Belle Epoque

By Elizabeth Ross

When Maude Pichon runs away from provincial Brittany to Paris, her romantic dreams vanish as quickly as her savings. Desperate for work, she answers an unusual ad. The Durandeau Agency provides its clients with a unique service—the beauty foil. Hire a plain friend and become instantly more attractive.
   Monsieur Durandeau has made a fortune from wealthy socialites, and when the Countess Dubern needs a companion for her headstrong daughter, Isabelle, Maude is deemed the perfect adornment of plainness. 
   Isabelle has no idea her new "friend" is the hired help, and Maude's very existence among the aristocracy hinges on her keeping the truth a secret. Yet the more she learns about Isabelle, the more her loyalty is tested. And the longer her deception continues, the more she has to lose.  

   Inspired by a short story written by Emile Zola, Belle Epoque is set at the height of bohemian Paris, when the city was at the peak of decadence, men and women were at their most beautiful, and morality was at its most depraved.

A YASLA William C. Morris Award Finalist

A Junior Library Guild Selection

“Both touching and fun, this is a story about many things—true friendship, real beauty, being caught between two worlds—and it will delight fans of historical fiction.”—Publishers Weekly

“A refreshingly relevant and inspiring historical venture.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A compelling story about friendship, the complexity of beauty, and self-discovery…full of strong female characters.”—School Library Journal

“With resonant period detail, elegant narration, and a layered exploration of class and friendship, this provocative novel is rife with satisfaction.”—Booklist

“Much to offer a contemporary YA audience…flirtation and match-making to tantalize romance fans…prime book-club fare.”—The Bulletin

"This delectable Parisian tale left me sighting with sweet satisfaction. J'adore Belle Epoque!"-Sonya Sones, author of What My Mother Doesn't Know and To Be Perfectly Honest

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9780375985270

Elizabeth Ross

Elizabeth Ross is a leading cardiologist and author of Healing the Female Heart.

Reviews for Belle Epoque

[plancultivatecreate · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed the characters in this book, it was a great read.

[reesa111 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Five- Stars- This was a unique story that held my interest until the very end. I would recommend to adults and teens- This is a fantastic book to recommend- (Clean Read) I have passed this book on to my oldest daughter- She is loving it so far- I can't wait to read more from this author- Read in two days, hard to put down. Worth the time and money- I won a free copy in a giveaway and I'm so happy to have read this book. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end~

[auntie0nanuuq · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

How would you like to be considered ugly? If you were poor, single, in a Huge City & in need a good paying job; would you accept employment based on what others perceive based on your looks?That is the basis of this book: working in Paris as a Repoussoir, a plain companion that makes the woman who has employed her appear by comparison much fairer than she actually is.Maude Pinchon has run away from a small town, where her father was planning to marry her to the local butcher.As a Repoussoir to Isabelle, a local heiress whose mother is planning for Isabelle's marriage; Maude turns out to be more of a friend to Isabelle, who as it turns out has no intention of getting married, but plans instead to study science at the Sorbonne. When it all comes crashing down around both women, both Isabelle & Maude team up to show the aristocracy for what it is....I liked the story, I liked the characters... The women were strong, the men, meh, not-so-much! I liked that beauty bloomed no matter the looks of the girls and there was heart underneath the dejection.What made this book make more of an impression on me was Maude's interest in photography & her thoughts, which mirror my own: "Using the camera as my tool, I hope to find that elusive inner light in the subjects that I photograph, both people & places, and to really see - see the truth and beauty of an instant.... With photography, as with any art, you are given the gift of connection, when you can say to a stranger: 'Look! I have something to tell you, I have something to say.'"

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Maude leaves her home in the countryside of France, she heads to Paris. The only work she is able to find is to work as a “repoussoir”, or as a sort of “foil” to a pretty girl. That is, Maude is the ugly or plain girl who is hired to accompany a debutante to one or more events in order to make the debutante look better by comparison. Maude is hired by the Isabelle’s mother, but Isabelle doesn’t know that that’s why Maude is there. They become friends and Maude wants to help Isabelle in the things she wants, but she is forced to help Isabelle’s mother encourage Isabelle to marry, as that is her job. I really liked this. I was wondering if it was based on a real agency that hired out girls for this purpose, so I was looking forward to the author’s note at the end (it was based on a fictional agency in a short story). It was also set during the time the Eiffel Tower was being built, which is interesting. The book has some strong girl characters.

[ladykat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed the characters in this book, it was a great read.

[sparkleponies · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Maude Pichon finds a place among the women of the Duprandeau Agency because she is not pretty. The agency has found it's niche in the Paris business world by selling the services of ugly women to act as foils for the beautiful, making them more beautiful by comparison to their companion. Maude is hired to be the companion of a lovely debutante who is not told the truth about Maude's role. This book takes us into the excess of the Paris drawing rooms and creative turmoil of the Paris cafes, sharing Champagne and Absinthe with a variety of characters.

