Reviews

The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray

egarb7809's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.75

majasmine02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Woah. I’m finding it really hard to review this book because there is just so much in it. It is a perfectly crafted complex narrative with so many cogs turning that come together at exactly the right moment to create parallel moments of joy, terror and tension. Our many ladies each had their own individual voices and were the driving force behind each of their narratives but were clearly linked together by something bigger. This ‘something’ created a beautifully punchy ending that was incredibly emotive and had made some truly emotional moments throughout the plot. The way disability in the aftermath of war was handled was done brilliantly. Additionally, there were nuanced discussions of other identity markers like race, gender and religion within each time period which I found was done excellently when so many historical fiction books like to shy away from these things or give a simple right off to them. I know that while reading this book I did find faults but for the life of me now, I can not remember what they were. This illustrates to me that they were small hiccups that did not crop up repeatedly and that were buried under this wonderful narrative. The book itself is an epic that can seem more than a little daunting with so much going on but I was constantly engaged and felt that I slipped right into the narrative. It was also incredibly well researched and I have come out the other end feeling like I’ve learnt a lot. Overall, just amazing.

lottie1803's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

maraa's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 rounded up. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. War, love, faith, hope, courage, dedication, birth, death, friendship, family, pain, healing, loss, finding. Great weaving together of three historical time periods. The Author’s Note is awesome as it contains facts the author couldn’t fit in and some about her research process.

stacy_h540's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

sea_uh_dahmay's review against another edition

3.0

Marthe and ms. Lafayette >>> Beatrice

jthunderrr's review

3.0

I enjoy historical fiction, and the best is an immersive experience that helps you examine the past in a new light due to explorations of rich, rarely considered perspectives and events.

This long historical fiction novel never quite pulled me in. It is long, manages to cover three different wars and time periods, tells the stories of three different women, and yet somehow fell a little flat for me. A lot of telling and not showing. Lots of spoon fed American pride for the ideals of liberty and freedom, lots of hero worship of Lafayette. Your mom’s book club would love it.

darcyhendershott's review against another edition

5.0

My favorite Stephanie Dray book so far! I love the mixed timelines so much!

carteramy77's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

kmentillo's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25