The Trampling of the Lilies

The Trampling of the Lilies is an historical novel, set in the French Revolution, written by Rafael Sabatini, and published in 1906. It is one of Sabatini's earlier novels. The Story revolves around Caron La Boulaye, secretary to the Marquis de Fresnoy de Bellecour, who, inspired by the ideas of Rousseau, expresses his love to his employer's daughter. She rebuffs him for going above his station, and her father whips and fires him. La Boulaye becomes a revolutionary, meets Robespierre, and becomes a part of the French Revolution. This story has the usual adventure, history, romance, and treachery for which Rafael Sabatini's novels are known. According to Wikipedia, "Rafael Sabatini (April 29, 1875 - February 13, 1950) was an Italian/British writer of novels of and adventure. Rafael Sabatini was born in Jesi Italy, to an English mother and Italian father. His parents were singers who became teachers....he was the master of five languages. He quickly added a sixth language - English - to his linguistic collection. He consciously chose to write in his adopted language, because, he said, "all the best stories are written in English." After a brief stint in the business world, Sabatini went to work as a writer. He wrote short stories in the 1890s, and his first novel came out in 1902. It took Sabatini roughly a quarter of a century of hard work before he attained success with Scaramouche in 1921. The novel, a historical romantic set during the French Revolution, became an international best-seller. It was followed by the equally successful Captain Blood in 1922. All of his earlier books were rushed into reprints, the most popular of which was The Sea Hawk from 1915. Sabatini was a prolific writer; he produced a new book approximately every year, and maintained a great deal of popularity with the reading public through the decades that followed."