Stephanie Dray’s The Women of Chateau Lafayette should be in a category of its own. What an incredibly written and well researched book. It’s pretty dense at times and a long one at 561 pages; Definitely for the historical fiction super fan. Buddy read this one, for sure! I kind of wished it would’ve been published in the fall or winter so I could’ve of cozied up by the fire to read this one. That’s my recommendation!
📚 Book Review 📚
Title: The Women of Chateau Lafayette
Author: Stephanie Dray
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Historical Fiction
“Behind every successful man, there is a strong woman.”
▪️1774 French noblewoman Adrienne marries a young (and we’re talking young . . . they marry at 14!!!) marquis de Lafayette and becomes her husband’s political partner in the fight for American Independence. But then the French Revolution comes along and threatens everything she holds dear and its a fight between love and her legacy.
▪️1914 Socialite Beatrice is a force of nature. The war is outbreaking and her marriage is crumbling. After she witnesses devastation in France firsthand she must convince America to fight for what’s right.
▪️1940 Marthe Simone is an orphan and a french schoolteacher. She wants nothing to do with the war. But the realities of Nazi occupation transform her isolated life from who she is and who she is willing to become.
So, as you can see, this story weaves back and forth with three narrators and three time periods. First, we have Adrienne along side her husband Gilbert raising their children during the American and French Revolutions was full of courage and bravery. Quite frankly . . . she was a bad-ass woman! She had influence on the French court and with kings and queens . . . I honestly think there could’ve been a separate book on just her!
Then we have Beatrice and Marthe. There stories overlap much more between WWI and WWII and the orphanage at the Chateau Lafayette. I had trouble connecting with Beatrice which is unfair because it wasn’t her but the adultery in her storyline! Besides being a schoolteacher, Marthe, was also as artist and was able to use that skill to help rescue Jewish children. She also found love and I’m a hopeless romantic and was on board with that!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Solid read, I just think I would’ve of appreciated and enjoyed this one more as two separate stories!
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