Author Stephanie Dray does it again. Inspired by the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy, Stephanie Dray brings to light the voices of three generations of women who defend the castle and the legacy it represents.
The Château de Chavaniac, located in the mountains of Auvergne, France is the birthplace of the Marquis de Lafayette, a man who played an integral role in both the American and the French Revolutions and whose name evokes liberty, equality, and courage. However, the Marquis is but a spirit in the tale of the three women, separated by time and circumstance, who take up the banner of Lafayette in the face of war and injustice.
First, there is Adrienne Lafayette, the Marquis’ wife, who risked her reputation, fortune, and life in pursuit of French liberty and in support of her husband who had a title but was not, at first, considered to be of consequence. Then there is Beatrice Astor Chanler, the wife of one of America’s gilded-era millionaire families, who uses the Aster fortune to restore the crumbling Château, transforming it into a sanctuary for sick and orphaned children after the horrors of World War I. Finally, there’s Marthe Simone, a ward of the Château, who as a teacher there during World War II, uses her skills as an artist to falsify documents and hide Jewish children in plain sight of the Nazis. Whereas Adrienne and Beatrice are lifted from the pages of history, the character of Marthe is a composite of the Chateau’s Freedom Fighters of the French Resistance.
Intricately woven, the story unfolds from each woman’s perspective as they rise to meet their own challenges and adversities in the face of war from Marie Antoinette’s French court, the trenches of World War I and Nazi occupied France during World War II. Silenced by history, these women and their voices emerge loud and clear from the shadows of The Château de Chavaniac. A mesmerizing tale of courage and honor from the shadows.
