by Alice Hoffman
narrated by
Gloria Reuben
Tina Benko
Santino Fontana
Published: 2015
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Genre: Historical, Romance, Art, Jewish, France
Hardback: 371
Rating: 4
Goodreads
Website
First sentence(s):
I always left my window open at night, despite the warnings I'd been given.
Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel's mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules. Growing up, Rachel's salvation is their maid Adelle's belief in her strengths, and her deep, life-long friendship with Jestine, Adelle's daughter. But Rachel's life is not her own. She is married off to a widower with three children to save her father's business. When her husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Fréderick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France.
My two-bits:
Oh, the frustrations of struggles with family and love in a culture trying to maintain its traditions.
* listened to audio version
* part of monthly theme: SciFi, Supper, Love, Sex and Marriage
* part of ibc book club (here)
