Ribbons of Scarlet showcases six historical women as each of them make their way in what becomes the French Revolution. All six women come from different places both in society and mentally. Some start off as optimistic. Others are bitter from a lifetime of being hungry and doubt that the revolution will bring enough change to fill their bellies. Each narrator ended up in a different place too, as the one unifying factor became the idea that no one was spared during the revolution.

I actually enjoyed a majority of the stories in this anthology. In general, I thought they were all pretty strong and compelling. My favorites were the strongest were Dray's "The Philosopher", Perinot's "The Princess", and Quinn's "The Politician". In all of these stories, you met characters who started out looking at the world one day, but by the end of their time on the page, they had become someone else. In the case of Sophie Condorcet from Dray's story, she became more optimistic by the end of her narration, which I still felt true to form since hers is the first story that kicks off the revolution. Perinot's Princess Elisabeth and Quinn's Manon Roland are almost mythical figures from the French Revolution. Princess Elisabeth is a saint while Manon Roland is a tiger mom. However, the authors do a phenomenal job painting the complexities of each woman. There are the moments when these women are weak or angry or vindictive, but they stand by their principles for better or worse. I enjoyed reading about them and understanding what motivated them, and I sympathized for them. To me, that's the sign of a truly great author, and that's why I enjoyed these stories so much.'

I also really enjoyed Kamoie's "The Beauty" and Knight's "The Assassin". These were just a smidge below my first three favorite stories. Mostly because there wasn't as many shades to these characters. Emilie from the "The Beauty" is a fascinating person, but there's never really a moment where her worldview are challenged or where she's shocked by the society around her. Having been groomed by her mother to the view the worst of society's (especially men's) impulses, she's never surprised by Robespierre's narcissism or even her lover's cowardice. While her story is very touching, I didn't feel touched in the same way. It was like reading more about someone who was stuck rather than someone who had to undergo an identity shift, compared to a lot of the other characters.

Knight's characters of Pauline Leon and Charlotte Corday were similar: they were so convinced of their ideals that nothing really shook them out of it. Even when Charlotte is getting man-handled, she's never really in doubt about whether murdering Marat was a good thing or not. Pauline gets distracted with a man, but while this physically distracts her, it doesn't mentally distract her. I had hoped to see more of her inner workings. As these two are the more violent characters in the book, I had hoped the author would delve more in their psyche that made them think that killing people (whether it's Marat or soldiers) was the best option to save France. I didn't feel like Knight went far enough with these characters.

The weakest story and the weakest character was Webb's Louise from "The Revolutionary". After reading Webb's note about how she created the character, I learned that while Louise the person existed, much of her life was shrouded in mystery and rumor, making it difficult for Webb to piece together who this person really was. All of the characters pop in and out of each other's stories, Louise most of all, and in every appearance, characters are befuddled about what Louise is thinking. It seems like no one knows what to do about Louise. Is she insane? Is she the new Joan of Arc? Is she just a victim? This indecisiveness made it difficult for the reader to understand this character's mentality and motivation. Just like with Knight's heroines, I don't think Webb went far enough with Louise. The heroine was introduced as this scrappy everywoman who just wanted to be part of something big, but she ended up sounding generic. And none of that prepared readers for the character's tragic demise. I felt like more could've been done to show Louise's instability or how all-consuming the mob mentality is. As a result, she didn't stand out compared to the other heroines.

Overall, this anthology is very strong, and it's compelling. The French Revolution and the subsequent Reign of Terror were full of tragedy and pain, but the stories here still manage to share optimistic views of love, women's rights, and democracy. Highly recommend this book for history lovers. ( )

Six female historical fiction authors - Kate Quinn, Laura Kamoie, Heather Webb, Stephanie Dray, Sophie Perinot, and E. (Eliza) Knight - collaborated on this novel of the French Revolution, with a forward by Allison Pataki (who was unavailable to collaborate). The book focuses on seven lesser-known women: Manon Roland, Princess Élisabeth (sister of King Louis XVI), Louise Audu, Charlotte Corday, Sophie de Grouchy Condorcet, Pauline Leon, and Emilie de Sainte-Amaranthe

The women represent various classes (royalty, aristocrats, commoners, peasants), so there are multiple views of the revolution. Each part (chapter) of the book was written by a different author, and is mainly in the voice of one of the characters (Pauline and Charlotte share one chapter). Characters appear in other chapters, however, which helps the book flow smoothly. The reader can follow the evolution of the revolution, through to and beyond its end.

