Review of A Sitting in St. James

Williams-Garcia, Rita.  A Sitting in St. James.  Quill Tree Books, 2021.

In 1860, sugar cane was usually a profitable business for Louisiana plantations.  However, at La Petite Cottage in St. James, this is not the case.  The plantation has fallen on hard times, much to the dismay of eighty-year-old widow Madame Sylvie Bernardin Guilbert and is nearly bankrupt.  Much to her disappointment, Sylvie’s son, Lucien, has gambled, spent, and drunk their fortune away.

 

When she was only thirteen and being raised in a French convent, Madame Sylvie married Bayard Guilbert, twenty years her senior.  Sylvie, who lived at French Court for a time, was used to being pampered and having her way.  When Bayard takes her to Louisiana, she thinks she has been brought to a special kind of Hell, for it is nothing like France.  She hates the climate, the terrain, and the slaves that work on the plantation.  Not only that, but Sylvie thinks her social standing is way above anyone else’s in St. James, and she only speaks French by choice.  She is also the only heir to a vineyard in France.

 

On her seventieth birthday, Sylvie takes a six-year-old slave girl from her family to be her personal handmaid.  She declares the girl is her birthday present and renames her Thisbe.  As she grows, Thisbe learns to speak French and takes care of Sylvie’s every need.  Without showing it, Thisbe watches and listens to everything that happens in the house.

 

Lucien hopes to save the plantation by marrying off his son, Byron, who is secretly gay, to Eugenie Duhon, the daughter of another plantation owner.  He also has grand plans for his mulatto daughter, Rosalie, whom Sylvie disdains, and Laurent Tournier, the half Black, half Creole son of another plantation owner.  Sylvie is paid by her best friend, Juliette Chatham, to turn her tomboy daughter, Jane, into a lady.  During the midst of all this, Byron’s “friend” comes to visit, so Sylvie plans a party for him and decides she absolutely must have her portrait painted by a famous French artist.

 

For her novel, A Sitting in St. James, author Rita Williams-Garcia, has received starred reviews from three professional journals.  The author, who is a descendant of slaves, herself, has done a meticulous job of researching and writing about plantation life in the period just before the Civil War begins.  The thought she has put into interconnecting the lives of slaves and their white plantation owners is exceptional.  The novel is, at times, hard to read and digest because of the harsh descriptions of slaves’ daily lives and the horrors in the way they were treated by their white owners.

 

The novel is completely character-driven, most of whom are completely fleshed-out.  My favorites are Sylvie’s maid, Thisbe, and Jane Chatham, who comes to live with the Guilberts.  Thisbe is so smart and cunning, although Sylvie could never tell, because she hides it so well.  I could almost feel the hairbrush that Sylvie would beat Thisbe with when she was upset with her.  Even through the beatings, Thisbe is stoic, strong, and unwavering.  Jane, on the other hand, has only known love from her deceased father, and so she grows up emulating him.  He has taught her to hunt, fish, and ride her wonderful horse, Virginia Wilder.  Jane is literal in her thinking and brings humorous moments to an otherwise dark story.

 

A Sitting St. James is a treasure and a history lesson that every young adult should read.  Give this rich, saga-like, page-turner to lovers of historical fiction and those who want to know more about slave life before the Civil War.  I highly recommend it for public libraries and upper high school students and give it five out of five fleur de lis!

 

Thank you to Edelweiss and Quill Tree Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

Review of The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux

 

Verant, Samantha.  The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux.  Berkley, 2020.

Sophie Valroux has worked at Cendrillon NYC for five years and is currently serving as chef de partie.  She dreams of one day being one of the few female chefs who run Michelin-starred restaurants.  Unfortunately, her dream takes a downturn when her chef ex-boyfriend, Eric, sabotages her food while a food critic is in the restaurant.  Not only is Sophie fired, but her reputation is ruined, as the news spreads throughout newspapers and the Internet.

 

Devasted and humiliated, Sophie goes through depression and loses interest in her love of cooking.  Sadly, she discovers that her beloved Grand-Mere’ Odette, who lives in France, has suffered a stroke.  Sophie flees New York and arrives in Champvert, in southwest France, where her grandmother lives.  The luxury Chateaux de Champvert, which her grandmother owns, is much larger than she remembers as a little girl.  The estate boasts two restaurants, a vineyard and winery, and a staff that is nearly all women.

 

While working at the chateaux, Sophie rediscovers her love of food and cooking.  She reconnects with a childhood friend, Remi Dupont, who becomes much more than a friend.  When her grandmother has a relapse, she tells Sophie that she wants her to run the chateaux and that it is her birthright.  Sophie must now decide if she will carry out her grandmother’s wishes or take a coveted job offered to her in New York City.

 

Samantha Verant’s debut novel is an ode to family, friendship, food, and second chances.  Because the author lives where her novel mostly takes place, she has drawn on her background to include lush descriptions of France and its culture and food.

