chapters : 26 age group : new adult genre : historical fiction
representation : poc, religion
summary : paris, 1663. 500 girls selected by king louis xiv embark on a journey across the seas from their homeland. each is given a dowry, and the expectation that they are to marry a french settler, in order to increase the population of new france. they are the historic daughters of the king, or "les filles du roi."
eighteen-year-old celeste dubois is a free-spirited, educated and headstrong girl. she comes from a wealthy parisian family that has squandered their money and is subsequently forced to journey to new france. however, celeste doesn't plan on marrying a complete stranger. she hopes to use the dowry and the free voyage as a way to escape the poverty and social ranks of paris. matters are complicated when against her will, she falls in love.
romantic, kind and stunningly beautiful lorraine leblanc is a girl from a large family with children to spare. unlike celeste, she happily dreams of the day she will meet her future husband in new france. when she marries a mysterious widower with two young children of his own and still reeling after his broken heart, she realizes that married life isn't all she had hoped it would be, and begins to question her new husband's complicated past.
notes : magnifique!
i don't want to mess up this review, but the bottom line is that this book is brilliant. it of course deals with dark topics like racism and slavery, but it's so beautifully written.
go read it!
celeste •educated, independent, outspoken, stubborn •"when i marry, i will choose the man myself" •i can relate to this character •she also speaks her mind and stands up for what she believes is right "a man who enslaves another is not a man at all, but a beast"
lorraine •i love her •the fields of daisy with a knight ugh same girl •she's so kind, caring and humble •she worries about her family •i like the way she talks about her parents •she also fed a stray dog •"i know beauty is far less important than kindness"
🚨spoilers🚨 i cried.
quotes: ❝ you have not earned the honour and never will ❞
❝we do not choose our stations in life❞
❝from her constant smiling and uncharacteristic humming, i suspect that celeste dubois has fallen in love❞
❝ beauty is but a fleeting condition, while kindness is everlasting❞
❝i shrivel like a flower lacking water beneath his gaze ❞
❝marriage is like a great friendship, an act of selflessness in giving oneself to another. and that is who we are, andré. we are the best of friends ❞
