The Chaplet of Pearls

by Charlotte Mary Yonge

'The Chaplet of Pearls; or The White and Black Ribaumont' is an historical novel set mainly in France between 1559 and 1594, the period of struggle between Roman Catholics and Protestants following the Reformation. It follows two young lovers, Berenger and Eustacie, who are on opposite sides of the conflict.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical, Historical Fiction, Huguenots

456 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1868

About the author

Charlotte Mary Yonge was an English novelist, known for her huge output, now mostly out of print.

She began writing in 1848, and published during her long life about 160 works, chiefly novels. Her first commercial success, The Heir of Redclyffe (1853), provided the funding to enable the schooner Southern Cross to be put into service on behalf of George Selwyn. Similar charitable works were done with the profits from later novels. Yonge was also a founder and editor for forty years of The Monthly Packet, a magazine (founded in 1851) with a varied readership, but targeted at British Anglican girls (in later years it was addressed to a somewhat wider readership).

Among the best known of her works are The Heir of Redclyffe, Heartsease, and The Daisy Chain. A Book of Golden Deeds is a collection of true stories of courage and self-sacrifice. She also wrote Cameos from English History, Life of John Coleridge Patteson: Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands and Hannah More. Her History of Christian Names was described as "the first serious attempt at tackling the subject" and as the standard work on names in the preface to the first edition of Withycombe's The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 1944.

Her personal example and influence on her god-daughter, Alice Mary Coleridge, played a formative role in Coleridge's zeal for women's education and thus, indirectly, led to the foundation of Abbots Bromley School for Girls.

After her death, her friend, assistant and collaborator, Christabel Coleridge, published the biographical Charlotte Mary Yonge: her Life and Letters (1903).

-Wikipedia

The Charlotte Mary Yonge Fellowship, a website with lots of information.

See Charlotte's character page for books about her.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all-time favorites, one of the books that would go with me to a desert island (or, more relevantly, one of the ones in the small box in the back seat of my van when I moved last!). The young hero is married in childhood to a French heiress. He goes back in early manhood, mostly convinced that he will divorce her to marry an English girl, since she has been in the French court and he has not seen her for years. When he meets her again, however, he falls in love...much to the dismay of the villain of the story! He must overcome incredible obstacles to find her again, after a tragedy brought on by the villain on St. Bartholomew's Day during the famous massacre. Though it is long, I could not put it down, and read it in just three days.

[Sarah Kellogg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Charlotte Mary Yonge and, to be honest, I'm not sure if her writing is for me. I really struggled at the beginning to get a grasp of the story. There are a lot of characters and keeping them all straight was a chore—especially all the M. De Ribaumonts. I kept getting the Baron de Ribaumont and Chevalier de Ribaumont mixed up. I'm still not sure I have them all straight even after finishing the book.

The two main characters felt too pure to me. There was a physical journey but not a spiritual journey. Neither of them went through much growth.

One aspect that I appreciated was that the author never gave much preference to either religous sect. Throughout the novel, the Catholics and Clavinist are at war with one another, but we saw good and evil from both sides.

Overall, this one wasn't for me, but maybe another one of her novels will strike my fancy next Victober...

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

My goodness what a rollercoaster! I was not expecting that much adventure or suspense from Charlotte M Yonge 😂

This is an incredible Victorian historical fiction novel, and while I didn't know much about the time period in which it was set, Yonge described it all so well and created such a vivid atmosphere and sense of place. All of the different places they went and stayed are etched so strongly into my mind! From magnificent court scenes to countryside ruins, it was all so amazingly done.

And the suspense... it took them so so long to find each other! All of the chase scenes and the bits where they were in hiding, particularly when Eustacie escaped from the convent - they had my heart going! I stayed up way too late way too many nights trying to read on to find out if Eustacie or Berenger had really died. I do love a happy ending, I know Yonge likes to kill the occasional main character off but I didn't think even she would be so cruel after all that. There were some surprisingly graphic scenes as well - the aftermath of the massacre at the court was horrific, and the description of the burning of the town Eustacie had been staying in was so tragic.

Then the characters - Berenger started off a bit flat, but he was so honest and grew so much in bravery and moral strength over the course of the book. It was lovely to watch his friendship with his step brother Philip in particular, and see them both grow from boys to men. Eustacie was angelic in some ways, but also believably fiery-tempered, naive and incredibly patient. I loved her relationship with Father Gardon, it was so sweet to see them find in each other the family they'd lost - and Eustacie's love for her daughter was also beautiful. Diane was an interesting one; she started off being a straightforward villain, but as the story progressed she became more morally grey (as did her father) and I felt more sympathy for her - it was interesting to see why she made the choices that she did and her love for Berenger was touching and tragic. Then there's her brother - what an evil guy! I'm glad Berenger got to forgive him. The English family were nicely done, too, although we didn't spend loads of time with them. Aah I keep thinking of more side characters I liked - the guy who managed Eustacie's escape so well, Landry Osbert, the Lucy/Mericour romance, the woman who helped Eustacie give birth... Yonge never fails to create a stunningly large array of believable and compelling characters!

The problems I had with it were mainly to do with Berenger and Eustacie's daughter, Rayonette. I know they were married, but they never openly showed this in France the first time, and then somehow Eustacie was pregnant - Victorian books are always cagey about this stuff so maybe I missed some hints - but when???? and also I appreciate it being on some level cute, but Philip and Rayonette? their age gap must be at least 16 years and he'd spent so much time abroad, how could he get to know her? At least Yonge showed the child marriage at the start to be problematic. I initially thought they'd get it annulled and Berenger would fall in love with someone else, but I was surprised to find myself rooting for Eustacie when he got to the French court. Seeing it work out was nice, although they were still quite young!

I also really liked the balance and tolerance demonstrated in Yonge's depiction of the Catholic/Calvinist conflict in France. Instead of picking a side and vilifying the other, and despite the book and Yonge's clear Protestant sympathies, we were shown a variety of characters of each sect, some sincere and pious, others hypocritical and proud. There were also a variety of characters in between the two extremes, or in the process of questioning and figuring out their beliefs for themselves. It was good to see Berenger upholding tolerance towards different expression of Christianity, recognising true faith in different forms instead of being prejudiced against others for the sake of it.

I would highly recommend this book if you're into historical fiction and can cope with a Victorian take - or if you're into Victorian novels and can cope with an unusual level of suspense and action! I'm sad to be leaving the world of Berenger and Eustacie, although my sleep schedule will probably thank me!