The Women of Chateau Lafayette
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4.4 • 351 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The USA Today Bestseller!
Recommended by Oprah Magazine ∙ Cosmopolitan ∙ PopSugar ∙ SheReads ∙ Parade ∙ and more!
An epic saga from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.
Most castles are protected by men. This one by women.
A founding mother...
1774. Gently-bred noblewoman Adrienne Lafayette becomes her husband, the Marquis de Lafayette’s political partner in the fight for American independence. But when their idealism sparks revolution in France and the guillotine threatens everything she holds dear, Adrienne must renounce the complicated man she loves, or risk her life for a legacy that will inspire generations to come.
A daring visionary...
1914. Glittering New York socialite Beatrice Chanler is a force of nature, daunted by nothing—not her humble beginnings, her crumbling marriage, or the outbreak of war. But after witnessing the devastation in France firsthand, Beatrice takes on the challenge of a lifetime: convincing America to fight for what's right.
A reluctant resistor...
1940. French school-teacher and aspiring artist Marthe Simone has an orphan's self-reliance and wants nothing to do with war. But as the realities of Nazi occupation transform her life in the isolated castle where she came of age, she makes a discovery that calls into question who she is, and more importantly, who she is willing to become.
Intricately woven and powerfully told, The Women of Chateau Lafayette is a sweeping novel about duty and hope, love and courage, and the strength we take from those who came before us.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Three women survive various wars in this ambitious, centuries-spanning outing from Dray (My Dear Hamilton). In 1774, Gilbert du Motier, a marquis, marries Adrienne. A few years later, he travels to America to join the American Revolution and returns to France a hero. But the shifting winds of the French Revolution require sacrifice and bravery from Adrienne, who attempts to find safety in their newly built Château de Chavaniac. In 1914, Beatrice Astor Chanler, a former actor with a mysterious past, hurries to France to visit her estranged, millionaire husband. When WWI breaks out, she narrowly escapes back to the U.S. and starts an aggressive fund-raising effort to support the war. On several subsequent trips to France during the war, she starts a love affair with a French soldier, demands a divorce, and converts Chavaniac into a clinic for children at risk from tuberculosis. Marthe Simone grew up in the chateau as an orphan and teaches there. Following the death of her fiancé in 1942 and attracted to a baron's daughter, Marthe places herself in grave danger by deciding to forge identity papers to rescue Jews from Nazis. While Dray often rushes into summary of the first two women's narratives, the high emotions and careful plotting of Marthe's story compensates. Historical fiction fans will want to take a look.
Customer Reviews
Great Book
I enjoyed reading this book, it was very well written. You won’t be disappointed.
The Women of Chateau Lafayette
I enjoyed the book very much from a historical perspective as I knew nothing of Adrienne de Lafayette and her life. The book was a little too long.
Absolutely loved
I loved this book by Stephanie Dray. Following all three women’s stories (two who really existed, and a third that was wrote in as fiction). I love historical fiction and not only entertained, but educated on so many parts of history I’m not aware of. Highly reccomend this.