Belle Epoque

Maude is a plain girl. She lives in 1880's France with her father who wants her to marry the butcher. She wants something different. Maude heads off to Paris at the time when Eiffel is building his tower for the World's Fair. But Paris is more expensive than she had planned and so she answers an ad in the paper. What she finds is horrifying. She is hired to be a repoussoir which means rich. society women would hire her to make them look better. The theory was that if she was next to them, they would appear more beautiful. Maude doesn't want to take the job, but finds her options limited. She is hired by a rich countess to be a companion to her daughter Isabelle during her debutant season. Isabelle isn't to know the real reason Maude is around. Isabelle wants nothing to do with finding a husband, she wants to go to University and study science, unheard of for a rich society girl. Maude finds herself becoming real friends with Isabelle and feels guiltier and guiltier as she acts out the charade, feeding Isabelle's mother information about her daughter. Maude takes to the perks of society and dreams of living among the rich even betraying her true friends and possible love interest along the way. She has to decide if she can let Isabelle marry a cad to protect her own position in the family, or stand up for Isabelle and lose her place. I went through many feelings about Maude, at times I found her unlikeable, at others, she did what was right. This book put the question of "what is beauty" at the forefront. The beautiful. rich girl and the poor composer seemed to have a better grasp of it than Maude. I loved the setting of this novel, Paris, when the world was waking up to new technology- like photography. The information about the now iconic Eiffel Tower was so interesting, especially the fact that it was only supposed to remain standing for a few years! This was a unique story that I haven't come across before- J'adore! Don't worry, there's also a little romance to keep things interesting. I love the message of this book and hope my students will enjoy it the way I did. Heureux de lire mes amis! Look it up!