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The Second Footman
The Second Footman
The Second Footman
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The Second Footman

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Nineteen year-old Max is the duchesse de Claireville's second footman, but he does not intend to endure the indignities of service for long. He has a plan—to find an aristocratic patron who will become his unwitting accomplice in an audacious fraud. 
It is true that in 1880s' France, despite nearly a century of revolution and social turmoil, the aristocracy is still firmly entrenched in privilege, and the gulf between the salon and the servants' hall is as wide as ever. But Max is handsome, quick to learn and confident of his abilities as a seducer of both men and women.  
Whether ladling soup into noble plates beneath crystal chandeliers, or reading biographies of the great generals in his squalid footman's dormitory, he is planning his strategy. He, Max, is the man of the future - ruthless, above morality and sentimental attachments. 
Yet, when, after a couple of false starts, he at last acquires his patron, he finds himself ambushed by instinctive longings—for friendship, for affection—that threaten his grand plan. 
'Be true to yourself…' the saying goes. But to which self? And what is 'truth'?
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 1, 2013
ISBN9781780887579
The Second Footman
Author

Jasper Barry

Jasper Barry graduated from Cambridge with a degree in English and has worked in advertising, then in journalism. Jasper lives in London with too many books and three obstreperous cats.

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    Thoroughly researched, richly historical, great characters and a classic plot

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The Second Footman - Jasper Barry

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