From Persecution to Privilege: The Unlikely Journey of a Fille du Roi

From Persecution to Privilege: The Unlikely Journey of a Fille du Roi

by | Jul 23, 2025 | Book review, France, French Protestants, Historical novels, Huguenots, Reformation

What does it mean to risk everything for faith and freedom?

Kerry Chaput’s evocative novel, Daughter of the King, follows Isabelle Colette, a young Huguenot woman whose courage and convictions propel her from the shadows of persecution in France to the uncertain promise of New France.

Daughter of the King, by Kerry Chaput, cover image

Daughter of the King  

How could a heretic persecuted by the French king’s dragoons be chosen as a Fille du Roi (Daughter of the King) and given special privileges?

Daughter of the King tells the remarkable (fictionalized) story of Isabelle and her family, who could scarcely survive, let alone thrive, in La Rochelle in the last half of the 1600s. The novel exemplifies the fates of Protestants (known as Huguenots in France) during and after the Wars of Religion.

Throughout this novel, Isabelle must deal with many conflicts and decisions related to her religious faith, among them whether to:
• hide away at home to avoid persecution, as her mother counsels
• embrace a relationship with a sympathetic Catholic soldier
• betray her heritage and convert to Catholicism to gain a new life in New France

Chaput’s vivid characters and harrowing choices bring to life this little-known chapter of history, as Isabelle’s decisions lead to a life of adventure and an action-packed story.

Major Characters:

Isabelle Colette—protagonist, she’s a young Huguenot woman whose independent streak assists others and often endangers herself

James— Isabelle’s first love; he’s a young French soldier who, despite his Catholicism, rescues Isabelle from the dragoons

Andre—French fur trapper; his wild streak connects with Isabelle’s independence

Henri—Huguenot friend from Isabelle‘s youth in La Rochelle

Naira—young Native-American (Huron) woman with nearly incredible intuition and wisdom; she assists and bonds with Isabelle

Angelique—Isabelle’s mother; she’s a Huguenot who retreated to her home, never recovering from the losses and tragedy her family endured because of their faith

Antoinette—Isabelle’s childhood rival and later, nemesis; she haunts and challenges Isabelle

Strengths:

• Dramatic portrayal of French persecution of Huguenots
• Vivid setting details
• Well-researched historical background (about Huguenots and Filles du Roi)

Weakness:

In the opening scenes, the high tension of the persecution of Huguenots in La Rochelle is beyond my comfort zone

Content review:

This novel includes violence (including sexual violence) related to persecution and war.

My recommendation:

After the tense early scenes, I found Isabella’s adventures exciting, if sometimes hair-raising. If you favor novels from a past era about heroes persecuted for their beliefs, where survival demands both sacrifice and hope, you’ll enjoy Daughter of the King.

Reader, can you recommend a favorite novel set in France during the Wars of Religion?

The Cost of Conscience: The Courage of Georges Picquart

The Cost of Conscience: The Courage of Georges Picquart

by | Jun 23, 2025 | Book review, France, Historical novels, Jewish History

Imagine you discovered evidence that an innocent man was sentenced to life in prison. Would you try to exonerate him if it would cost you your career?

Georges Picquart, the head of France’s spy agency in 1894, faces this dilemma in An Officer and a Spy, Robert Harris’s 2013 historical novel that overwhelmingly remains faithful to the facts of the Dreyfus Affair.

An Officer and a Spy, by Robert Harris, cover image

Alfred Dreyfus, the highest-ranking Jewish officer in the French Army, is convicted of spying for Germany in 1895 and sent to Devil’s Island (a bleak, tiny atoll in the Caribbean).

In 1896, Georges Picquart, the new French Army intelligence head, stumbles across a document proving that Dreyfus is innocent, hence revealing that someone else within the French Army spied for Germany. 

The remainder of the novel recounts Picquart’s struggles to exonerate Dreyfus, the Army’s attempts to silence the story, the roles of numerous characters, and the ultimate resolution of the conflict.

 I loved this book because:

  • I like stories with heroes, especially sweet if they survive their trials
  • Picquart refuses his Army superiors’ demands in spite of the risk to himself
  • Harris’s detailed portrayals of the characters and their motivations
  • Characters’ warts show in Harris’s presentation—no one comes across as perfect
  • Deep, immersive description of French society in that era

Characters:

Georges Picquart—narrator and protagonist, he’s a French Army officer who is promoted to head of the intelligence department after Dreyfus’s conviction.   

