The French Revolution: A Novel

A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year that fondly recalls John Kennedy Toole’s 1980 classic A Confederacy of Dunces.

Esmerelda Van Twinkle, a failed pastry chef turned obese copy shop manager, stumbles into motherhood after a semi-intentional liaison with good-natured coupon distributor Jasper Winslow. Born on Bastille Day, their twin children, Robespierre and Marat, revolt against archaic rules imposed by their autocratic grandmother, surmount radically misguided parenting, navigate factional infighting, and engage in combat in the Middle East to achieve great personal gain.

But just as the family is on the cusp of achieving meteoric success in politics, business, music, and gastronomy, fissures from the past crack open spectacularly, derailing their bid for long-lived power while cementing a reputation for the ages.

Loosely structured on the greatest identity crisis ever, The French Revolution is the hilarious, tragic, and deeply imaginative story of a San Francisco family forging its place in history. Vive la revolution!

A thrilling novel that explores the meaning of success and the unlikely bonds that unite a family … Stewart’s hilariously bawdy satire casts fresh light in a dark corner of the past while portraying a family whose members have somehow survived history. Now, if only they can endure each other. -Booklist