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Before the Storm
Unable to attract suitably aristocratic suitors in London, a group of beautiful, wealthy and extremely ambitious English heiresses decide to try their luck in Paris instead. Although they initially take the city of light by storm, they soon discover that the glittering facade of social success hides a multitude of sins and iniquities while their own dark secrets could well destroy everything that they have worked so hard to achieve...
Based on The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton, Before the Storm is a tale of passion, betrayal and true love set against the backdrop of the opulent and often treacherous worlds of Georgian London, Versailles and Revolutionary Paris.
‘It was a blissfully warm day. The worst of the heat wave was now over and a light flower scented breeze blew leaves into the pavilion where the party drowsily lazed against cushions, idling listening as Eugène d’Aigueville played his guitar, his eyes fixed on Venetia, who smiled lazily back at him.
Comte Edmond reclined in between Phoebe and Eliza, none of them spoke but the air around them shimmered with tension as both girls subtly did their best to claim his attention for themselves. Phoebe had long since realised that she was fighting a losing battle though and that although he very much enjoyed flirting with her, it was Eliza that he looked for first whenever he walked into a room.
Eliza did not share this view though and kept thinking about Venetia’s wedding day when Phoebe, radiant with sexual confidence had told her that she wouldn’t let her chastity stand in the way of making a good match for herself. She curled her hands into fists every time Comte Edmond and her friend left the room together and tried not to think about what they might be doing. He’d tried to kiss her once, but she’d shoved him away. Perhaps that was a mistake? She looked across at him now as he gazed up at Phoebe and her heart sank.
‘Who is that woman?’ Phoebe said suddenly, shielding her blue eyes as she looked back towards the house.
Venetia followed her gaze and gave a nervous laugh. ‘It’s your landlady, Eliza,’ she said, with a quick look at Edmond, who immediately sat up and automatically began to retie his loosened cravat. ‘Madame de Saint-Georges.’
They all stood up and instinctively, Eliza, Phoebe and Venetia stood close together as Corisande de Saint-Georges hurried across the lawn towards them. She had dressed to impress in a shimmering, rich lace trimmed blue and white striped silk gown, with wide skirts pulled back from flounced flower sprigged white silk underskirts. A huge muslin fichu was arranged around her shoulders and on her elaborately curled, ringleted and backcombed powdered hair was a vast ribbon and flower bedecked white straw hat.
‘Goodness me, she really means business,’ Venetia murmured as they watched this vision of elegance and high fashion approach. She looked back over her shoulder at Edmond, who was standing uneasily behind them, looking as if he desperately wished he could run away. ‘I wonder what she wants?’
Based on The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton, Before the Storm is a tale of passion, betrayal and true love set against the backdrop of the opulent and often treacherous worlds of Georgian London, Versailles and Revolutionary Paris.
‘It was a blissfully warm day. The worst of the heat wave was now over and a light flower scented breeze blew leaves into the pavilion where the party drowsily lazed against cushions, idling listening as Eugène d’Aigueville played his guitar, his eyes fixed on Venetia, who smiled lazily back at him.
Comte Edmond reclined in between Phoebe and Eliza, none of them spoke but the air around them shimmered with tension as both girls subtly did their best to claim his attention for themselves. Phoebe had long since realised that she was fighting a losing battle though and that although he very much enjoyed flirting with her, it was Eliza that he looked for first whenever he walked into a room.
Eliza did not share this view though and kept thinking about Venetia’s wedding day when Phoebe, radiant with sexual confidence had told her that she wouldn’t let her chastity stand in the way of making a good match for herself. She curled her hands into fists every time Comte Edmond and her friend left the room together and tried not to think about what they might be doing. He’d tried to kiss her once, but she’d shoved him away. Perhaps that was a mistake? She looked across at him now as he gazed up at Phoebe and her heart sank.
‘Who is that woman?’ Phoebe said suddenly, shielding her blue eyes as she looked back towards the house.
Venetia followed her gaze and gave a nervous laugh. ‘It’s your landlady, Eliza,’ she said, with a quick look at Edmond, who immediately sat up and automatically began to retie his loosened cravat. ‘Madame de Saint-Georges.’
They all stood up and instinctively, Eliza, Phoebe and Venetia stood close together as Corisande de Saint-Georges hurried across the lawn towards them. She had dressed to impress in a shimmering, rich lace trimmed blue and white striped silk gown, with wide skirts pulled back from flounced flower sprigged white silk underskirts. A huge muslin fichu was arranged around her shoulders and on her elaborately curled, ringleted and backcombed powdered hair was a vast ribbon and flower bedecked white straw hat.
‘Goodness me, she really means business,’ Venetia murmured as they watched this vision of elegance and high fashion approach. She looked back over her shoulder at Edmond, who was standing uneasily behind them, looking as if he desperately wished he could run away. ‘I wonder what she wants?’
