem like too much to ask.]]"
* BestFriendsInLaw: Nearly happens with Camille and Robespierre.
* ByTheHair: Happens to Camille by the end.
* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Lucile.
* DeadlyDistantFinale
* DeadpanSnarker: Everyone except Gabrielle.
* DefiantToTheEnd: Danton.
* DownerEnding: And how!
* EmbarrassingNickname:
* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: Robespierre and Camille first meet at Louis-le-Grand.
* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: [[FaceOfAThug Danton]]: "Show my head to the people. It's worth looking at."
* FourPhilosophyEnsemble: Camille is the Optimist, Danton is the Cynic, and Robespierre is a mix between the Realist and the Apathetic.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Camille is sanguine, Danton is choleric and Robespierre is a mix between phlegmatic and melancholic.
* FreudianTrio: Camille is the Id, Danton the Ego and Robespierre the Superego.
* GirlNextDoor: Lucile, and also Louise, to Danton.
* HeroicBSOD:
* ICantLookGesture: Danton watches the execution of everyone on his cart except Camille.
* ImpoverishedPatrician: The Comte de Mirabeau, and the elder de Robespierres.
* LoveTriangle: Lucile <=>Camille=>Danton=>Lucile.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong:
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpac:e Danton.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution:
* ObnoxiousInLaws:
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Prevents the Desmoulinses from marrying for several years.
* PowerTrio
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere:
* ShownTheirWork
* TakingTheVeil: Danton's sister. He’s sorry for her, but she doesn’t mind.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Between at least half the cast.
* VirginShaming: Danton gets in a few such digs at Robespierre.

* BodyHorror: The fate of the Princess Lamballe, among others.

* VirginShaming: Danton gets in a few such digs at Robespierre.
* VitriolicBestBuds
* WetBlanketWife: Gabrielle Danton. Just as often the OnlySaneMan.
* WeUsedToBeFriends
* WithFriendsLikeThese
* YoungFutureFamousPeople
* YouUsedToBeBetterSpeech:

!!This book has examples of:

* PrecisionFStrike: See AnachronismStew above.
* RightHandHottie: Saint-Just.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Philippe de Orleans.
* SarcasmMode

''A Place of Greater Safety'' is a 1992 [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Hilary Mantel. It concerns the events of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution The French Revolution]], focusing on the lives of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures Georges Danton]], [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures Camille Desmoulins]], and UsefulNotes/MaximilienRobespierre from their childhood through the execution of the Dantonists, and also featuring [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters hundreds]] of other [[HistoricalDomainCharacter historical figures]].

* AffectionateNickname: Both Camille and Danton call Lucile "Lolotte".

* AmbiguouslyBi: Hilary Mantel has taken a note wherein Robespierre accused [[LongHairedPrettyBoy Camille Desmoulins]] of a "vice privé et honteux", and run with it. Among his friends, it’s an open secret.

* BirdsOfAFeather: Married couple Lucile and Camille are often referred to as this.

* BreakTheCutie: Gabrielle Danton.

* DarkActionGirl: Théroigne de Méricourt and UsefulNotes/CharlotteCorday. The former kills a friend of Camille’s in front of him, and the latter [[CaptainObvious kills Marat]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Nearly the whole cast (this [[SignatureStyle being a work]] of Hilary Mantel).
* DefiantToTheEnd: Danton. See FacingTheBulletsOneLiner.
* DownerEnding
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: See FacingTheBulletsOneLiner
* EmbarrassingNickname: Camille starts calling Marie-Jean Hérault "Rabbit". It sticks.

* ForegoneConclusion: This is HistoricalFiction about UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution and the start of the ReignOfTerror; you’d be right to expect lots of AngryMobSong, AnyoneCanDie, AristocratsAreEvil, DawnOfAnEra, EndOfAnAge, DisproportionateRetribution, EatTheRich, FromNobodyToNightmare, HoistByHisOwnPetard, IconOfRebellion, InspirationalMartyr, KangarooCourt, KillEmAll, LaResistance, ManifestoMakingMalcontent, NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering, OffWithHisHead, PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, PropagandaMachine, PublicExecution, RebelLeader, RoaringRampageOfRevenge, RousingSpeech, SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism, SparkOfTheRebellion, TheNeedsOfTheMany, TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized, TorchesAndPitchforks, UpToEleven, VoiceOfTheResistance and WellIntentionedExtremist.

* GroupieBrigade: Camille and Robespierre could each amass one.
* HairFlip: A habit of Camille's believed to have been picked up from a prostitute.
* HeroicBSOD: Camille at the end, upon hearing Lucile has been arrested.

* ImpoverishedPatrician: Count de Mirabeau.
* LaserGuidedKarma: The mob makes sure this happens to Joseph-François Foullon, stuffing his mouth with grass as he is executed for having suggested the starving people eat grass.
* LargeHam: Camille in writing. Proves to be [[SparkOfTheRebellion very effective]].
* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: The listing of the enemies to the revolution.

* [[Main/LoveFatherLoveSon Love Mother, Love Daughter]]: Camille's wooing of Lucile's mother turns into this.
* LoveObstructingParents: Lucile’s.
* MrsRobinson: Lucile’s mother to Camille.
* MyGirlIsASlut: Camille has no problems with Lucile’s many admirers, several of whom she flirts with openly, or the WillTheyOrWontThey between her and Danton.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Danton’s first wife Gabrielle believes in this.
* NameToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Lawyer-journalist Camille is popularly called ”The Lantern Attorney” for all the people strung up in lamp posts due to his articles.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpac:e Danton with Camille, constantly touching or putting his arm around him. See also AffectionateGestureToTheHead above.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: Danton sometimes comes off as this, when in [[OnlyInItForTheMoney certain moods]].
* NotLikeOtherGirls: Lucile is the resident Cool Girl.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: The thought of living in the same village as Danton’s mother makes Gabrielle sick.
* ParentalMarriageVeto: Prevents the Desmoulins marrying for several years.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Danton up and leaves for his home village several times, but he always returns.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Camille and Danton.

* TakingTheVeil: Robespierre’s sister. He’s sorry for her, but she doesn’t mind.
* TheChick: Lucile.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Louise to Danton.

* UptownGirl: Lucile is a wealthy parisian heiress, Camille a provincial lawyer.

* WhatTheHellHero: Gabrielle to Danton after the September Massacre. He responds [[IDidWhatIHadToDo as expected]].

* YouUsedToBeBetterSpeech: Gabrielle to Danton.

''A Place of Greater Safety'' is a 1992 [[HistoricalFiction historical novel]] by Hilary Mantel. It concerns the events of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution The French Revolution]], focusing on the lives of [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures Georges Danton]], [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolutionMajorFigures Camille Desmoulins]], and [[UsefulNotes/MaximilienRobespierre Maximilien Robespierre]] from their childhood through the execution of the Dantonists, and also featuring [[Main/LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters hundreds]] of other [[Main/HistoricalDomainCharacter historical figures]].

* AffectionateGestureToTheHead Danton will usually play with Camille's hair when standing behind him.
* AffectionateNickname Both Camille and Danton call Lucile "Lolotte".
* AgeGapRomance Danton, 33, and his second wife Louise, 16.
* AmbiguouslyBi Hilary Mantel has taken a note wherein Robespierre accused [[LongHairedPrettyBoy Camille Desmoulins]] of a "vice privé et honteux", and run with it. Among his friends, it’s an open secret.
* AnachronismStew Deliberately invoked with language and expressions.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Camille confess to Lucile he slept with his male, middle-aged employer as a teenager because "he was a very nice man" and "somehow, [[EthicalSlut it didn't seem like too much to ask.]]"
* BestFriendsInLaw Nearly happens with Camille and Robespierre.
* BirdsOfAFeather Married couple Lucile and Camille are often referred to as this.
* BodyHorror The fate of the Princess Lamballe, among others.
* BreakTheCutie Gabrielle Danton.
* ByTheHair Happens to Camille by the end.
* DarkActionGirl Théroigne de Méricourt and [[FameThroughInfamy Charlotte Corday]]. The former kills a friend of Camille’s in front of him, and the latter [[CaptainObvious kills Marat]].
* DatingWhatDaddyHates Lucile.

* DeadpanSnarker Nearly the whole cast (this [[SignatureStyle being a work]] of Hilary Mantel).
* DefiantToTheEnd Danton. See FacingTheBulletsOneLiner.

