Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker. 2007. The Lacemaker and the Princess. 199 pages.
What happens when a lacemaker meets and befriends a princess? A whole lot if its set in France on the verge of the Revolution. Meet Isabelle. She is an eleven-year-old girl. Her grandmother and mother are lacemakers. Just like she is a lacemaker. This work--is part of her heritage. Life isn't easy. Her grandmother (grand-mere) is bossy and critical. But it is her grand-mere's nature that sends Isabelle on her fateful trip to the palace of Versailles.
"When the Princess of Lamballe's lace was ready, Grand-mere decided that I should deliver it. Not because I was responsible--I was not, as she often reminded me. Not because she trusted me--she did not, as I well knew. It was because I was worthless, because Grand-mere had been more than usually unhappy about the lace I'd made the previous day, and because one of the very minor nobles had ordered ten yards of lace--a vast amount--that was to be picked up today, and it wasn't finished." (1)
Although Isabelle dreamed of meeting the Queen--Marie Antoinette--no one in her family thought she actually would meet her. It happened quite by chance. At a time when Isabelle needed a helping hand--needed a savior--the Queen just happened to be there. (The poor girl was almost trampled to death in a crowd. The Queen was amused with Isabelle and took her to meet her daughter. And thus begins an unusual friendship.
Can two people from such vastly different backgrounds ever truly be friends? Can the royal family ever understand what it means to be on the verge of starvation and homelessness? Can they ever be sympathetic to the peasants? Isabelle learns when to speak up and when to keep her mouth shut. After all, asking too many questions can get you into trouble.
Can this "lacemaker" of the princess save herself and her family from all the danger that is brewing in France?
9 comments:
Ooh, this looks good. (The cover and your description!) Never heard of it before, so thanks for blogging about it.
Just read this last night -- thumbs up from me, too. (Though I was surprised to run across the words "dime" and "okay" in 18th century France...)
The desription is a copy right out of the cover of the book
I just read this book and I couldn't put it down! Now, usually I HATE books but this one was SO totally awesome!
I read this book and now I am obssessed with the French Revolution and the Queen herself. Random fact the Queen never did say let them eat cake it got popular from a movie!
i can't beieve how good that book was. the wordind was just magnifisent and i could picture everythikng it said thanks for writing an awesome review and makiong me want to read it :)
warning- this is a good book, all until the end, i much disliked the ending, but enjoyed the other parts of the book.
I love your Reviews. BYe. yeahhh! (:
Read this book ages ago then stumbled across this book review!!! Answer to random fact - it wasn't from a movie that they got let them eat cake from it was coz a queen had said it in the past!!!! thanks for this x
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