237 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 16, 2012
14 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Melanie Clegg
14 books311 followersInternational woman of history, biographer, posh doomer, chaotic good, anxious, ENFP, flame haired Robespierre, Scottish, a sweet titbit for the Devil's mouth.
To date, my published books include biographies of Marie de Guise, Henrietta Anne of England, Margaret Tudor and Empress Alexandra of Russia, all of which were published by Pen and Sword Books.
My next book, a biography of Madame Élisabeth, sister of Louis XVI, is due to be published by Pen and Sword Books in the summer of 2023.
After this, I am contracted to write about women guillotined during the French Revolution, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, Marie Antoinette, Madame Royale, Louis XVI and the daughters of Louis XIV.
To date, my published books include biographies of Marie de Guise, Henrietta Anne of England, Margaret Tudor and Empress Alexandra of Russia, all of which were published by Pen and Sword Books.
My next book, a biography of Madame Élisabeth, sister of Louis XVI, is due to be published by Pen and Sword Books in the summer of 2023.
After this, I am contracted to write about women guillotined during the French Revolution, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, Marie Antoinette, Madame Royale, Louis XVI and the daughters of Louis XIV.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 31, 2018
This review can also be found on my blog
I had put off reading this book for a while because I had only recently read the author’s Blood Sisters about three aristocratic sisters, caught up in the French revolution. The blurb of Before the Storm made it sound like it would be a very similar story. It’s true that I probably would have guessed that both books were written by the same author, even if I hadn’t known it. Adélaïde from Blood Sisters has much in common with Clementine from Before the Storm. They both grew up in a family with very traditional views about what women should and shouldn’t do and are unhappy with that.
Both books feature a character that is a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and those character witnesses both the March on Versailles and the storming of the Tuileries. The descriptions of these events are very similar in both books. But then they do describe the same event. And while Adélaïde and Clementine have very similar characters, their journeys are very different. (And the other characters have much fewer similarities with those in Blood Sisters).
Before the Storm is a retelling of Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers, a book I have not read, yet (but definitely want to do now). So I can’t tell how closely it resembles it and – more importantly – if some of the things that bothered me about this book are perhaps the ‘fault’ of the original. For example, in one chapter a character thinks about marriage and says that she might never want to marry. Then there’s a time-jump and in the next chapter, she has been unhappily married for a while. In hindsight, her motivations become a bit clearer but it still is clumsily done.
And being told things only after they happened is one of the general problems of this book. In one dramatic scene, one of the characters tells her husband that she intends to leave him. The next time they meet, she says she wants to make another attempt at saving their marriage. Then we are told that she has thought about how she would become a social outcast as a woman who left her husband and that she couldn’t bear that thought. A perfectly valid reason, especially in the 18th century, but we don’t see her making that decision, just the result of it. Some parts of the book could have benefitted from having more depth. Additionally, the book started off as one about a number of different women but over the course of it, most of them got sidelined. At the end, it was mostly about one of them and we got the occasional mention of what the rest had been up to in the meantime.
So do I wish this book had been longer and told us more about the things happening, instead of summing them up afterwards? Yes. Did I enjoy it anyway? Definitely. It was a fun read that kept me turning the pages (and grumble at anybody who tried to talk to me while reading because I need to know what happens next).
“There’s something in the air…”
Madame d’Albret nodded. “It’s the calm before the storm. And when the storm comes, nothing will ever be the same again.”
I had put off reading this book for a while because I had only recently read the author’s Blood Sisters about three aristocratic sisters, caught up in the French revolution. The blurb of Before the Storm made it sound like it would be a very similar story. It’s true that I probably would have guessed that both books were written by the same author, even if I hadn’t known it. Adélaïde from Blood Sisters has much in common with Clementine from Before the Storm. They both grew up in a family with very traditional views about what women should and shouldn’t do and are unhappy with that.
Both books feature a character that is a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and those character witnesses both the March on Versailles and the storming of the Tuileries. The descriptions of these events are very similar in both books. But then they do describe the same event. And while Adélaïde and Clementine have very similar characters, their journeys are very different. (And the other characters have much fewer similarities with those in Blood Sisters).
Before the Storm is a retelling of Edith Wharton’s The Buccaneers, a book I have not read, yet (but definitely want to do now). So I can’t tell how closely it resembles it and – more importantly – if some of the things that bothered me about this book are perhaps the ‘fault’ of the original. For example, in one chapter a character thinks about marriage and says that she might never want to marry. Then there’s a time-jump and in the next chapter, she has been unhappily married for a while. In hindsight, her motivations become a bit clearer but it still is clumsily done.
