Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“In taking that photograph, I understood something I will never forget: how I wished to arrest all the beauty that came before me. Not the classical beauty of symmetry and exact proportions or the fancy of fashion, which is ever-changing with the seasons, but the beauty of a soul, that inner life that reveals itself so seldom, just for an instant, and only if you look closely and learn to see with an open heart.”- Belle Epoque, 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 foil.

But 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.

There are three types of YA historical fiction. The first type is the relatively straightforward and serious type, usually dealing with WWII or racism or both in some way. Ruta Sepetys and Elizabeth Wein are probably the two most popular authors of this type. The second type is the fantasy novels that people accidentally shelf as historical fiction because they take place in past (this includes alternative history and time travel novels though I admit that they have more of an excuse). This type appears to be the norm these days (just take a look at the 2018 YA "historical fiction" releases), with authors like Libba Bray and Kirsten White. And then, there's the fun, fluffy guilty pleasure historical fiction novels. Anna Godbersen and Katherine Longshore are two writers I associate with this category.

I'll give you three guesses as to which type this book falls under.

I read this book knowing that it would be something along the same lines as The Luxe, maybe Bright Young Things if I was lucky, which admittedly I never am but still. This wouldn't be high brow literature but instead a juicy, Gossip Girl-esque look into the Belle Epoque, one of my favorite eras in history. 

And still, I was disappointed by the amount of historical fiction tropes. The heroine running from the arranged marriage. The wealthy girl trapped in a gilded cage, whose only desire is to study science and eschew marriage and fashion. The bohemian (and usually socialist, strange) journalist/poet/artist/musician love interest. The endless amounts of frivolous wealthy girls. I usually take issue with these tropes not only because of how tired and played out and pandery they are but also because how almost offensive they seem. I dislike the dismissing of an interest in fashion and beauty as being superficial and frivolous because it is indeed possible to love fashion and not be an idiot. I also disliked how this book seemed to deride social skills in favor of general intelligence, something I often see in YA literature and something I disagree with. And I say that as someone who is (or at least considers herself to be) fairly intelligent yet who is a fish out of water when it comes to socializing. In fact, in a lot of ways I found the Countess to be smarter than Isabelle because she had her society figured out, she knew her place in it and she knew her life would be easier if she was able to change her place in it. I also thought she really just wanted what all mothers want for their children- a better life than they had. 

I also thought some elements were too old fashioned for the time period. Ross made the Belle Epoque, which was roughly around the same time as the turn of the century, seem like it was the Elizabethan days. By the time of the Belle Epoque, the idea of romance marriages had become a thing and arranged marriages, especially a young girl to an older men, were out of fashion because when you are a peasant, does it really matter who your children marry? I mean, sure, there were some exceptions like in Jewish communities with matchmakers and some other more old fashioned countries, but this is France we're talking about, they've always been the (socially, at least) liberal beacon of Europe. And I wasn't entirely sold on the narrative because it felt too modern, though maybe because I was subconsciously comparing it to The Luxe- say what you will about that series, but Godbersen did endeavor to write those books in a style reminiscent of the time they took place and was even successful. One phrase sticks out to me- when Maude describes her experience at the agency as being like the "new girl in school" something that seemed very modern and made me think Ross isn't even trying. 

There was also a lot of what I like to call "wink-wink nudge-nudge" dialogue, mostly surrounding the construction of the Eiffel Tower. For some reason, historical fiction authors often take great delight in having characters, usually the ones we are supposed to think of as being bad, talk about how ugly and horrible something is that is still around in today's world but was thought new back then. The "good" characters will usually defend this new thing. Like if a person in the 1860s starts talking about how cameras, for instance, will never catch on and people will go back to painters soon enough. I dislike this stuff because it seems to solely exist just to make the good characters seem so much better and more enlightened than the bad characters. 

Interestingly enough, there were many descriptions of clothing, but I had a hard time picturing any of the dresses, which is strange because the Belle Epoque is one of my favorite fashion eras.

The ending is also one of those everything works out endings. But I couldn't really be too bothered by it because this is fairly typical YA historical fiction and for some reason that genre takes issue with books like this ending the way they probably would have in actuality. 

I didn't hate this book. Sure, it wasn't really anything special and it wasn't nearly as good as what the summary might have lead us to believe but it was easy to read and decent enough brain candy. It strikes me as kind of a discount Anna Godbersen book, though not as boring as a Katherine Longshore novel. Read it if you have exhausted both The Luxe and Bright Young Things and you just want a fun little afternoon in Belle Epoque France.

5 out of 10