Adrienne

Adrienne marries Lafayette in 1774 (33). Lafayette is extremely wealthy and from Chavaniac-Lafayette, a mountainous commune in south-central France. King Louis XV dies, appointing his grandson, Louis XVI, and his wife, Marie Antoinette, to the throne (66). The new regime brings about change that offends old nobility. In 1775, turmoil is evident in the colonies, and Louis XVI is crowned (97). Adrienne and Lafayette welcome the birth of their first child, Henriette (98). Lafayette becomes deeply interested in the colonies’ cry for independence as he believes their cause to be just (99). When Lafayette announces his intention to sail to America, Adrienne’s father forbids it (102-103). Lafayette defies his orders and attempts to board a ship to America (104). Adrienne refuses her father’s demands to lure Lafayette back with a letter (106).

Lafayette heads for America, and Adrienne gives birth to their second daughter (142-143). Lafayette is wounded in the Battle of the Brandywine (143). Citizen applauds Lafayette for his audacity and daring (145). Adrienne wants to help provide materials for Americans, but her first daughter, Henriette, becomes sick. Adrienne’s daughter and nephew die from sickness (146). Adrienne wonders if God is forsaking her despite her diligent work in helping the Americans, but she is able to trust in God again thanks to the vivacity of her second daughter, Anastasie (147). In 1779, after two years fighting in America, Lafayette returns home (154). His work helped to put the king in favor of a formal alliance with the Americans. Their third child, Georges, is named after General Washington (162). When Lafayette returns again from America in 1782, he is triumphant, thanks to Adrienne’s work (187). His successes are astounding, and Adrienne realizes that she must share her husband with the rest of France (188). Lafayette helps to stir unrest in the countryside, and the king finally agrees to a constitutional monarchy (259). Lafayette writes the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the French Revolution begins (261).

In July of 1789, the king rejects Lafayette’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and citizens rebel (286). The king ultimately surrenders to Lafayette. However, peace is not secured. The king’s brothers flee to Austria, and Philippe begins leading violent mobs (288-289). Lafayette responds by sending Philippe into exile (293). In June of 1791, the Royalists counter the Revolutionists (316). The king goes missing shortly after accepting the constitutional monarchy, but his caravan is found on the road and led back to Paris (318). Upon his return, people wonder if he planned to raise a foreign army against the Revolution (318-319). Lafayette allows Philippe to return to Paris, but he continues to cause problems. He begins a petition to demand an investigation into the king’s plans (321). On the day that crowds gather on the Champs de Mars to sign the petition, citizens attempt to kill both Adrienne and Lafayette (322-323). The king ratifies the new constitution in September, but the Royalists reject Lafayette, and the family returns to Chavaniac (323-324). By Christmas, Lafayette is ordered to command troops of revolutionary forces against the Royalists (341). The revolution declares war on Austria and is defeated (342). Adrienne remains at Chavaniac (343).

Armed men wearing the tricolor arrest Adrienne in September of 1792 in Le Puy (399). In the department of Le Puy, Adrienne creates a petition protesting her arrest, and she signs her name, “la femme Lafayette” (401). She is imprisoned for two weeks in Le Puy and then put under house arrest (423). The Reign of Terror, under which royalists are put to death en masse, gears up. The queen is beheaded (431). The Revolutionary Committee arrests Adrienne at the chateau, and she is sent to Paris (431-432). In the summer of 1794, Adrienne is set to be guillotined in Paris. The morning that she is supposed to die, Robespierre is announced dead, and no executions take place (440). However, Adrienne finds out that her mother, grandmother, and sister Louise are all dead (441). Adrienne is transferred between prisons until she is finally released (443-445).