Alfred Dreyfus—Jewish Army officer whose performance and grades at the French Military College enabled him to rise higher than any previous soldier of Jewish heritage

General Mercier—French war minister who brought charges against Dreyfus after the discovery that someone in the Army hierarchy had spied for Germany, despite weak evidence

Lucie Dreyfus—wife of Alfred Dreyfus, she works doggedly for years to free her husband

Ferdinand Walsin-Esterhazy—a dissolute French Army major suspected of treason (by Picquart)

A number of other French Army officers, including generals, play significant roles in this novel, overwhelmingly in support of the honor of the Army and the conviction of Dreyfus, even if this involves a cover-up of the truth, including sentencing an innocent man to a tortuous life imprisonment.

Strengths:

  • Thorough, detailed account of the entire story
  • Multi-dimensional, complex portrayals of major characters that help explain their decisions, failures, and changes of perspective

Weakness:

The novel’s length, complexity, and repetition of key elements present a challenge to readers

Content review:

This novel contains not only references to romantic liaisons outside of marriage, but depictions of extreme mistreatment and violence.

My recommendation:

I found An Officer and a Spy fascinating, in spite of its length. People in high positions sometimes go to great lengths to preserve their reputations, even if it means innocent people will suffer greatly.  This novel offers the author’s in-depth characterization of Picquart’s thought process and his efforts to remain true to his moral code, in spite of the Army’s intense pressure and shocking treatment of himself as well as Dreyfus.

Reader, can you recommend a true-to-life novel in which the protagonist sacrifices so much to bring justice to an individual?

Risking It All for the Unknown: Julia Hancock’s Journey

Risking It All for the Unknown: Julia Hancock’s Journey

by | May 23, 2025 | American West, Book review, Explorers, Historical novels, U.S. History

If you could trade a comfortable, predictable future, dictated by your family, for a life of adventures with a famous explorer you hardly knew, would you do it?

In Brook Allen’s recent novel, West of Santillane, teenager Julia Hancock faced those choices in the early 1800s on her family’s Virginia plantation.

West of Santillane, by Brook Allen, cover image

As the author recounts Julia’s choices and their consequences, she immerses readers in the excitement, joys, and sorrows of this era. Julia’s beliefs, perhaps unusual for someone in her position, play a central role and enhance the tension in this story.

 

Major Characters:

Julia Hancock—independent young Virginia woman from a traditional plantation owner’s family; she enjoys literature and marries William Clark

William Clark—military man and explorer who, with Lewis, journeyed across the U.S. to the Pacific Ocean on the expedition President Thomas Jefferson commissioned

Meriwether Lewis—commander of the expedition, a brilliant scientist but unrefined man who never married

 

Harriet (Harri) Kennerly—Julia’s cousin and friend; she lacked Julia’s sense of adventure

 

York—enslaved man who grew up with and worked for William Clark; Clark’s beliefs about slavery determined the course of York’s life.

 

Chief Sheheke-Shote—Mandan Native American leader who assisted Lewis and Clark on their expedition and later met President Jefferson in Washington, D.C.

Yellow Corn—wife of Chief Sheheke; while stranded in St. Louis, she and Julia become friends

Pierre Chouteau—prominent French-Creole businessman from a St. Louis family who made its fortune from furs and investments; he befriended the Clarks and Lewis

Ramses and Odysseus Phipps—squatters who resented Lewis and Clark’s kind treatment of Chief Sheheke and his family

Nicholas Biddle—editor who helped bring the journals of Lewis and Clark about their expedition to publication

Strengths:

  • Interesting coming of age story combined with moral conflict

  • Vivid portrayal of life, both on a Virginia plantation and in St. Louis in pioneer days

  • Window into Lewis and Clark’s expedition, revealing the physical and emotional cost of the expedition for all those involved

  • Showed the sacrifices made by Native Americans who cooperated with the expedition

Weakness:

The author’s portrayal of Julia Hancock—as strongly believing that slavery was wrong and should be ended—is a key part of this novel, yet this may or may not be factual. Historical evidence is lacking, so it may represent the author’s literary license (which is acceptable in historical fiction, but should be noted).

 

Content review:

This novel contains descriptions of violence, mostly as applied to slaves, and a moderate amount of physical intimacy.

 

My Recommendation:

I recommend West of Santillane to readers who, like me, enjoy an exciting story that shows how major historical trends and events—such as slavery and Lewis and Clark’s cross-country expedition—shape the lives of people, from the privileged to the oppressed.

Reader, can you recommend a novel or work of non-fiction about the expedition of William Clark, Meriwether Lewis, or their expedition?

