The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray – 576 pages
ARC from Berkley and Netgalley for an honest review
Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 5 stars
The Women of Chateau Lafayette is a historical fiction gem. My knowledge of Lafayette, the Frenchman who helped secure America’s freedom in the American Revolution, is pretty limited to what I remember about him from the musical Hamilton. Sad, I know. I was keen to delve into Dray’s newest historical fiction book that follows the three women who helped keep Lafayette’s legacy alive, all connected to Lafayette’s ancestral home of Chavaniac (later called Chateau-Lafayette, a home for orphaned children).
The story is told through the point of view of three extraordinary women, through three wars. Adrienne, Lafayette’s wife; Beatrice, the American socialite who helped restore the castle and turn it into a home for orphans; and Marthe, a teacher at the castle who grew up there as an orphan herself. Oftentimes, when a story has multiple narrators, a reader tends to enjoy one more than the other, but honestly, I loved each heroine as each of them had a compelling voice and story.
Dray remarkably threaded these women’s stories together through the connection of the Chateau, despite the vast differences in time. The depth of research that Dray put into this book is abundantly clear as the reader is effortlessly able to transport themselves into the French Revolution, World War I and World War II. As a historical fiction lover, this book checked a lot of boxes. It was a long book, but I never felt bored or as though I was getting a history lecture. I was constantly learning and discovering more about the history surrounding the Chateau, the wars and these impressive women.
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