And being told things only after they happened is one of the general problems of this book. In one dramatic scene, one of the characters tells her husband that she intends to leave him. The next time they meet, she says she wants to make another attempt at saving their marriage. Then we are told that she has thought about how she would become a social outcast as a woman who left her husband and that she couldn’t bear that thought. A perfectly valid reason, especially in the 18th century, but we don’t see her making that decision, just the result of it. Some parts of the book could have benefitted from having more depth. Additionally, the book started off as one about a number of different women but over the course of it, most of them got sidelined. At the end, it was mostly about one of them and we got the occasional mention of what the rest had been up to in the meantime.
So do I wish this book had been longer and told us more about the things happening, instead of summing them up afterwards? Yes. Did I enjoy it anyway? Definitely. It was a fun read that kept me turning the pages (and grumble at anybody who tried to talk to me while reading because I need to know what happens next).
April 8, 2016
I really, really enjoyed this book. It is well written, flows beautifully and quickly becomes addictive. A friend of mine described it as a ‘grower’, and I think this assessment is spot on. There are unexpected little twists and a few hand up to your mouth SHOCK moments as we discover everyone’s secrets. Scenes with more than two speakers are not complicated; no-one skulks off to a corner while the other two talk (a common irk for me). The period detail is clearly very carefully researched, the descriptions of the characters surroundings and their clothes are meticulous and paint a lovely picture in your mind.
The scenes towards the end of the novel are set against the beginning of the French Revolution. These scenes were particularly good, and I really got a feel for the tension that was in the air, and the fear in the hearts of the royal family and French aristocracy.
There are some very large time jumps between chapters as the novel progresses, so it important to pay attention to the year at the head of each chapter as you read through the novel. (I admit it, twice I had to flick back to check my years. I was too keen to get more story!) The time jumps do keep the story flowing and relieves the reader of any boredom. Readers get lots of action, which is what we want.
This is an excellent novel and I highly recommend it. Melanie Clegg’s novel of ‘posh doom‘ certainly delivers.
April 25, 2017
Before the Storm follows 2 English sisters and 2 or 3 of their friends as they and their mothers persue their quest for a husband in the period before the French Revolution. They all end up in Paris and find French titled men, and we follow their lives through some of the Revolutionary period as well. I think I enjoyed the first half of the book over the second half. The second part jumps ahead from the very early days of the Revolution to a point about 3 years later. I found that a bit jarring when the younger of the two sisters was smiling at one young Duc, clearly smitten, and in the next half is married to someone completely different. I'm not sure if I missed something or my ebook was missing something or if we just jump in and continue on.
That aside, the young women in the story are well drawn out if not in depth but I enjoyed the characters and the descriptions of life in Bath, London and Paris of that time period. You can tell it's well researched for detail.
That aside, the young women in the story are well drawn out if not in depth but I enjoyed the characters and the descriptions of life in Bath, London and Paris of that time period. You can tell it's well researched for detail.
Want to read
April 13, 2012Free on Kindle today too. 4.13.12. THanks Misfit!
April 21, 2014
This book started out well enough, but it took a long time for things to happen and for the girls to move to Paris. The chapters jumped from a couple months to a couple years, and it was very jarring. For instance, one minute Clementine is a strong-willed 16 year old who has no interest in getting married, then you turn the page to see it's a year later and she's unhappily married to a Duc. Ummm....ok.
And I must say, Clementine as a married young woman is COMPLETELY unlikable. She's childish and immature. She CHOSE to marry the Duc (even though she was in love with someone else), yet she doesn't want any part of marital relations and seems put out by the fact that her husband expects it. Fine. Sex with your husband back then wasn't always fun, I get it. However I totally lost all respect and patience for her when she had the gall to ask her husband for a huge sum of money (to lend to a friend in need), yet refused to tell him what it was for. Then when he came to her that night expecting to get some, she rebuffed him yet again! Is it really any surprise he lost his cool?? He just handed over a large bag of cash not knowing what it was for, and she STILL refuses to do her wifely duties, whining about how she's too young (she's 18)...well she wasn't too young to marry one of the richest men in France! It's a shame...I really liked Clementine in the beginning, but I could barely tolerate her in the end. And her sister, Eliza, just turned into a shrew. She was really nasty by the end of the story.
Overall, the book wasn't terrible, but more of a silly little story about silly little English girls whose mother is obsessed with finding them titled husbands. Then shocker...things don't work out quite the way they hoped. This book may be styled after Edith Wharton's 'The Buccaneers', but it doesn't compare AT ALL. I don't know that I'd recommend this to anyone since it's such a frivolous, mindless read, but maybe as something to take to the beach or on an airplane. It's not a book that requires much attention, so it's good for killing time I guess.