Not Quite as Sung: The Story Behind the Sound of Music

Not Quite as Sung: The Story Behind the Sound of Music

by | Apr 23, 2025 | Book review, Historical novels, World War II

Greetings, Reader Friend!

 

If you’re of a certain age and grew up in the U.S., you doubtless remember the movie, The Sound of Music.

It’s an old story, so why did Maria: A Historical Novel of Maria von Trapp, about the movie’s main character, become a bestseller when it came out in 2024?

Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp, by Michelle Moran, cover image

Although it isn’t an exposé, Maria offers readers a more complex, fact-based view of the von Trapp family members than the movie portrayed.

Author Michelle Moran reveals each character’s motivations, while avoiding one-dimensional portrayals as heroes or villains.

For instance, Maria wanted the best for her family, and she possessed great talent and motivation, but these traits sometimes negatively impacted her family.

Major Characters:

Maria—protagonist who tells her life story over the course of the novel

Fran Connelly—Oscar Hammerstein’s secretary; he sends her to learn Maria’s life story and persuade her not to protest the musical’s divergences from the events of her life

Peter—friend and co-worker of Fran

Oscar Hammerstein—lyricist who picks up Maria’s story and (with Richard Rodgers) recreates it as a Broadway musical

Captain Georg von Trapp—widowed father of seven children when Maria meets him

Lorli (Eleonore)—Maria and Georg’s youngest daughter, she’s Maria’s companion in her declining years

Father Franz Wasner—chaplain and researcher of Gregorian chants, conducts the family choir

Lotte Lehmann—famous operatic soprano who stays with the von Trapps and encourages them to tour

Baroness Matilda—housedame; supervisor of the von Trapp house

Princess Yvonne—engaged to the captain before he met Maria

 

Strengths:

  • The author cleverly wove Maria’s story with the production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Sound of Music, and the lives of those associated with the story.
  • This novel reveals complexities unknown to the public:
  • Hammerstein sacrifices a faithful portrayal of Maria’s life story to create a musical that would succeed in the post-World War II era
  • In addition, Hammerstein fictionalizes his depictions of other members of the von Trapp family to tell a more winsome story

Weakness:

The points of views alternate between Maria and Fran, and at times, readers may find this disorienting.

 

Content review:

The threat of Nazi violence hangs over the story, but nothing occurs on stage.

My recommendation:

Readers like me will enjoy this fascinating novel. Maria expands on the story of The Sound of Music and improves it by setting the record straight in an entertaining way.

Reader, can you recommend a novel or work of non-fiction about the von Trapp family?

Frozen in Time: The Glassmaker of Renaissance Murano

Frozen in Time: The Glassmaker of Renaissance Murano

by | Mar 24, 2025 | Book review, Historical novels, Italy, Renaissance, Venice

Books, like people, sometimes demand our attention. As soon as I discovered Tracy Chevalier’s 2024 novel, The Glassmaker,  I knew I wanted to read it.

Why?

  • It offers a rich portrayal of life in Renaissance Venice and the neighboring island Murano
  • Its focus on a female glassmaker is unique, grabbing my attention
  • An even more unusual element—the treatment of time— added complexity and sparked my curiosity
The Glassmaker, by Tracy Chevalier, cover image

Before the novel’s action begins, the author presents an unusual explanation of time. She explains that “Venice and its neighboring islands have always felt frozen in time” to her.

Creators (such as Murano’s glassmakers) often enter into a “flow state,” so absorbed in their work that time passes without their noticing.

So, I shouldn’t have been surprised when this story progressed in an unexpected way.

What persuaded me to continue reading The Glassmaker, given its quirky rendering of time?

  • The twists and turns in the story of how a woman transcends the cultural norm of glassmaking as a male profession, braving her family’s opposition, yet maintaining her family loyalty
  • Tracy Chevalier’s reputation as a novelist, (especially from her best-selling The Girl with a Pearl Earring, which came out in 1999) 

Major Characters:

Orsola Rosso—protagonist, the impulsive and intelligent daughter of a glassmaking family in Murano

Marco Rosso—Orsola’s oldest brother, always at odds with her; a skilled but lazy glassmaker who likes to try new things with glass; as first-born son, he’s destined to one day take over the family business

Laura Rosso (Madre)—mother of Orsola and her siblings; a dominant woman who exerted her strong will on her family for generations

Lorenzo Rosso (Padre) —father of Orsola and her siblings, maestro of the Rosso glassmaking workshop

Gottfried Klingenberg—German merchant who spent his career in Venice; middleman for Rosso glass sales  

Jonas—Klingenberg’s assistant/secretary who aided Orsola’s family

Klara Klingenberg—Gottfried’s daughter; she and Orsola develop an unlikely friendship