* DyingMomentOfAwesome See FacingTheBulletsOneLiner
* EmbarrassingNickname Camille starts calling Marie-Jean Hérault "Rabbit". It sticks.
* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether Robespierre and Camille first meet at Louis-le-Grand.
* FacingTheBulletsOneLiner [[FaceOfAThug Danton]]: "Show my head to the people. It's worth looking at."
* ForegoneConclusion This is HistoricalFiction about UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution and the start of the ReignOfTerror; you’d be right to expect lots of AngryMobSong, AnyoneCanDie, AristocratsAreEvil, DawnOfAnEra, EndOfAnAge, DisproportionateRetribution, EatTheRich, FromNobodyToNightmare, HoistByHisOwnPetard, IconOfRebellion, InspirationalMartyr, KangarooCourt, KillEmAll, LaResistance, ManifestoMakingMalcontent, NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering, OffWithHisHead, PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny, PropagandaMachine, PublicExecution, RebelLeader, RoaringRampageOfRevenge, RousingSpeech, SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism, SparkOfTheRebellion, TheNeedsOfTheMany, TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized, TorchesAndPitchforks, UpToEleven, VoiceOfTheResistance and WellIntentionedExtremist.
* FourPhilosophyEnsemble Camille is the Optimist, Danton is the Cynic, and Robespierre is a mix between the Realist and the Apathetic.
* FourTemperamentEnsemble Camille is sanguine, Danton is choleric and Robespierre is a mix between phlegmatic and melancholic.
* FreudianTrio Camille is the Id, Danton the Ego and Robespierre the Superego.
* GirlNextDoor Lucile, and also Louise, to Danton.
* GroupieBrigade Camille and Robespierre could each amass one.
* HairFlip A habit of Camille's believed to have been picked up from a prostitute.
* HeroicBSOD Camille at the end, upon hearing Lucile has been arrested.
* ICantLookGesture Danton watches the execution of everyone on his cart except Camille.
* ImpoverishedPatrician Count de Mirabeau.
* LaserGuidedKarma The mob makes sure this happens to Joseph-François Foullon, stuffing his mouth with grass as he is executed for having suggested the starving people eat grass.
* LargeHam Camille in writing. Proves to be [[SparkOfTheRebellion very effective]].
* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates The listing of the enemies to the revolution.
* LoveTriangle Lucile <=>Camille=>Danton=>Lucile.
* [[Main/LoveFatherLoveSon Love Mother, Love Daughter]] Camille's wooing of Lucile's mother turns into this.
* LoveObstructingParents Lucile’s.
* MrsRobinson Lucile’s mother to Camille.
* MyGirlIsASlut Camille has no problems with Lucile’s many admirers, several of whom she flirts with openly, or the WillTheyOrWontThey between her and Danton.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong Danton’s first wife Gabrielle believes in this.
* NameToRunAwayFromReallyFast Lawyer-journalist Camille is popularly called ”The Lantern Attorney” for all the people strung up in lamp posts due to his articles.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace Danton with Camille, constantly touching or putting his arm around him. See also AffectionateGestureToTheHead above.
* NotInThisForYourRevolution Danton sometimes comes off as this, when in [[Main/OnlyInItForTheMoney certain moods]].
* NotLikeOtherGirls Lucile is the resident Cool Girl.
* ObnoxiousInLaws The thought of living in the same village as Danton’s mother makes Gabrielle sick.
* ParentalMarriageVeto Prevents the Desmoulins marrying for several years.

* PrecisionFStrike See AnachronismStew above.
* RightHandHottie Saint-Just.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Philippe de Orleans.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere Danton up and leaves for his home village several times, but he always returns.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan Camille and Danton.

* TakingTheVeil Robespierre’s sister. He’s sorry for her, but she doesn’t mind.
* TheChick Lucile.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Louise to Danton.
* UnresolvedSexualTension Between at least half the cast.
* UptownGirl Lucile is a wealthy parisian heiress, Camille a provincial lawyer.
* VirginShaming Danton gets in a few such digs at Robespierre.

* WetBlanketWife Gabrielle Danton. Just as often the OnlySaneMan.

* WhatTheHellHero Gabrielle to Danton after the September Massacre. He responds [[IDidWhatIHadToDo as expected]].

* YouUsedToBeBetterSpeech Gabrielle to Danton.

* YourCheatingHeart