A scintillating, gorgeously written historical novel about a mother and a daughter in eighteenth-century France, beginning with decadence and palace intrigue at Versailles and ending in an explosive new era of revolution. During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors. There they meet a mysterious but splendidly dressed man who they’re told is merely a Polish count...
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (February 22, 2022) Pages: 416 pages ISBN-10: 0063119609 ISBN-13: 978-0063119604 ASIN: B095SNJHNQ
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Eva Stachniak was born in Wroclaw, Poland. She moved to Canada in 1981 and has worked for Radio Canada International and Sheridan College, where she taught English and humanities. She is the author of the acclaimed debut Necessary Lies, of Garden of Venus and of the bestselling first novel in her Catherine the Great series, The Winter Palace. She lives in Toronto, where she is at work on her next novel.