The Lacemaker and the Princess - Softcover

Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416985832 ISBN 13: 9781416985839

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009

Synopsis

ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD ISABELLE IS A LACEMAKER IN THE TOWN OF VERSAILLES.

One day as she delivers lace to the palace, she is almost trampled by a crowd of courtiers -- only to be rescued by Marie Antoinette. Before Isabelle can believe it, she has a new job -- companion to the queen's daughter. Isabelle is given a fashionable name, fashionable dresses -- a new identity. At home she plies her needle under her grandmother's disapproving eye. At the palace she is playmate to a princess.

Thrown into a world of luxury, Isabelle is living a fairy-tale life. But this facade begins to crumble when rumors of starvation in the countryside lead to whispers of revolution. How can Isabelle reconcile the ugly things she hears in the town with the kind family she knows in the palace? And which side is she truly on?

Inspired by an actual friendship between the French princess and a commoner who became her companion, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley offers a vivid portrait of life inside the palace of Versailles -- and a touching tale of two friends divided by class and the hunger for equality and freedom that fueled the French Revolution.

About this title

About the Author:

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley is the author of several historical novels, including For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy, which received starred reviews in Booklist and Kirkus Reviews and was an IRA Teacher's Choice, a VOYA Top Shelf Fiction selection, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and a Bank Street Best Book. She lives with her husband and two children in Bristol, Tennessee.

From Booklist:

Eleven-year-old Isabelle, a third-generation lace maker, is making her first delivery to the Palace of Versailles when she is nearly trampled by a crowd. Astonishingly, it's Marie Antoinette who rescues her, and the queen invites Isabelle to meet Princess Marie-Therese, who chooses Isabelle to be her friend. So begins Isabelle's double life--a lace maker in the morning and royal companion in the afternoon. As the French Revolution brews outside the palace, Isabelle begins to challenge the conventional wisdom that God ordains the social order, even as she staunchly disagrees with accusations leveled against the royal family. Skillfully integrated historical facts frame this engrossing, believable story. Readers will be captivated by the child's view of Versailles, its glittering halls infested with rats; the drudgery of daily work; and the terrors of the French Revolution. The unlikely, fragile friendship that crosses class boundaries will speak straight to young readers' own concerns. An appended author's note gives more historical context and addresses possible complaints that Isabelle's first meeting with the queen is a plot contrivance. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1416985832
• ISBN 13: 9781416985839
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208