In March of 1795, Adrienne takes her two daughters on board an American ship which stops in Hamburg (474). In Vienna, the chamberlain grants Adrienne an audience with the emperor (477). In the meeting with the emperor, Lafayette’s release is denied. However, he allows Adrienne and her daughters to be jailed with him (477). Lafayette is scrawny and living in squalor (479). By the following winter, Adrienne is sick with fever from a blood infection (507). Two years later, the family is still jailed (514). Lafayette is offered release on the condition that he never enters Austria again, but Adrienne makes sure that he refuses (515). She does not want him to admit to crimes that he did not commit. She considers her refusal to be treated for her condition her “battle with the tyrant,” as the emperor would face criticism if Adrienne died under his watch (515). Bonaparte eventually negotiates the conditions of the Lafayettes’ release, and they are set free and handed over to the American consul (515). Adrienne lives another ten years after their release, but she is sick the entire time. She is treated with lead which causes delusions, and she dies on Christmas Eve of 1807 (541).

Beatrice

In July of 1914, Beatrice pays a visit to her husband, Willie, at a hospital in Neuilly, France (45). He hurt his leg in an accident but never is honest about what happened. Beatrice has been estranged from Willie for several years but plans to express her unfaltering love for him at the hospital (46). After an unfruitful conversation, Beatrice takes her nephew, Victor, to lunch and introduces him to Emily Sloane (54). At the cafe, men start to shout, “Vive la France!” (56). The First World War is set to begin. Beatrice and Emily decide to create the Lafayette Fund as a war relief effort (64). After the Lafayette Fund puts on a play about Lafayette to sway American sentiment toward fighting in the war, which is commended by President Roosevelt, Beatrice decides to head back to France (126-128).

In April of 1915, Beatrice, Emily, and Beatrice’s in-laws, the Chapmans, head back to France to continue their war relief efforts and meet with Victor (131). They meet Marie Louise LeVerrier and Clara Simon who later help establish the preventorium (133). Beatrice finally gains enough courage to confront Willie’s absenteeism and asks for a divorce (168). Willie accuses her of having an affair. Beatrice and the Chapmans finally arrange a meeting with Victor (209). Beatrice is tasked with convincing Victor to join the aviators rather than fight in the trenches, and he agrees to think on it (215). Inspired by Emily and the baron’s budding love, Beatrice begins having tea with Furlaud frequently. Willie is not doing well after surgery and asks Beatrice to wait for him as his wife. She agrees and forgets Furlaud (255). In August, Beatrice and Emily are back in America (271). However, Emily announces her intention to move to France to make a family with the baron and resigns from the Lafayette Fund (273). Beatrice receives news that Victor was killed in action (277).

Willie attempts to be a family man, but Beatrice confronts him about his drunken state. She finds out that he is drinking alcohol as an alternative to taking hard drugs for the pain in his leg (302). Willie’s mood is volatile, and he crashes the car with the family inside (306). By November of 1916, New York City no longer wants to remain neutral in the war (325). Beatrice’s doctor notes issues with her thyroid and heart which likely from starvation in her childhood (326). Willie apologizes for the car crash by promising to buy Beatrice Lafayette’s chateau (327-329). Furlaud introduces an orphaned baby to Beatrice and names her Marthe (350-351). Emily gives birth to her daughter, Anna (357).

Marie-Louise LeVerrier, Clara Simon, and Emily work to set up the school and orphanage at the chateau (373). In the spring of 1917, America joins the war (384). Willie’s health and temperament continue to decline (385). Emily announces that she has been asked to work in America with the baron, and she makes the choice to go and leave Anna in France (389-391). On behalf of the embassy, Beatrice travels to the baron’s ancestral home in Hazebrouck, and she is surprised to encounter Furlaud there (392). The two begin a relationship, and Furlaud decides to go back to the United States with Beatrice (404). Beatrice heads back to Paris as the chairwoman for ARCH, a working class delegation sent to assure the French and British of American support (448). Furlaud is also back in France, and he begins to talk about a life with Beatrice after the war (454). Although she loves him, Beatrice is wary about settling down. However, because of her love for Furlaud, she decides to confront Willie (458). Instead, when she goes to him, he receives a call that Victor’s body was found (461). At the end of the viewing, Willie accepts Beatrice’s request for a separation (463).

After separating from Willie for good, Beatrice returns to Chavaniac in July of 1918 (488). The preventorium is “overrun by displaced children” (491-492). The war is over in November of 1918, and Furlaud visits Beatrice at Chavaniac (525-526). Furlaud is reacquainted with Marthe, and they take a picture with Beatrice, which Marthe finds when she grows up (527). Furlaud expects this to be the beginning of a new life with Beatrice, but, despite loving him, she ultimately turns him down to continue her work at the chateau (529).

