The novel begins around the year 1730... on the docks of Geneva at the southern end of Lake Leman (Lake Geneva) -- Western Europe's largest fresh water lake. A varied cast of passengers takes ship for the normally brief, tranquil sail to the other end of the lake at Vevey. All or some passengers are intending to witness a street festival held there every five or six years... [A key part of the novel] is the story about a young woman who falls in love with a man of lower rank. Cooper has captured both the human emotions as well as the natural beauty of Switzerland with amazing brilliance. --Amazon.com & www.patrickkillough.com.

James Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the first half of the 19th century. His historical romances of frontier and Indian life in the early American days created a unique form of American literature. One of the Cooper’s European trilogy, "The Headsman" is set in Switzerland. The novel was inspired by one of Cooper’s trips during his European travels in 1832. It explores a number of themes related to how society structures itself, including justice, authority, friendship, parental relationships, love and marriage.