Mademoiselle Eiffel

A Novel

By: Aimie K. Runyan

Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt

From the author of The School for German Brides and A Bakery in Paris, this captivating historical novel set in nineteenth-century Paris tells the story of Claire Eiffel, a woman who played a significant role in maintaining her family’s legacy and their iconic contributions to the city of Paris.

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. But when his bright young protégé, Adolphe Salles, takes up more of Gustave’s time, Claire resents being pushed aside.

Slowly, the animosity between Claire and Adolphe turns to friendship…and then to something more. After their marriage in 1885 preserves the Eiffel legacy, they are privileged by the biggest commission of Eiffel’s career: a great iron tower dominating the 1889 World’s Fair to demonstrate the leading role of Paris in the world of art and architecture. Now hostess to the scientific elite, such as Thomas Edison, Claire is under the watchful eye not only of her family and father’s circle, but also the world.

When Gustave Eiffel’s involvement in a disastrous endeavor to build a canal in Panama ends in his imprisonment, it is up to Claire to secure her father’s freedom but also preserve the hard-won family legacy.

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.

©2024 Aimie K. Runyan (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Atmosphere and Narration

Very engaging book about the Eiffel family from the point of view of their eldest daughter. As one would expect, she is keen, smart, aware, and, despite supporting all aspects of family life, Mlle Eiffel herself is instrumental in the success of her father’s business.
Well-written by a favorite author, it is also masterfully read, in all voices, genders, ages, and accents.
Excellent!

Pleasant read

This was a nice story as are all of Aimee Runyan’s. I wish, though, that contemporary authors would stop assuming that their female historic characters were all closet feminists. The intrusion of our twenty-first century issues into historical fiction is getting to be very tiresome. What’s wrong with a woman who simply enjoys taking care of her family’s needs and does’t feel the desire to make a name for herself?

The narration had me speeding up to get through it.

All just meh…for me at least. I did learn some things so that was good.

Romance novel

Attempted to slog through the saccharine delivery, intermittent accents, suggested thoughts and conversations of characters to find an actual history of Eiffel. Three chapters in gave up. More fiction than historical fiction.