Book Review for “Mademoiselle Eiffel” by Aimie K. Runyan.
Summary: “Claire Eiffel, the beautiful, brilliant eldest daughter of the illustrious architect Gustave Eiffel, is doted upon with an education envied by many sons of the upper classes, and entirely out of the reach of most daughters. Claire’s idyllic childhood ends abruptly when, at fourteen, her mother passes away. It’s soon made clear that Gustave expects Claire to fill her mother’s place as caregiver to the younger children and as manager of their home. As she proves her competence, Claire’s importance to her father grows. She accompanies him on his travels and becomes his confidante and private secretary. She learns her father’s architectural trade and becomes indispensable to his work. … Claire Eiffel’s story of love, devotion, and the frantic pursuit to preserve her family’s legacy is not only an inspired reflection of real personages and historical events, but a hymn to the iconic tower that dominates the City of Lights.”
Age: Adult; Genres: Literary, Fiction; Settings: Era/s: Historical; Location/s: France – Paris; Other Categories: Novel, Women, Biographical, Architecture, Families, Relationships, Coming-of-Age.
Runyan is one of those authors I’ve been following for quite some time now, and I’ve read several of her books, including ones she’s written in trio with two other authors, all of which have been really good reads for me. So, when I heard about this one, I knew I had to read it. I mean, historical – check; biographical – check, and; a lesser-known woman – check! Add to that the setting of Paris and the building of the iconic Eiffel Tower; yeah, of course I just HAD to read this one, and I’m so glad that I did.
I’ve read other novels that had Gustave Eiffel in the cast of characters, and I do have a basic understanding of the famous tower itself. However, I’ve never heard of his daughter Claire, and I had no idea that she played any part in any of Eiffel’s work. I also didn’t know that one of Eiffel’s employees, Adolphe Salles, ended up marrying Claire, and thereby essentially became Gustave’s second in command. Runyan’s story portrays Salles as a very talented engineer, and that marrying the boss’s daughter, while advantageous, wasn’t something he did just out of greed or ambition, but that he actually loved her. But the real story here is about Claire, and how she was able to juggle being a daughter, sister, and fill-in mother to her siblings, while also assisting her father in his work.
As I already said, I just love these types of stories. Here, Runyan goes to great pains to make sure she builds Claire into a three-dimensional person, with weaknesses and strengths that both hinder and help her. While there were times when I felt that Runyan made her a bit more self-effacing and critical of her abilities, for the most part, she comes off as someone who is not just gentle, but also very strong, which makes her very diplomatic. She’s the type of person you’d want on your side in any type of sticky situation, as she would probably find a way to resolve the problems with the least amount of damage to everyone, and in a systematic way that makes perfect sense. So much so, that you would probably wonder why you didn’t come up with that solution yourself! This might make her sound cold, but she seems do to all this out of so much love that you’re surprised that she never seems to become overwhelmed by her own emotions. Yes, Claire is someone you’d call a heroine, and one who would deny her own, practically superwoman abilities.
I’m also glad that Runyan decided to tell this story chronologically, and that we meet Claire soon after her mother’s passing, so we can get a full picture of who she was, and what made her into the woman she eventually became. Becoming motherless at the age of only 14, as well as being the first born, poses some uncomfortable situations for Claire. And while her maid, and her aunt help with some of these inevitable events, I enjoyed the way Runyan was able to mix things up a bit by putting Claire into less predictable setting for them, which allowed us to see more of her coping abilities. I’m guessing it isn’t easy to be inventive to tell a coming-of-age story for a 19th century, motherless girl. However, I’m also guessing that with the little information about Claire available, that made doing this a tad easier.
Although this novel does drag in a few places when Claire reiterates her self-doubts, they weren’t a major problem, because the passages when these happen are fairly short, and there always seems to be someone or something to help her recover from such negative reveries. For all of this, I found this to be a really excellent read, and I liked how she ended the book, which was also when I choked up a bit. So, it is obvious that I’m very warmly recommending this novel, and awarding it 4.75 stars out of five! Well done, Aimie!
This novel qualifies for the following reading challenges: New Release Challenge (#38), Historical Fiction Reading Challenge (#31), 20 Books of Summer (Yes, because I finished reading it in August so #23 or #17).
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