The Women of Chateau Lafayette

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my goodness... I have read many historical fiction books set within the WWII time period, however, I have to say I was most impressed with Stephanie Dray and how she weaved this historical novel with the pieces of these women's stories to create The Women of Chateau Lafayette. The book follows three women, Adrienne Lafayette in the late 1700s; Beatrice Astor Chanler in the late 1910s; and Marthe Simone in the 1940s.

Each woman's story follows war and the painstaking resolve each woman endured as she fought for her family, her friends, and loved ones as terror, heartbreak, and insurmountable challenges were constant around every turn. The love that they shared with those they loved and the relationships they forged as they were forced to handle what they could while the world was, at times, blowing up around them. I was gripped by their stories and cried right along with them, gasped as events carried on and a twist was revealed in their story, and cheered them on as each woman's story intertwined with the next within the Chateau Lafayette.

With all that is happening in our world even now, I think this was a perfect time to read this book and feel the hope within their struggles, the love behind their pain, and the utter resolve to never surrender. I'm so happy I was given the opportunity to take part in their journey and wish that I had the chance to read this book for the first time all over again. A must-read for the historical fiction fan!

Well thank gosh I finally slogged through this one. I thought about reading it a number of years ago, because I enjoyed the author’s America’s First Daughter - about Patsy Jefferson. I am a Revolutionary War buff, and admittedly did not know much about Lafayette. But OMG, at over 550 pages, I had a really rough go trying to get through it. And the things I learned about Lafayette (e.g., having several mistresses), frankly tainted my regard for him. His wife, Adrienne, is depicted as a hero. And I guess, after 550 pages, I just don’t get it. Piled on top of this, the author weaves in another dual timeline story about the Lafayette castle and its role in WW1 and WW2. Personally, I much preferred the characters in these stories - especially Beatrice Astor Canler. That real-life heroine was amazing, a real pulling-up-from-your-bootstraps kind of woman who made her own life in spite of her neglectful husband. Wish I could have rated it higher. But way too long, and just not all that captivated with Adrienne Lafayette.

Loved, loved, loved this book. Covers three different women over three different places in time, all tied somehow to Lafayette or the legacy of the family. Long book that was written in a higher grade writing (not beach read / mind candy). It was fun to make correlations to what I learned from Hamilton and school. Would definitely recommend this book.

I read this book a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was glad that my book club decided to read it and it was fun seeing their reaction and perspective to the story and the characters.

In her author's note and throughout the book, Dray talks about the "Spirit of Lafayette," which, even as an American history major, I'm ashamed to know I knew very little about until reading this book. Now, I know a lot more, and am inspired to continue my learning with non-fiction (to me, this is a mark of good historical fiction). Dray's research is exacting, but she avoids the well-researched novelist's abyss of needing to share everything she's learned. Instead, this is a deep and rich portrait of three women, each of whom embody the "Spirit of Lafayette" throughout three different wars.

Dray bit off a lot with this book, which weaves together three separate stories, that of Adrienne de Lafeyette during the American and French Revolutions, Beatrice Chanler during WWI, and the fictional Marthe Simone during WWII. Each could have sustained a story on their own. And it might have been less confusing if Dray had made this into a trilogy, rather than a single, interweaving story. In fact, my only teeny complaint about this book is that I sometimes forgot which war we were in. (My actual thoughts several times during the book: "You can't go to Paris now, the Nazis will get you! Oh wait, this is WWI...") I can only imagine that people who lived through both wars might have felt the same way. But I understand that each story gained power from being told alongside the others.

To say that this book moves slowly doesn't do it justice. Think of it like a lazy, meandering river. It'll take you a long time to get from one end to the other, but the journey is more than worth it.