 

The reader can see Sophie growing as the book progresses, from her downfall until she begins to love food, creativity, and cooking once again.  She becomes more and more confident in herself, both as a person and as a chef, and proves just how resilient she really is.  This plot resonates because, even today, it seems that women chefs have to work harder than men to make a name for themselves in the culinary world.

 

There are French words and phrases sprinkled throughout the novel.  As an added bonus, the author has included recipes in the back of the book for readers to try.  And there is a sequel in the works!  Sophie Valroux’s Paris Stars is slated to be published on October 19, 2021!

 

The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux is a delightful foray into culinary fiction.  Hand it to readers who enjoy romance, travel novels, and watching The Food Network.  I recommend it for public libraries, and I give it four out of five fleur delis!

 

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

Review of The Safe Place by Anna Downes

Downes, Anna.  The Safe Place.  St. Martins, 2020.

 

Emily Proudman wants to be an actress, but she has lost the current job she auditioned for.  Not only that, but her agent isn’t renewing her contract, and she can’t pay her rent on her apartment.  To add insult to injury, now she has been fired from her temporary office job at Proem Partners.  Her parents won’t even help her out, and she is out of ideas, when a job just seems to fall in her lap.  

 

Scott Denny, who is the attractive and rich CEO of Proem Partners, makes Emily an offer she can’t refuse—a job as a personal assistant/housekeeper/painter to his wife, Nina.  What’s not to like about this job?!  She gets a great salary, a car, and can live rent-free at a beautiful estate in France.

 

When Emily arrives at Querencia, she can’t believe her luck!  The estate is a paradise, and she thinks this must be her dream job!  However, Nina and Scott’s daughter, Aurelia, is a puzzle—she doesn’t speak and must wear clothes covering her whole body due to being allergic to sunlight.  And Nina is hard to figure out, as well.  She seems nice, but emotionally distant, and forbids Emily from entering the main house.  They also seem cut off from the real world since they have no Internet service and only intermittent phone service.

 

Emily also finds it strange that Scott never visits his family.  When he does finally arrive, months after she has been there, he seems to want nothing to do with Aurelia and doesn’t seem overly happy to see Nina.  She feels something is going on, but she doesn’t know what to make of it.

 

She eventually leaves Querencia and drives into town, where she visits an Internet café and discovers that the Denny family has a huge skeleton in their closet.  After learning this, she decides she wants to leave.  However, the Dennys have other plans for Emily…

 

In this debut suspense thriller by Anna Downes, the author has done an excellent job of world-building by giving the reader lush descriptions of parts of France.    The story is told in chapters by Emily and Scott, with some backstory narrated by Nina.  It is during this backstory that readers learn what transpires in the Denny family’s lives before the novel actually begins.  

 

The main characters are intricate and authentic, which makes for absorbing, obsessive read.  Emily is portrayed as weak, immature, and gullible, but she actually grows during the novel into someone who can think for herself.  Scott is aloof and controlling, but not near as much as Nina, who is also desperate and conniving.  Aurelia has a whole set of problems of her own, which don’t seem to improve, partially because of her mother.

 

The Safe Place is an oppressive, obsessive Gothic-type novel and is on several “anticipated book lists”.  There are plenty of twists, turns and surprises in the story to keep readers interested, although it does drag a bit in the middle.  Hand this book to your readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers.  I recommend it for public libraries and give it three out of five fleur de lis.

 

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this title.

Review of The Pale Assassin by Patricia Elliott

The Pale Assassin by Patricia Elliott

Eugenie has lead a privileged life growing up in Paris and the surrounding area. Her father, Sebastien de Boncouer, was the Marquis of Chauvais, and her brother, Armand, is a law student and heir to the estate of Chauvais. She and her brother came under the guardianship of Comte Lefaurie of Haut-Bois, a wealthy count, after their father’s death. However, now that the French Revolution is raging, the lives of all aristocrats are in danger. Many of them flee the country or go into hiding to avoid being beheaded. Eugenie is taken by her brother to live with a milliner in Paris. What she does not know is that she has been promised in marriage by Comte Lefaurie to the wealthy but evil Raoul Goullet, or Le Fantome, who is a sympathizer of the revolution. He is seeking revenge on her family because of gambling debts he had to pay to her father. Eugenie must eventually try to escape France to live with her uncle in England, but Le Fantome is not far behind!

This wonderful historical fiction novel was a real page-turner to the very end. It is filled with romance, intrigue, and espionage. The novel was very well-researched, and the characters were extremely well-developed. Eugenie changes from a girl who has only been concerned with materialistic things to one who deeply cares about those who are less fortunate. There is a list of both real and fictional characters in the front of the book, and I found this list really helpful and referred to it over and over. There is also a historical note which explains the events of the French Revolution and a French Revolution timeline in the back of the book. I highly recommend this novel for middle school, high school, and public libraries!