And I must say, Clementine as a married young woman is COMPLETELY unlikable. She's childish and immature. She CHOSE to marry the Duc (even though she was in love with someone else), yet she doesn't want any part of marital relations and seems put out by the fact that her husband expects it. Fine. Sex with your husband back then wasn't always fun, I get it. However I totally lost all respect and patience for her when she had the gall to ask her husband for a huge sum of money (to lend to a friend in need), yet refused to tell him what it was for. Then when he came to her that night expecting to get some, she rebuffed him yet again! Is it really any surprise he lost his cool?? He just handed over a large bag of cash not knowing what it was for, and she STILL refuses to do her wifely duties, whining about how she's too young (she's 18)...well she wasn't too young to marry one of the richest men in France! It's a shame...I really liked Clementine in the beginning, but I could barely tolerate her in the end. And her sister, Eliza, just turned into a shrew. She was really nasty by the end of the story.
Overall, the book wasn't terrible, but more of a silly little story about silly little English girls whose mother is obsessed with finding them titled husbands. Then shocker...things don't work out quite the way they hoped. This book may be styled after Edith Wharton's 'The Buccaneers', but it doesn't compare AT ALL. I don't know that I'd recommend this to anyone since it's such a frivolous, mindless read, but maybe as something to take to the beach or on an airplane. It's not a book that requires much attention, so it's good for killing time I guess.
March 27, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Having recently read The Secret Diary of a Princess by Melanie Clegg, which I loved, I thought I'd like to read more. I'm glad I did. I'm going to download Blood Sisters next.
The style of writing flows brilliantly. I felt that the characters had real personalities and were really well developed. The descriptions of buildings, places, people, clothing etc were all really rich and in depth, allowing me to really feel the story and picture the scenes.
I find the period of the French Revolution to be fascinating anyway so any book based around it is worth a look at in my opinion. However, this was really worth a look.
I really liked Clementine, she was a nice character yet not perfect. She felt real. As did Venetia. The Governess was also very real and well developed.
The storyline twists and turns and is extremely eventful. At no point in this book did I feel bored or uninterested.
Plus, to make this book extra delicious, all the ladies had amazingly beautiful names which I loved.
The style of writing flows brilliantly. I felt that the characters had real personalities and were really well developed. The descriptions of buildings, places, people, clothing etc were all really rich and in depth, allowing me to really feel the story and picture the scenes.
I find the period of the French Revolution to be fascinating anyway so any book based around it is worth a look at in my opinion. However, this was really worth a look.
I really liked Clementine, she was a nice character yet not perfect. She felt real. As did Venetia. The Governess was also very real and well developed.
The storyline twists and turns and is extremely eventful. At no point in this book did I feel bored or uninterested.
Plus, to make this book extra delicious, all the ladies had amazingly beautiful names which I loved.
October 7, 2014
I enjoyed this book very much. I went on to read the author's other books because I liked it so much. It is well written and gave me a glimpse into how life might have been during the French Revolution for the privileged and nobility.
I must point out however that large chunks of the book are taken from Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers. Clegg does credit that book but it's a bit disconcerting for me to find out when reading The Buccaneers later on that scenes, events and characters in Before the Storm are very imitative of Wharton's book.
Still I did enjoy it and I look forward to the sequel to Minnette.
I must point out however that large chunks of the book are taken from Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers. Clegg does credit that book but it's a bit disconcerting for me to find out when reading The Buccaneers later on that scenes, events and characters in Before the Storm are very imitative of Wharton's book.
Still I did enjoy it and I look forward to the sequel to Minnette.
November 6, 2014
This book started with promise with detailed setting and introduction to characters, then it just kept jumping ahead skipping parts of the characters lives and felt like it had just not got started when it suddenly ends. There were some events that seemed significant but then were never followed up.
Certain characters are suddenly in relationships with other characters we do do not know so it is difficult to care about.
I am disappointed with books available to borrow with Amazon prime lending library.
Certain characters are suddenly in relationships with other characters we do do not know so it is difficult to care about.
I am disappointed with books available to borrow with Amazon prime lending library.
October 25, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing was engaging and flowed well, the characters were well drawn and mostly enjoyable to read about. And thankfully unlike so many historical novels both the time period and the setting were clearly well researched and vividly drawn and detailed. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the life and times of people in revolutionary Paris and aristocrats (and well written women in general) teetering on the edge.
January 18, 2014
An enjoyable read about a time period I love. I wasn't entirely sure where the story was going because it spends great deal of time setting up the characters in England before it heads to France. I liked the characters and seeing how they change/grow.
July 1, 2013
I enjoyed this story. Melanie Cleft is becoming a new favorite if mine.
April 8, 2015
Melanie Clegg just keeps getting better!!!
July 10, 2016
I found it mediocre. I think many writers trying to write this genre, fall a bit short.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews