Mademoiselle Revolution

March 1, 2022

In 1943 Honolulu, cryptanalysist Isabel Cooper is concerned when the only other female codebreaker at Station Hypo goes missing; perhaps The Codebreaker's Secret is uncovered in 1965 when a rookie reporter and a crusty old-timer discover a skeleton near the ever-so-fancy Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in Ackerman's (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Burton's The House of Fortune, a companion to the New York Times best-selling The Miniaturist, 18-year-old Thea Brandt hides out in 1700s Amsterdam's playhouses from her family's money quarrels, refusal to discuss her mother's death, and fear of the mysterious, soul-capturing Miniaturist (200,000-copy first printing). In Carey's 1950s Britain, ruled by a triumphant Reich that ranks women from the gorgeous (and advantaged) Gelis to those past childbearing good for domestic drudgery and living in Widowland, a Geli named Rose Ransom gets involved with subversion against the government. Narrated by a small-potatoes lesbian gossip columnist, Charyn's Big Red reimagines the entwined careers of Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles. With The Thread Collectors, debuter Edwards joins the USA TODAY best-selling Richman in a story paralleling New Orleans-based Black woman Stella, who embroiders intricate maps for enslaved men intending to flee and join the Union army, with New York-based white, Jewish, abolitionist Lily, who rolls bandages for Union soldiers and wants to join her husband fighting in Louisiana (125,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover). In debuter Sivak's Mademoiselle Revolution, Sylvie de Rosiers, the biracial daughter of a rich white planter and an enslaved Black woman, flees her privileged life in Haiti during the revolution and ends up in Paris amid another revolution, befriending Robespierre and his strong-willed mistress, Corn�lie.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 27, 2022
Sivak’s resonant debut features a woman trapped between two worlds during the Haitian and French revolutions. Sylvie de Rosiers, 18, has lived with her father’s family in the French colony of Saint-Domingue since her enslaved mother died in childbirth. Though her father has accepted her as his only daughter and ensured she was well educated, Sylvie knows she will never be fully accepted in society. Her hopes for marriage to a biracial man are diminished when she flees the island for Paris during the slave revolt that leads to independence. The undercurrent of rebellion resonates throughout France as Sylvie is drawn to Maximilien Robespierre and his quest for equality. As Sylvie discovers acceptance in Max’s circle, which includes his mistress, Cornélie Duplay, she and Cornélie explore their mutual attraction in secret. Sylvie becomes immersed in her role as a revolutionary, working with Max’s brother, Augustin, for the Robespierres’ cause. But as the revolution rages on, no one seems immune from the guillotine, leaving Sylvie to fear for her safety and that of her friends. Sivak expertly depicts Sylvie’s growing consciousness of the oppressed and of the revolution’s contradictions. Readers will be hooked. Agent: Amy Bishop, Dystal, Goderich, and Bourret.

June 15, 2022
A mixed-race young woman attempts to find love, freedom, and her cultural identity amid the revolutionary throes of 18th-century Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and Paris. Eighteen-year-old Sylvie de Rosiers was born free, though the shadow of her mother's enslavement remains an unshakeable part of her life. Her race bars her from entering certain echelons of aristocratic society, but as the daughter of a White coffee plantation owner, she also enjoys certain luxuries--a life of leisure on her family's large estate and the hope of one day marrying a powerful man who belongs to the mixed-race affranchi class. After the public execution of the rebel Vincent Og�, however, a slave uprising forces her to question the privileges her upbringing has afforded her. She and her brother, Gaspard, flee to Paris to seek refuge with an aunt, and Sylvie soon befriends Corn�lie Duplay, a painter and the mistress of the famous revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre. Although Sylvie appreciates new freedoms in France, she still finds herself on the margins of society. The royalists disdain her because of her mixed-race heritage, and the lower-class republicans, the sans-culottes, revile her bourgeois status. Amid Sivak's vividly drawn portrait of the bloody political and civil unrest in Paris during the last years of the Revolution, Sylvie finds her romantic passions in turmoil as well. While her admiration for Robespierre grows, she also finds herself increasingly attracted to Corn�lie. As an ascending faction within the National Convention intensifies the call to purge anyone deemed a traitor to the Republic, Sylvie finds her heart increasingly torn between love and duty as she painstakingly comes to terms with the steep costs of both. An incandescent tale of the French Revolution from the perspective of those history often renders invisible.

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July 1, 2022
Sylvie Rosiers, biracial teenage daughter of a planter and an enslaved woman, lives contentedly in the racially stratified society of 1791 Saint-Domingue, until violence erupts and she and her half-brother must flee the flames of a slaves' revolt. Sylvie and Gaspard escape to Paris to live with their Aunt Euphemie. There they meet the Duplay family, befriending daughters Elisabeth and Eleonore and their tenant, Maximilien Robespierre. Their new friends introduce Sylvie and Gaspard to a culture that appears more enlightened, less focused on racial differences, but the simmering French Revolution threatens to devour their new home and shatter the illusion of safety that Sylvie craves. As the Rosiers draw near the fringes of power, they must navigate the shifting sands of racism, unexpected romance, tyranny, and the people's trust in authority. Sylvie is sympathetic, mercurial, and flawed, impulsively bolting from conflicts and into danger. Sivak's debut novel is replete with rich details of eighteenth-century life, her characters freely mingling with historical figures and events. Readers will appreciate the tour through French history.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 1, 2022

DEBUT A young biracial heiress who has avoided thinking about the plight of enslaved Black people around her in the French colony of Saint-Domingue--her people--discovers a talent for behind-the-scenes politics when she flees the Haitian Revolution for France. Sylvie de Rosiers, the daughter of a long-dead enslaved Black woman and a white coffee plantation owner, is caught between two worlds. Not fully accepted by Saint-Domingue society but, nevertheless, leading a privileged life, she flees the 1791 overthrow of the French regime in Haiti only to find herself again in danger, from the even more violent French Revolution. She meets Robespierre and his mistress, Corn�lie Duplay, and becomes active in the first stirrings of the French Revolution. At first, Sylvie is mostly concerned with keeping her dark skin out of the island sun and making a good marriage match, but she has to grow up fast. VERDICT A richly imagined work of historical women's fiction incorporating themes of diversity and equality very relevant today, this thrilling debut will give book clubs much to discuss.--Laurie Cavanaugh

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.