Julianne Edwards

“Moving and fiercely clever. . . a triumph of storytelling.”
—Clare Leslie Hall, New York Times bestselling author of Broken Country

A mesmerizing coming-of-age story of an extraordinary young woman in turn-of-the-century France as she rises to find a life she’d never dreamed possible

She had always felt that she must stay in the shadows, that if she asked for little, she could not feel loss. But here was life and joy.

It’s 1896 in Sèvres, France and, from her bedroom window, Odette Huré watches a funeral procession carry her father’s coffin away. She is twenty-one and she has not left the house for ten years.

Odette looks on as her life passes, reading and soothing herself with food. But with the sudden death of her father, the walls she has built around herself begin to crumble. Forced into the world, she discovers to her horror that she is responsible for her father’s considerable fortune and his celebrated stockings factory—renowned for its exquisite designs that adorn the slender ankles of Parisian femmes célèbres.

Now Odette must try and navigate the world she has hidden from for so long. In doing so, she will unearth secrets left behind by her father and the shocking truth of her own identity. With the help of an unorthodox found family, she will discover all that she is capable of. Odette is a heroine for the ages—complex and flawed, but compelling and full of warmth—and we share her joy as she begins to soar.