The Women of Chateau Lafayette

A great read! I had to double check that it was based on reality. Exciting and romantic.

Same as above

What an incredible book! I loved the angle of writing about the women. So much history in one novel. These were truly incredible women and the Marquis de Lafayette was truly a God send for America.

Loved reading the stories about all of these women, even though I found it confusing and challenging to understand which time period was what, and what the common thread was. I will want to reread this one, for certain.

I love reading historical fiction and this book was well researched and written. I will definitely look for more of Stephanie Dray’s books.

We have Adrienne, the wife of Lafayette, during the American and French Revolution, Beatrice, wife of a wealthy American during WWI who creates an orphan sanctuary and foundation at Lafayettes ancestral home, and Marthe, an orphan at said home as an adult in France during WWII. Each a good story and well developed character. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of development of one love storyline but it still rang true. Nice historical view of Lafayette and the French Revolution and republic which felt the most original.

I loved this book and I usually do not like books that switch between time periods. The three characters are well drawn. I didn't know anything about Lafayette's wife and loved learning about her. Beatrice, the main character in the WW1 portion was unusual in that she wasnt all wholesome and sweet like a lot of heroines are. Martha was also a well drawn character but I preferred the other two. Covers the lead up to the French Revolution, WW1 and WW2. Great worldbuilding and highly recommended read.

I find the device of switching from one character and one time period to the other overused, and in this particular book, distracting. Before we can really sink our teeth into one of the 3 heroine’s story,we are flung to the next timeline and a host of characters, over and over.If it hadn’t been for the title of each chapter, i wouldn’t have been able to know whose story was being told, as they all “sounded” the same. Yes, their stories were different, the time periods well researched, but if Adrienne was pious, and Beatrice was witty and charming, and Martha artistic, we do not discern this from their dialogue or thoughts. We are told these were their attributes.It wasn’t until the last third of the book that the author allowed a story to develop without interruption.The writing is good, but doesn’t vary from period to period or character to character.I read it to the end, because I am interested in the actual history, but I found it hard to stay engaged once I finished a chapter and was immediately flung to another time period and had to remember all the secondary characters and plot lines.

Excellent novel. Highly recommend.

A fascinating delve into the history of France and USA, bringing the pains of war into sharp image. A really good read!

Amazing.

This is a long book but worth reading. It tests the memory of the histories of the French Revolution times, WW1 and WW2. Written about powerful and influential women. Characters are well defined.

3つの時代，3人の女性主人公の物語が章毎に書き分けられる．2つの時代を往き来する dual time-line 小説は少なくないが，triple time-lineは初めて読んだ．3つの時代と主人公は，フランス革命時代のAdrienne La Feyette，第一次世界大戦期のBeatrice Chanler，第二次世界大戦期のMartheである．Adrienneは，アメリカ独立戦争，フランス革命の闘士ラ・ファイエットの夫人で，夫を物心両面で支えただけでなく，自らの高潔な思想と自由を希求する言動は歴史上高く評価されている．Beatriceは貧しい育ちの踊り子ながらアメリカの資産家の妻として後半生を慈善活動に捧げたことで知られる．ラ・ファイエット基金を創設して第一次世界大戦の連合軍を支援，その後ラ・ファイエットの生家Chavaniac城を買い取って貧しい子供の療養施設とした．第二次世界大戦中，Chavaniac城はユダヤ人の子供をナチから庇護する役割も果たした．主人公のひとりMartheは，ここに暮らす創作上の少女である．細かい内容には触れないが，ラ・ファイエットを鍵としてつながる3つの時代の物語に共通するのは，戦乱期にあって自由を求めて戦う不屈の女性の生き方である．著者のStephanie Drayはこれ以前にも同時代の歴史小説を著している女性作家であるが，膨大な資料と丹念な調査をもとにした著作で，後記に詳述されているように，ほとんどの部分が史実に基づいたものである．これまで読んだ多くの歴史小説の中でも，最も充実した，読みごたえのある素晴らしい1冊，文字通りの page-turner であった．