Flatiron Books, 464 pp.
Published February 5, 2019
DISCLAIMER: I received a free manuscript of this title from the publisher for review purposes. This did not inform or influence my opinion in any way.
Love.
Magic.
Revolution.
When smallpox kills her parents, seventeen-year-old Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magic--la magie ordinaire--Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food and medicine they need. But when the coins won't hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family's savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
With the dark magic she learned from her mother, Camille transforms herself into 'the Baroness de la Fontaine' and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for la magie. Her resentment of the rich at odds with the allure of glamour and excess, Camille is astonished to find that her would-be suitor Lazare, a handsome young inventor whom she thought shared her dreams of liberty, is also living a double life.
As the Baroness de la Fontaine, Camille gambles at cards and flirts, desperate to maintain her place at court and keep herself and her sister off the streets. But la magie has its costs. When a scheming courtier blackmails her and Lazare's affections shift, Camille loses control of her secrets. Then revolution erupts, and she must choose--love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, reality or la magie--before Paris burns.
You'll LOVE it if...you want to get lost in the doomed court of Marie Antoinette.
I am not a Francophile, so a Parisian setting offers no guarantee that I'll love a story. Trelease's passion for this historical period and culture comes through as clearly as the effort she must have expended in researching the countless details required to bring 18th-century France to life. Fans of Sofia Coppola's 2006 film will appreciate and adore the opulence on display; Antoinette's court glitters and enchants, with a thin, distinct line of rot running through its underbelly. This is a monarchy on the precipice of extinction, desperation and willful obliviousness driving the parties Camille attends to new heights of extravagance. This exaggerated wealth contrasts nicely with Camille's diminished circumstances and the more ordinary, recognizable troubles that compel her to use la magie. From Versailles, to Paris, to a hot air balloon soaring over the countryside, Trelease gifts readers with one of the most colorful periods in European history, putting her own stamp on it as well.
You'll LIKE it if...you want more character-driven YA novels.
Camille initially infiltrates the royal court to pull herself and her younger sister out of poverty, while keeping them sufficiently hidden from an abusive brother indebted to the wrong sort of people. As the lie designed to gain her entrance to the parties and gambling rooms grows in size and takes on a life of its own, she must grapple with the attractiveness of that fictional existence and the very real struggles at home that she cannot ignore. While a royal and revolutionary setting bring with it an abundance of plots, betrayals, and twists, the narrative's central focus remains comfortably on Camille and her growth. Her excursions to Versailles open a world of possibility—romance, intrigue, social advancement—previously not available to her, yet the responsibility she bears her little sister keeps her from drowning in the fiction of the Baroness de la Fontaine. Rather than having characters exist in service of a crowded plot, Trelease uses the broad arc of her story to challenge and grow her main players, providing a slow-burning, incredibly satisfactory journey.
You MAY NOT LIKE it if...you prefer plot-driven stories.
Trelease takes her time introducing readers to the nuances of 18th-century France and the delicate system of la magie. This deliberate pacing suits the story perfectly. Courtly life revolves around gestures and words so subtle they might be taken as accidents to the uninitiated; barreling through such a world with an unrelenting plot would ruin the graceful beauty of Antoinette's court and overshadow the roiling tension of Paris on the eve of revolution. While this slower unfolding of events suits the characters and settings perfectly, more impatient readers might find themselves skimming details in search of the major action points. While not quite as indulgent as Strange the Dreamer, Enchantée certainly channels the pacing of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, which can also divide readers in the debate of plot versus atmosphere.
RATING:
No comments:
Post a Comment