Synopsis
BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.
PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.
Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.
Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light, artfully weaves two girls’ stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love. Revolution spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material:
Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.: Lyrics from “I Wanna Be Sedated,” words and music by Jeffrey Hyman, John Cummings, and Douglas Colvin, copyright
© 1978 by WB Music Corp. and Taco Tunes, Inc. All rights administered by WB Music Corp. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.
Hal Leonard Corporation: Lyrics from “Asleep,” words and music by Johnny Marr and Steven Morrissey, copyright © 1986 by Marr Songs Ltd.
and Bona Relations Ltd. All rights for Marr Songs Ltd. in the U.S. and Canada controlled and administered by Universal-Polygram In ternational Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved; Lyrics from “Tupelo (Tupelo Blues),”
words and music by John Lee Hooker, copyright © 1991 by Orpheum Music. International copyright secured. All rights reserved; Lyrics from
“Viva La Vida,” words and music by Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin, copyright © 2008 by Universal Music Publishing MGB Ltd. All rights in the United States and Canada administered by Universal Music-MGB Songs. International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
Moebetoblame Music: Lyrics from “My Friends,” by Flea, Anthony Kiedis,
David Michael Navarro, and Chad Gaylord Smith, copyright © 1995 by Moebetoblame Music. Reprinted by permission of Moebetoblame Music.
Publishers Weekly
Donnelly (A Northern Light) melds contemporary teen drama with well-researched historical fiction and a dollop of time travel for a hefty read that mostly succeeds. Andi Alpers is popping antidepressants and flunking out of her Brooklyn prep school, grieving over her younger brother's death. She finds solace only when playing guitar. When the school notifies her mostly absent scientist father that she's flirting with expulsion, he takes Andi to Paris for Christmas break, where he's testing DNA to see if a preserved heart really belonged to the doomed son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Andi is ordered to work on her senior thesis about a (fictional) French composer. Bunking at the home of a renowned historian, Andi finds a diary that relates the last days of Alexandrine, companion to (you guessed it) the doomed prince. The story then alternates between Andi's suicidal urges and Alexandrine's efforts to save the prince. Donnelly's story goes on too long, but packs in worthy stuff. Musicians, especially, will appreciate the thread about the debt rock owes to the classics. Ages 14 up. (Oct.)