Girls of Many Lands: France: Cecile

The story takes place in France of 1711. Cecile is the daughter of a poor doctor. She has learned to read and write and is an independent young lady. One day she helps a woman who had fallen from a horse and, as a result, ends up serving in the Versailles court of King Louis XIV.

The story does a good job of showing the differences between the life of the peasant class and the life of the rich people who lived in the palace. Some of the types of intrigues that go on in such a place are shown through Cecile's eyes.

Her job, primarily, is to take care of one woman's dogs, but she ends up interacting closely with the King and his family, even helping to save the youngest boy from death at the hands of the ignorant doctors of the time.

She is also shown, though, that there are rules about how people are supposed to behave in the palace and, since she stood up to the doctors, she ends up banished from the palace.

As in the Dear American books, this is a section of information on the history of the times and that also is interesting. A very readable book.

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