Privilege

Guinevere Glasfurd

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Hodder & Stoughton
01 May 2022

Fiction & Literature; Historical fiction; Feminism & feminist theory; Ethical issues: censorship
English

'I thought of the books we carried and the hands that would one day hold them. The pages read, turned and discussed. And how the book would become thought and the thought then become the person gone out into the world. Let Gilbert try and put a stop to that.'

After her father is disgraced, Delphine Vimond is cast out of her home in Rouen and flees to Paris. Into her life tumbles Chancery Smith, apprentice printer sent from London to discover the mysterious author of potentially incendiary papers marked only D. In a battle of wits with the French censor, Henri Gilbert, Delphine and Chancery set off in a frantic search for D's author. But who is D and does D even exist?

Privilege is a story of adventure and mishap set against the turmoil of mid-18th century France at odds with the absolute power of the King who is determined to suppress opposition on pain of death. At a time when books required royal privilege before they could be published - a system enforced by the Chief Censor and a network of spies - many were censored or banned, and their authors harshly punished. Books that fell foul of the system were published outside France and smuggled back in at great risk.

Costa-shortlisted author Guinevere Glasfurd has conjured a vibrant world of entitlement and danger, where the right to live and think freely could come at the highest cost.

By: Guinevere Glasfurd
Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 232mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 28mm
Weight: 420g
ISBN: 9781529342918
ISBN 10: 1529342910
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 01 May 2022
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Guinevere Glasfurd is a critically acclaimed novelist. Her debut novel, The Words in my Hand, was shortlisted for the 2016 Costa First Novel Award and Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and was longlisted in France for the Prix du Roman FNAC. Her second novel, The Year Without Summer, was written with support from the MacDowell Foundation, longlisted for the Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize 2021 and shortlisted for the HWA Gold Crown Award 2020. Awarded grants from the Arts Council England and the British Council for her work, her writing has also appeared in The Scotsman, Mslexia and in a collection published by the National Galleries of Scotland. Originally from Lancaster, she now lives near Cambridge with her husband and daughter.

Reviews for Privilege

Praise for THE WORDS IN MY HAND *shortlisted for the 2016 Costa First Novel Award* Excellent . . . Glasfurd has created an entirely unsentimental love story, with a memorable and engaging heroine. She takes the narrowness of Helena's life and her kicks against its confines, and spins them into an original tale * The Times (Book of the Month) * A striking debut . . . Her portrait of love across barriers of class, and of Helena's yearning for education, is a touching one * The Sunday Times * An accomplished first novel . . . She brilliantly dissects the complex frustrations of a woman in love with a man consumed by intellectual obsessions. There is much to move us here * Guardian * Gloriously readable . . . It feels as though Guinevere Glasfurd has seen into the heart and soul of Helena, as though this really could be her story . . . A truly lovely and captivating debut * LoveReading * Praise for THE YEAR WITHOUT SUMMER *Shortlisted for the HWA Gold Crown Award 2020* *Longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize 2021* Rich in voice, beautifully told, and with a chilling sting in its tail * Historical Writers' Association * Superb . . . a stay-up-all-night page-turner . . . a beautifully written, angry, unflinching and unforgettable novel * Financial Times * Glasfurd is a strikingly sharp and subtle writer . . . She has the rare ability to conjure characters vividly in a few deft strokes and the gift, rarer still, of making us care deeply about them * Guardian * Another superb saga, rich in both historical detail and human interest * Observer *