Publisher Random House Children's Books atos 5.

source: Young Adult Library Services Association.

sortTitle Belle Epoque lexileScore 760 crossRefId 1188869 awards 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. And the longer her deception continues, the more she has to lose. Yet the more she learns about Isabelle, the more her loyalty is tested.

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.

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. Hire a plain friend and become instantly more attractive. The Durandeau Agency provides its clients with a unique service-the beauty foil. Desperate for work, she answers an unusual ad. MediaType eBook shortDescription When Maude Pichon runs away from provincial Brittany to Paris, her romantic dreams vanish as quickly as her savings. When I read Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross, however, I knew that I was on to. Hugh Ross, merchant in London, her husband, for his interest the representatives of Mr. Elizabeth Ross, daughter of the deceased Alexander Ross, writer to the Signet, and Mr. IsPublicPerformanceAllowed False languages Finding historical fiction that engages young adults can be a difficult task. Author of Belle epoque, Silver Blonde, Science and conservation in African forests, Answers for Mrs.

(But no names, please.OverDrive Product Record sortTitle Belle Epoque crossRefId 1188869 images This is prime book-club fare, and most honest participants will have to confess to occasionally confirming their own allure with a sidelong glance at someone less favored. There's enough flirtation and match-making to tantalize romance fans, but ultimately it is the story of Isabelle and Maude, sans love interests, that carries the day. Here Ross transforms an Émile Zola short story into a novel whose themes of external and internal beauty and the commoditization of friendship have much to offer a contemporary YA audience. What the Countess cannot control, however, is her daughter's determination to gain admission to the Sorbonne, and Maude's gradual alliance with Isabelle against her mother's schemes. Maude is hired by Countess Dubern to make her daughter Isabelle shine in her debut season and, should the pair form an actual friendship, to pressure Isabelle into marrying the aristocrat of the mother's choice. She quickly runs through the money she pilfered from her father, and when her job as a laundress proves intolerable, she stumbles into a position with the Durandeau Agency, which hires plain or ugly women to accompany well-to-do women on social engagements, augmenting the clients' beauty with the proximity of the repoussoir's homeliness. Determined that there's more in her future than merely becoming the butcher's wife, Maude Pichon leaves her French village for the glitter of 1880s Paris.