Marie-Josée Poisson
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If you like this book … a shortlist of comparable historical novels.
The School of Mirrors
Eva Stachniak
The School of Mirrors by Polish-Canadian historical novelist Eva Stachniak sits well alongside the Liées par le sangtrilogy because it takes place directly within Madame de Pompadour’s world. The story of impoverished but stunning teenage girls who are schooled by the Marquise to become “companions” of Louis XV, The School of Mirrorsexplicitly explores the process of their training, and what happens to these young women once the King tires of them. The experiences of one such “little bird,” the young, impressionable Véronique, are told from her perspective, alongside the stories of Dominique-Guillaume Lebel, premier valet de chambre du roi, and others.
When Véronique becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child she cannot raise, the story becomes more complex, as we follow the life of Marie-Louise, Véronique’s daughter and the path she chooses. Their eventual reunion recalls the genealogical research and discovery undertaken by Lou in Blood Bound. Stachniak’s historical research also includes Angélique Marguerite Le Boursier du Coudray, the King’s midwife, who revolutionized the practice and teaching of midwifery in France—and on whose story Marie-Louise’s is based.
For more information about The School of Mirrors and its author, Eva Stachniak, please visit: https://www.evastachniak.com/.
We Should Not Be Afraid of the Sky
Emma Hooper
We Should Not Be Afraid of the Sky, by Alberta-born U.K.-based Emma Hooper, is also a historical novel, but one that explores an entirely different era. Set in the golden age of the Roman empire, this novel was inspired by the story of second-century Christian saint Quiteria, about whom very little is known. Based on Portuguese legend, Quiteria was one of the nonuplet sisters, whose mother ordered them to be drowned because she was worried her husband would see the birth of nine daughters as a sign of infidelity. Instead of obeying this order, her servant Sila gave the girls to local women who raised them as Christians; five survive.
Hooper’s novel explores the lives and continued connection of these five sisters, who end up being raised by different families. This connection ends when they are abducted by soldiers from their small Portuguese village and brought to the commander—who forces them to lay out the stories of their pasts, identifying their less-than-ordinary lives and putting them in graver danger during a time of brutal conflict. This story is told from the varying perspectives of the five sisters, offering multiple points of view.
To learn more about We Should Not Be Afraid of the Sky and Emma Hooper, please visit: https://www.emmahooper.ca/.
Bluebird
Genevieve Graham
Bluebeard by Alberta-born, Nova-Scotia-based author Genevieve Graham walks us through yet another period—the Great War and the years of healing afterwards and the chaos and opportunities of Prohibition—as well as a modern perspective that draws all threads together. Graham traces the story of current-day museum curator Cassie Simmons who comes across a case of whisky labelled Bailey Brothers’ Best during a local home renovation. Her special interest in the rumrunners who ferried illegal alcohol across the Detroit River during Prohibition leads her to investigate the Bailey brothers and the role they may have played in this historical moment.
Meanwhile, back in 1918, Corporal Jerry Bailey of the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company is badly wounded in an explosion after planting mines in the tunnels beneath enemy trenches. He ends up under the care of Adele Savard, a Canadian nursing sister serving in a Belgium field hospital. Jerry and Adele connect deeply during his convalescence—she is a reminder of home for him as they come from the same part of Ontario. They cross paths again after the war, scarred by all that has happened—and find themselves in the midst of Prohibition and its risks, fighting for a new and better life.
To learn more about Bluebird and Genevieve Graham, please visit: https://genevievegraham.com/.
If you wish to learn about works that inspired the novel…
The Sea Has No End – The life of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
Victor Suthren
Short-listedfor the 2005 Ottawa Book Award for Non-fiction
Soldier, sailor, adventurer, and philosopher, Louis-Antoine de Bougainville was a talented French officer whose remarkable career took him from the boudoirs of Paris to the flintlock battlefields of North America and on to the luch islands of the South Pacific. In this lively biography, author Victor Suthren follows Bougainville’s career in North America during the Seven Years War and the American Revolution and his adventures in the South Seas. Written with a historian’s eye for detail, The Sea Has No End is a fascinating portrait of the most stirring and dramatic events of the eighteenth century.
18th-Century Fashion in Detail
Susan North
A revealing story of the style and decoration of 18th-century fashion, this book features close-ups of the elaborate pleats, high collars, gleaming pastes, colorful beads, elaborate buttons and intricate fringes found on garments of the period, from magnificent court mantuas and luxurious silk gowns to sharply cut men’s coats and richly embroidered waistcoats. This book is an inspirational reference work and a fascinating introduction to the fashion of the era.
