WHITE FLOWERS OF YESTERDAY

A historical novel of royal intrigue and Machiavellian machinations, set during the halcyon days of the 18th-century French court, by retired accountant and author Gananathan.

The heroine of Gananathan's emotionally haunting debut is Kathryn Verne, the former lover of the Duke of Orleans. As the book opens, Kathryn has fled the tumult of the city and returned to the country estate where she was raised. She spends the next few hundred pages recalling her life in the royal court, which was experienced fully, wildly and deeply. Kathryn, Gananathan writes, was once a true ingénue, blessed with blue eyes that reflected "innocence coupled with youthful exuberance" and "pink lips" opened "as though about to break into a shy smile." But her innocence left her open to the advances of the relatively disagreeable Duke of Orleans. The Duke treated young Kathryn with apparent affection until she became pregnant, when he unceremoniously tossed her aside. (Par for the course, unfortunately, as far as 18th-century court life.) Eventually, he became the regent of France, which was another bout of bad news for Kathryn. Her son, Daniel, was kidnapped, and she was forced to go on the lam for the better part of a decade. So where did Daniel vanish to? Is he still alive? This is a hinge point in White of Flowers of Yesterday–even as Gananathan moves backwards in time, recounting the splendor of Kathryn's time among the royals, she ratchets up the suspense. Kathryn eventually finds a modicum of happiness, but not before the reader has been dragged through a long stretch of misery and heartache. Fortunately, the author has a pleasant style, and she dresses up what might have been a flat history lesson with a surfeit of grace and wit. For a reader interested in the social jousting of 18th century France, White Flowers of Yesterday will be a treat.

Ably explores a bygone milieu while trafficking in high emotional drama.