The French Orphan By: Michael Stolle

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• Title: The French Orphan (The French Orphan #1)
• Author: Michael Stolle
• Publisher: Createspace
• Publication Date: August 24, 2012
• Pages: 388
• Genre: Historical Fiction
• Recommended Age: 15+
• First Read: 2013
• Source: Goodreads Giveaway
• Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 stars

The French Orphan is a historical novel based in well, France in the 17th Century during the reign of Louis VIII. Pierre, who is around 17 years old or so at the beginning of this book has believed all of his life that he is a lowly orphan an has lived most of his life in an monastery. The monastery is also the current home/school of Pierre's best friend, Armand, who is part of quite an important family in France, the de Saint Pauls. While in the monastery, Pierre and Armand discover that Pierre is actually nobility- the future Marquis de Beauvoir- and that he is being hunted down by his cousin Henri because it is Henri who wants to be the future Marquis; Henri will do anything to kill Pierre to ascend to the throne. Pierre, Armand, and Marie, Pierre's love interest, journey throughout both France and England and have many adventures in Pierre's quest to gain the title that was rightfully his at birth but they encounter numerous challenges. But what is adventure without the chase?

I thought that this book was extremely well written and I quite enjoyed the both the plot and the characters. This book has everything that I look for in a historical novel and I really appreciate that. If I had to have any complaints though, it would have to be that some scenes were a little drawn out and a bunch of them could have taken out, but I guess that those scenes did eventually paint a more accurate picture of French aristocracy. The book started out a bit slow and lagged in some places, but maybe that was my fault for not paying attention. However, I did enjoy the book immensely and hope to read more of Pierre and Armand's excursions in The Secrets of Montresor!