FRANCE, 1875
After the fall of the Second Empire, on the cusp of the Belle Époque, Clara Devereaux finds herself motherless, left with a recluse for a father with whom she shares the halls of a slowly decaying estate – Château Rivière. At twenty-two she has not been able to discover the reasons for her mother’s death nor her father’s phantasmal existence, and so, unguided and temperamental, Clara finds no other purpose but to spend her days carousing in Paris with childhood friend Remi.
As the mystery of her parents begins to unravel – thanks to the help of her dear friend and neighbor Christophe – deep prejudices, betrayals, and a vindictiveness distilled through generations are revealed; all of which falls onto Clara’s shoulders. While facing her family’s past, a new valet in her father’s employ catches her interest and causes a jealousy to spark that sets in motion events she never could have imagined. With what little pieces of a life she can claim falling away around her, she must find the resolve to endure a fate she cannot escape, the loss of all she holds dear, and the strength to face the retribution of her parents’ mistakes.
Exploring themes of independence within an ever shifting society following nearly a century of turmoil, writer Lauren Sobka embarks on a narrative of inherited circumstances, echoes of memory, and the peculiarities of life one can be born into. Her settings are imbued with eloquent observations of nature and the riotous, bohemian life that was Paris nearing the turn of the century. A gothic novel of the French order, its scenes and characters will linger in your memory long after you finish reading.