[themadhatters_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Maude Pichon ran away from her village to avoid a marriage. She robbed her father's store's till and ran off to Paris, city of lights and romance, where the Eiffel Tower is rising taller every day. However, survival in a large city is much less romantic than Maude's daydreams, and she is becoming desperate to survive. In order to support herself, she answers an unusual ad for the Durandeau Agency, where ugly women are hired to set off more attractive ladies of substance. Maude is hired to be the foil to Isabelle, a young lady making her debut, only Isabelle doesn't know Maude was hired by her mother. Maude is trapped between her own survival at the agency and her budding friendship with Isabelle, and she doesn't even know which world she lives in, the poor or the rich . . .

[ad_astra_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Facing a dismal future at home, Maude runs away to Paris with big dreams. Soon, she finds that it's harder to make it there than she thought. Faced with losing her barely liveable apartment, she puts her pride aside and takes a job as a companion for wealthy women. The catch? She's only hired because her plain looks will amp up her companion's beauty. She's soon thrust into the world of wealthy socialites and finds herself lying to nearly everyone she cares about. I really enjoyed this book at first. Maude is such a strong character and it was easy to overlook her foolish desires for the wealthy life, knowing what her circumstances were. However, I had a hard time feeling for when she lost sight of who she really was and turned on the few people who cared about her. She does redeem herself in the end, but it left a bad taste in my mouth that she even went down that road. Interesting plot and well-developed characters made this an enjoyable read.

[susiebookworm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Belle Epoque is based on Emile Zola's 1866 short story "Les Repoussoirs" about the fictional agency of Durandeau. Ross launches off from this story to write the compelling tale of Maude Pichon, a girl struggling to write the story of her own life by moving to Paris in the late 1880s in the midst of the changes to society brought by France's Industrial Revolution and Belle Epoque.Maude is one of the most candid and realistic heroines I have encountered in a while. There's romantic interest, but it doesn't override the main story, and Maude's slight attraction to multiple boys before one begins to stand out seems much more true to real life than the usual insta-love. While she gets caught up in the opulence of her feigned fashionable life with the Duberns more than would be thought prudent, it fits with Maude's characterization as a provincial girl with overly-romanticized and cheery notions of what her life in Paris will be like. There is no fairy-tale, rather historically-anachronistic instant rise to fame, fortune, or love; the plot seems to take its natural course and suit both the characterizations of the book's key figures and what is realistic for the time period. At the same time, the issues with self-image and self-worth faced by Maude are things that any girl of today's time can easily identify with, making Belle Epoque an engrossing read for both fans of historical fiction and those who prefer more connections to contemporary life.

[angelacinva · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Maude Pichon has run away from her home in the French province of Brittany to escape an arranged marriage. But life in Paris is far harder, and much more expensive, than she ever dreamed. Desperate for work, she takes a job with an agency that offers an unusual service. The company hires plain, unattractive young women to act as foils for high society women. The idea is that the comparison of being next to someone ugly will make the client appear more attractive.Maude is selected by the Countess Dubern to be a companion for her daughter, Isabelle, during her debutante season. The catch – Isabelle doesn’t know that Maude is hired help. Soon Maude is thrown into the whirl and intrigue of a Parisian aristocratic social season. But as her friendship with Isabelle grows, Maude faces increasing pressure from the Countess to go beyond the role of beauty foil to spy on Isabelle and influence her actions.The first thing I loved about this this book is the setting, 1880′s Paris. I enjoyed the glimpses of the bohemian lifestyle of artists and musicians and cafes in contrast to the glittering aristocratic society all against the backdrop of the building of the Eiffel Tower. The second thing that appealed to me was that this enjoyable story really does a great job of exploring the concept of beauty. Does being seen next to someone who is less beautiful really enhance someone’s appearance? Plus, the toll the job takes on the employees’ self-esteem is appalling. They are constantly being judged only by, and openly reminded of, those traits that others perceive as faults.Then there is the economic pressure on the girls, forcing them to put up with the humiliation of the position. What other options do they really have? The desire to maintain both the illusion of a place in aristocratic society and maintain a decent standard of living influence Maude’s decisions regarding her friendship with Isabelle and others. She may not agree with what the Countess is doing, but what choice does she have if she doesn’t want to be fired and end up destitute?I have a few small quibbles with the story. Maude, the country grocer’s daughter with the provincial accent and manners is able to fit in with the aristocrats too easily. The end also seems to wrap up a bit too neatly. But overall, this was a very good book that I really enjoyed reading. It would make an excellent choice for a book discussion group, exploring as it does the ideas of beauty and social class. Those looking for a good story won’t be disappointed while those who appreciate a bit more social commentary will definitely enjoy Belle Epoque.I read Belle Epoque as part of The Hub’s 2014 Morris Award Challenge.