Paula F

There are layers to this historical novel set in Paris towards the end of La Belle Époque during the winter of 1909-1910. Christian Morel hires destitute art student Maud to be a live-in companion to his much younger sister Sylvie. Maud provides English and art lessons to Sylvie in exchange for room, board, and a very generous weekly salary, but her employers are not what they seem. When Maud's fortunes change, it's her two art school friends Yvette and Tanya who help her in her quest to exact revenge. On its surface, Paris Winter is an historical novel. It's also a mystery and a story of betrayal. But ultimately it is a story about the role and value of women in society and the importance of friendship above all else, especially class distinctions.

The Kitchen Daughter is ultimately a story that questions what, or who, is normal and who has the right to make that determination. It suggests that all of us are wounded in one way or another. Ginny Selvaggio, a young woman with Asperger's Syndrome forced to deal with life after her sheltering parents die unexpectedly, reminds me of Truly Plaice, the title character in Tiffany Baker's The Little Giant of Aberdeen County. Both realize that they are different from others, both have more "normal" sisters, and both have mystical powers. The Kitchen Daughter is very well written and would make a good book club selection. I would also recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Little Giant.