Exiled to a Caribbean island, Paoletta Cadoville and her family cling to the
hope of one day returning to their Parisian home. But in a single, devastating moment, that dream is shattered. Alone and horrifically scarred, Paoletta embarks on a perilous quest to uncover the truth behind
her family’s tragic fate, only to become entangled in a web of political intrigue, secret societies, and dangerous alliances.
In a Paris overshadowed by the guillotine, Paoletta must decide how much of her humanity she’s willing to sacrifice in pursuit of vengeance. Will she achieve justice for her family or lose herself to the darkness that threatens to consume her?
Paoletta – An Eye for an Eye is a gripping historical thriller set during the French Revolution and a stark reminder that in times of upheaval, innocence is the first to fall, and revenge demands a price paid in blood.
J.R. Powell is a British-born writer and professional translator based in Switzerland. A lifelong history enthusiast with a particular interest in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, he began writing Paoletta – An Eye for an Eye while living in Paris. He’d long wanted to create a thriller with the pace and punch of modern crime fiction, but set in a period too often left in the margins of the genre.
The book began as a few lockdown notes and quickly took on a life of its own. When he’s not writing or translating, Powell is a drummer in the United Nations jazz band and an avid traveller.
Paoletta is his debut novel.
My thoughts: I know a bit about the French Revolution, I studied history at school and we had a whole year on Napoleon so we did some of the revolution too, to understand his rise and I’ve since read a fair few books on the period. It’s a fascinating, dark time and as a British person, knowing we “have no stomach for revolution” as a nation (we tried it, didn’t like it, put a king back on the throne) it’s always interesting to see how that change in the way a country is governed happens.
Paoletta’s family experienced the Revolution and have been exiled to the French Caribbean, living in relative poverty instead of the wealth they once enjoyed as well connected Parisians.
When a terrible event kills most of her family and leaves her horrifically scarred and with only one eye, Paoletta is distraught but also furious. Determined to get answers that her uncle refuses to give her, she stows away on a ship bound for France. Making her way to family friend, the Irish Doctor Spice in Paris, she determines to find out who killed her family.
The Revolution grips the capital, Madame Guillotine has never been busier, the infant Republic’s enemies must be destroyed. The king has recently been executed, Marie Antoinette languishes in prison and the citizens are paranoid and afraid.
Worming her way into the Mariannes, a gang of rabid revolutionary women close to the centre of power, a group of actresses, whose leader is hiding plenty of her own secrets, while also assisting Dr Spice in his own illicit missions for a mysterious group based in Switzerland, Paoletta puts her own safety on the line.
But will she ever get the answers she’s looking for? Undercover as Neopolitan Gabriella, she’s neither French enough for some, or as committed as others. But when approached by a rival group of Royalists who claim to know who killed her family, she doesn’t hesitate. Caught between these different lives and identities, can she find the truth?
Clever, intense, gripping and filled with historical details, this is a really enjoyable thriller set during a tremendously turbulent time.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 
Thank you so much for being a part of the tour x
LikeLiked by 1 person