Waiting for the Queen: A Novel of Early America. By Joanna Higgins. Milkweed Editions, 2013.
If you love stories about the French Revolution and think you know a lot about Marie Antoinette, try this charming tale. Apparently, a group of nobles leave France and come to America for safe haven. They eagerly anticipate the arrival of their queen and her children. In rural Pennsylvania, New France is being carved out with the help of local Shakers. It is the muddy wasteland that one would envision, not the stuff of fancy ballgowns and big mansions.
Into this comes 15 year old Eugnie de La Roque and her family. To say that they are shocked at their new circumstances is an understatement! Hannah Kimbrell, a devout Shaker, and her father and brother have been chosen to help the new residents. Hannah can cook and has many skills that the new French-Americans need. While she starts as a servant, Hannah proves herself over and over and becomes a true asset to the de La Roques. Both girls become enmeshed in the question of slavery. Noble in spirit, if not in birth, Hannah understands the grief that the people feel when they finally learn that their queen is dead and will not be coming to join them.
The book begins in 1793 and would make an excellent companion to the Fever 1793 book by Laurie Halse Anderson. That book also stars a teenage girl.
No comments:
Post a Comment