Marthe

In 1939 at the Chavaniac-Lafayette chateau, Marthe attends a party for the Lafayette Memorial Foundation’s yearly scholarship award but does not win. Henri hopes to brighten her spirits with a proposal of marriage (4-6). With the unexpected onset of war, Marthe accepts Henri’s proposal as he leaves for the front (9). Marthe teaches at the chateau and makes trades on the black market (13-14). She befriends Anna, who is vivacious and spirited (23). To appease authority and new restrictions, the baroness of the castle and Anna’s mother, Emily de LaGrange, commissions Marthe to make artwork of Adrienne de Lafayette (27-29) Marthe and Anna grow closer together, and Marthe considers how her feelings toward Anna both parallel and contrast her feelings for Henri (80). By February of 1941, Marthe has had minimal contact with Henri, a prisoner of war. Anti-Semitism mounts (107). Marthe finally visits Henri’s mother’s house and is surprised to find a family of Jewish refugees (117). A young girl, Gabriella, is sick with tuberculosis, and Marthe suggests that she be admitted to the preventorium (119). While explaining to Madame Simon that she was in contact with tuberculosis, Marthe is surprised to see a document in her file that lists her mother’s name (120).

Marthe confronts Madame Simon about the paperwork with her mother’s name (150). Simon explains that although Beatrice listed a name, it does not mean it is accurate and might have been a simple way of putting Marthe’s papers in order (150). Marthe asks the baroness if she knows anything about the name Minerva Furlaud written on her paperwork (175). The baroness denies knowledge of the name but seems to recognize it. During their conversation, Madame Simon bursts in, stating that the baron is releasing her from her duties due to her Jewish ties (176). Before leaving, Simon agrees to help Marthe admit Gabriella to the preventorium (180). In December, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, and America is in the war (201).

In the summer of 1942, Marthe tries to cope after Henri dies in a prison camp (281). She begins drinking to ease her pain. Marthe distances herself from Anna because she developed feelings that should have seemed unnatural, but did not (283). By August, frequent dawn raids occur in both the Free and Occupied Zones (307). Marthe decides to forge papers for all of the Kohn children. Marthe again questions the baroness about the name Furlaud, but the baroness does not reveal the information she wants (336). During their conversation, Travert shows up. He interrogates Marthe and asks if she knows an arrested man named Kohn, which she denies (344). To Marthe’s surprise, Travert does not turn her in for her forgery activities. Instead, he asks for her hand in marriage in exchange for allowing her to continue to create forged documents (347-348).

Marthe helps get all of the Kohn children admitted to the preventorium, which is possible due to her marriage to Travert (377). All of France is occupied by the end of 1942 (412). Marthe goes into town to pick up supplies and is confronted by a young German soldier (416). As a punishment for talking to Marthe, his superior, Obersturmführer Wolff, beats him in the head with a baton (417). Marthe and other French citizens take the boy to the hospital where he dies (418-419). Marthe makes a forged permit to stop Kohn from being sent to Auschwitz (420). Kohn is saved from Auschwitz and asks Marthe to forge documents for the OSE, an organization smuggling children out of France, and she agrees (434). In August, Wolff arrives at the chateau asking for a tour (465). The Gestapo arrest the baron, and Marthe hides Washington’s dueling pistols (467-468).

In April of 1944, the Germans take Dr. Anglade, and Anna struggles to run the preventorium without his presence (497). Kohn gives Marthe a job for the OSE, and she has to admit 15 Jewish girls to the preventorium in two days (501). They arrive safely, but Faustine Xavier calls the Gestapo when she recognizes one of the children (504). Marthe evacuates the Jewish girls into the tunnels of the chateau (510-511). When the Gestapo arrives, Marthe admits that she aided the children (519). She leads the Gestapo astray and is beaten in the head with a baton (522-523). Travert is shot coming to her aid, but the preventorium boys pull out Sam’s weapons and shoot the Gestapo officer, and he dies immediately (523-524). Marthe and Travert both survive, and they move to New York after the war (542).