Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

Born worlds apart, Olivier—an aristocratic idealist fleeing the aftermath of the French Revolution—and Parrot—a streetwise English servant with a taste for rebellion—find their fates entangled on a voyage to the New World. As they navigate the rough, brilliant chaos of early America, their unlikely friendship becomes a reflection of the birth of democracy itself: clashing ideals, flawed humanity, and the search for freedom. Peter Carey’s dazzling historical novel reimagines Alexis de Tocqueville’s journey to America with wit, beauty, and moral depth, revealing how the Old World and the New shaped one another.