Bonus materials for the book are available, and there's a great interview with the authors here. The Library of Congress has a great research guide about women of the French Revolution. Many of these authors have worked together and with other authors on similar collaborative historical novels in the "History 360 Presents" or "H-Team" series (of which this is the fifth), on topics like Pompeii, Troy, Odysseus, and Boudicca . I'm eager to read them all. ( )

The French Revolution is a major turning point not only in European history, but world history. Most often, men are the figures talked about in association with the revolution: King Louis, Robspiere, Lafayette. What is extraordinary about this book as it takes the perspectives of six (sort of seven) women and tells the story of the revolution from their eyes. It is through, enjoyable, and enlightening.
We start early in the revolution with Sophie Grouchie who is a noble woman who writes and fights for women's rights. Then we meet Louise, who is a fruit seller who leads the revolt and meets the king. Then we meet Princess Elizabeth, on the run with her brother, King Louis, and his family. Next is Manon Roland who is a politician's wife who would be a politician in her own right in a different time. After her, we meet Charlotte, a noblewomen looking to exact justice with a knife, and Pauline, a poor woman who stands strong in her belief for women's suffrage. Finally, we meet Emilie, the most beautiful woman in France, who has more to offer than just her looks.
Going into this book, I was concerned that the six writers would be too many to handle. But in reality, this book is very cohesive while still having six distinct narrators. The women all have their own personal dilemmas, but the revolution bonds their narratives. COver the course of six distinct sections, the reader follows the revolution over all its different phases and significant events. I fell in love with the majority of characters, some were not as exciting as others, but it didn’t really matter because the book was on to the next.
The themes of this book are still important and relevant in this time as they were then. While this book was published in late 2019, I read it in mid 2020. The themes of distrusting the government, protesting in the streets, and women fighting for their rights to be a part of society, are still prevalent today. Women who use their husbands to spread their opinions, or want to be more than their looks or to be more than a mother. The world has changed a lot, but not enough. I think people of all backgrounds should read this book. It is both educational and entertaining. But most importantly, it is enlightening. ( )

Ribbons of Scarlet: A Novel of the French Revolution's Women is a difficult book to plow through. A lot of research went into the writing of this book. The French Revolution was a horrible time for people. The guillotine was used liberally to behead royalty, citizens and peasants. What was supposed to rid the French people of poverty, cruelty, royalty and tyranny in the end The French Revolution did nothing. Ribbons of Scarlet tried to expose the reader to some women who fought bravely for the revolution in different ways. Because the book was difficult to read through with too much story information, the book only received three stars in this review. ( )

A novel of the French Revolution, the story is told in the voices of six historical women in chronological order. They are The Philosopher (Sophie de Grouchy Condorcet), The Revolutionary (Louise Reine Audu), The Princess (Madame Elisabeth, sister to King Louis XVI), The Politician (Manon Roland), The Assassin (Charlotte Corday) and The Beauty (Emile de Sainte-Amaranthe). Four will be executed, one will die in a hospital after becoming insane in prison. One will live to see the future.

Each of the writers above wrote one of the sections, each section moving the story along. It is an astounding accomplishment, the original idea came from Stephanie Dray. The authors call themselves the Scarlet Sisters.

The Dedication reads: This novel is dedicated to the women who fight, to the women who stand on principle. It is an homage to the women who refuse to back down even in the face of repression, slander, and death. History is replete with you, even if we are not taught that, and the present moment is full of you - brave, determined and laudable. ( )