The Voice of the People

Horace Grondin, deputy head of the Surete is in fact Charles Bassicousse, sentenced 16 years earlier for a murder he did not commit. He is obsessed with wreaking his revenge on Antoine Tarpagnan, the man he believes did commit the crime. Tarpagnan, an army captain, has fallen in love with Gabriella Pucci, the mistress of Paris's greatest villain. As Tarpagnan searches the underworld for Gabriella, Grondin searches for him. Vautrin's novel revels in the chaos and passion of the period, culminating in the savage repression of the Commune. The final climactic moments between Grondin and Tarpagnan take place on the barricades as Paris descends into a fury of bloodletting and panic.