The Protégée
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
A working-class young woman would kill to become assistant to Paris's top modiste, but she must first seek vengeance against those responsible for the death of her family, in this thrilling historical horror from New York Times bestselling author Erica Ridley!
Eighteen-year-old Angélique dreams of designing opulent gowns for society’s elite, but her reality is a life spent dyeing silk in a sweatshop. That is, until tragedy strikes, leaving her orphaned and responsible for her younger sister.
Determined to elevate their station, Angélique secures a position as a junior dressmaker for Paris’s top modiste. Though she’s tormented by other seamstresses for being poor, and her meager salary barely pays rent, she refuses to give in.
When a high-stakes contest for a coveted protégée role is announced, Angélique will do whatever is necessary to win—even if it means resorting to deadly measures. What’s a little arsenic between coworkers?
As Angélique outshines—and outlives—the competition, her newfound privilege and power are weaponized against those who destroyed her family. Will she conquer the world of high fashion to claim her rightful place as Paris’s best designer, or will the cost of ambition be too high?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1850, 18-year-old Angélique works as a seamstress for Madame Violette, one of Paris's best dressmakers. The position's minuscule salary makes providing for her family difficult; moreover, the other apprentices ("half are Black, half are white") disparage biracial (Black and white) Angélique. When Angélique's younger sister and mother are brutally killed by a machine while working at the Fournier Fabrics factory—the same place Angélique's father died years ago under similar circumstances—she becomes solely responsible for her 12-year-old sister Elodie. Then Madame Violette reveals that she is searching for a new protégée, and the position will go to whichever seamstress designs the best dress. Angélique—harboring simmering disdain for the upper class—intends to win the role, gain access to Paris's high society, and avenge her family's deaths. Though characterizations of upper-class antagonists often veer into cartoonishly evil territory, Ridley (Hot Earl Summer, for adults) persuasively portrays Angélique's acute anger and sorrow. The richly imagined Paris setting adds an element of glitz and glamour to this twisty and visceral revenge thriller. Ages 14–up.
