Family Drama
19th century
France, Nova
Scotia, Barbados
Syncopation
according to Webster: (music) to
shift the regular accent (in a composition) to a normally unaccented beat.
Adèle is born
into a perfect family: beautiful mother, two handsome brothers, a sister who is
the epitome of a generous spirit and of course a famous father. For the first
few chapters, we watch Adèle growing and interacting with her family until the
unthinkable happens: the tragic death of a beloved member of the family. A
half-beat has been missed; the harmony has been interrupted and can never be
the same again.
Adèle emerges
from the tragedy with a determination never to marry and to live life as she
chooses. She comes to resent her domineering father, and she does not respect her
mother’s imperatives. No longer is she the darling of the perfect family. While
being treated as a pariah by her family, she enjoys a delicious and illicit sex
life. Eventually, she escapes the clutches of convention by following a lover
to Canada.
Adèle is the kind
of spunky, liberated woman we admire so much in our heroines. No matter how
desperate her circumstances become, she refuses to live the kind of life her
family and society try to impose on her. Yet the author doesn’t attempt to hide
her warts. As for Victor Hugo, I expected a more progressive man but he is as
rigid in his views about women as his daughter is non-conforming.
This is an
engrossing story, flawlessly told and with characters that come to life and
fill our imaginations to the brim.
© Susan Appleyard
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