MADAM IN LACE

A woman becomes entangled in 19th-century French politics during a search for her mother in this historical novel.

Celeste Bazin was born in a Paris brothel. After her mother sent her to America at age 14, Celeste landed in New Orleans and then San Francisco, where she got rich from the California Gold Rush. In 1857, Celeste, now a young woman, is back in Paris to see her mother, but she hasn’t been able to find her. While hunting for her, Celeste meets an Italian man named Carlo. She needs a place to crash in Montmartre, so Carlo invites her to stay at his boardinghouse. His sister is also living there, helping Celeste feel safer, although Carlo is suspiciously secretive. Odéon, another boarder, helps Celeste track down her notorious Aunt Faucon, her mother’s sister. With only the knowledge of her mother’s last-known whereabouts, Celeste sets off on a journey around France accompanied by Odéon, who has political business in Normandy and agrees to take the protagonist in that direction. During her quest, Celeste stops at an imperial palace, an orphanage, a palatial chateau (where she runs into Carlo again), and a notoriously well-guarded prison. She learns along the way that her mother may have been an operative in the same revolutionary group that Carlo and Odéon belong to and that they are involved in a plot to take down the emperor. Can she find and rescue her mother without putting her own life in danger? Grossenbacher’s descriptive prose helps paint a vivid picture of what France was like in this period under the rule of Emperor Napoleon III. Celeste is a compelling character, one who chafes against restrictions put on women, especially now that she has enough money to live independently. But she can be selfish, pursuing her mother even when nearly everyone she encounters tells her it would be dangerous for both herself and her parent if she persists. Celeste is worldly in some ways but completely naïve in others. Details about the revolutionary plot are revealed in tiny parcels, creating a strong sense of suspense that will keep readers turning pages.

A gripping trip through Napoleonic France.