Gypsy boy, Yann, and the dwarf who has raised him are caught up in drama on and off the stage, where they work with a magician and his automaton. Outside their Parisian theater, revolution is beginning to boil. Inside, the magician is murdered by the villainous Count Kallovski, who has Yann in his sights as well. So begins a finely crafted tale that crosses years and crisscrosses countries, as Yann becomes a young man with a mission: to save the lovely Sido from her heartless father, even as he struggles with the extraordinary gifts bestowed upon him by his Gypsy heritage. If the success of historical fiction depends on how well setting and story mesh, this is a very successful book, indeed. Gardner sweeps readers into a turbulent time, dissecting eighteenth-century French society and the evolution of the revolution, from a yearning for liberty to a chaotic bloodbath.

While the aristocracy dine, dance, gossip and gamble their way to disaster, the poor and starving dream of revolution.

Enter the boy Yann Margoza, destined to be a hero;Tetuthe dwarf, his friend and mentor;Sido, unloved daughter of the foolish Marquis de Villeduval; and the sinister Count Kalliovski who holds half the aristocracy in thrall to him.

The drama moves from paris to London and back,as the Revolution.gathers momentum, and the hope of liberty and the dream of equality are crushed beneath the wheel of terror.