Maria Barovier—glassmaker from a rival family on Murano; she pioneers rosetta beads and surprisingly encourages Orsola to create glass beads

Elena Barovier—Maria’s cousin; at Maria’s urging, she teaches Orsola how to make beads

Antonio—Orsola’s love interest, a Venetian fisherman who becomes a skilled glassmaker

Stefano—Orsola’s husband, a glassmaker from a rival workshop

Domenego—enslaved gondolier working for the Klingenberg family; his unique perspective enriches the story

 

Strengths:

  • Detailed, authentic descriptions of the glassmaking industry and life in that time and place
  • The “frozen in time” element allows readers to follow the changes Venice, Murano, and glassmakers experience as history marches through the centuries

 

Weaknesses:

  • The “frozen in time” element may confuse readers and pull them out of the story
  • The large number of Rosso family members can complicate readers’ recollection of where each person belongs on the family tree

 

Content review:

This novel contains a limited amount of violence and some physical intimacy; mostly off-stage

 

My Recommendation:

If you love fiction set in the Italian Renaissance, particularly in the Veneto region, as much as I do, and you’re comfortable with the “frozen in time” aspect of the story, you, too, will enjoy The Glassmaker.

 

Reader, can you recommend other historical novels focused on the glass-making island of Murano?

If you celebrate Passover or Easter, may this be a joyous season for you!

 

Arrivederci/ until next time,

Colleen

clrpeterson.com

The Family Behind the Infamy: The Booth Legacy

The Family Behind the Infamy: The Booth Legacy

by | Feb 24, 2025 | Abraham Lincoln, Book review, Historical novels, U.S. Civil War, U.S. History

Since this is the birth month of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, two venerated U.S. presidents, we focus on a related novel: Booth, a novel about the family of John Wilkes Booth, whose successful plot cut short Lincoln’s life and impact on history.

Author Karen Joy Fowler explores the Booth family’s role in John Wilkes’ life, as well as each family member’s response to his assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

 In this lengthy historical novel, Fowler takes pains to avoid glorifying John Wilkes Booth.

 Did she succeed? Each reader must decide.

Boothe, by Karen Joy Fowler, cover image

Booth reads like a biography of this famous theatrical family, filled with intriguing anecdotes, as it thoroughly documents the life of each family member. The author categorized this book as historical fiction, perhaps because of numerous gaps in documentation through the many years the novel spans.

This novel also tells the story of how John Wilkes became a Southern sympathizer and turned to violence after the South lost the Civil War.

Characters:

Junius Brutus Booth—famous 19th-century actor and controlling father figure (in spite of his many stage-related absences from his family)

Mary Ann (Mother) Booth—British-born partner of Junius Brutus, mother of many children; she largely raised them as a single mother (because of Junius’ peripatetic acting career), yet without independence due to the strict rules of Junius

Rosalie Booth—oldest Booth daughter, helps her mother with younger children, then helps her ageing mother; she’s a keen observer of each family member and the family’s history

Asia Booth—youngest Booth daughter, with her beauty, dramatic temper, and outgoing personality, she’s the polar opposite of Rosalie

Edwin Booth—the second-oldest surviving Booth brother; an actor like his father, he struggles to live his life free from his father’s domination

June Booth—oldest Booth son; as his father’s namesake, he’s destined for a career as an actor

Joe Booth—youngest Booth child, in John’s shadow; he doesn’t pursue an acting career

John Wilkes Booth—the ‘golden boy’ of the family as the affectionate, handsome youngest child (until Joe’s birth)

Abraham Lincoln—depicted in a humanized way at key moments in U.S. and Booth family history 

Strengths:

  • The author’s depiction of John Wilkes’ life helps explain his descent into mental illness, and also other family members’ oddities and perhaps mental illness
  • Author’s use of Shakespeare quotes in the Booth family’s conversations shows her agility;
  • Portrayals of the lives of several family members extend focus beyond John Wilkes

Weakness:

The novel’s length makes for a long read. Some readers will enjoy the detailed portraits of the entire Booth family and their world, while the story will go on too long for others.

Content review:

The story includes sexual intimacy (although not graphic) and the violence that’s realistic for a story of this family and era.

My recommendation:

Booth required patience to plow through, but I found it rewarding and informative. For readers interested in learning more about how an infamous deed might affect the family members of the perpetrator, as well as about the family life that preceded the assassination, I recommend this novel’s thought-provoking take on both.

Reader, can you suggest a favorite book about Lincoln or Booth?