Patriot's Daughter - A Book Review

Originally published on January 01st, 1960, "Patriot's Daughter: The Story of Anastasia Lafayette" by Gladys Malvern, was reprinted in 2011 as part of the wave of Gladys Malvern historical fiction novels that were being made available to readers once more after being out of print for decades. Gladys Malvern wrote nearly forty-eighty books throughout the course of her writing career and the intent was to bring back all of her nearly four dozen books onto the modern bookshelf. With many of her works such as "The Great Garcias" and "On Golden Wings: The Story of Guiseppe Verdi" being deemed by scholars as culturally important and forming part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. However, a copyright issue arose, and the intent to republish all of her novels was stymied before all of her works could be reprinted. Thankfully, the very insightful, charming, and informative "Patriot's Daughter" is one of

the novels that made it to the publishing shelf prior to when the copyright issue arose.

At 209 pages in length, "Patriot's Daughter: The Story of Anastasia Lafayette" is a historical fiction novel centered around Anastasia Lafayette, the daughter of the renowned Marquis de Lafayette, who was pivotal in garnering French support for the American cause during the American Revolution. An orphan who was one of the richest men in France prior to when his

political activities caught up with him, the Marquis de Lafayette married into the de Noailles family which was also a very wealthy family that formed part of the nobility of France. And throughout the course of the novel, we learn that idealism and the flaunting of some of the conventions of the aristocratic class were present throughout several generations of both sides of Anastasia's family. As her grandmother, the Duchesse d'Ayen was very devoted to her daughters and her church, shunning only the most obligatory of court appearances. While

natural seeming to the present day reader, the Duchess's pattern of raising her daughters close to her was not common for those of her class at the time. With children typically being

raised in separate establishments and growing up barely acquainted with their own parents.

As the story of Anastasia Lafayette unfolds throughout the novel, we learn that at her father's insistence, due to his love for America, she was fully fluent in both English and French by the

age of five. And while set up for an upbringing of privilege, those plans are greatly altered as she grows up during the upheaval of the French Revolution. Seeing her father, the Marquis de Lafayette fall out of favor as the guillotine hungry Robespierre, fearing the popular Marquis could return and usurp his position, brands him a traitor. And Anastasia is placed under house arrest along with her mother in Chauvaniac. Only to be separated from her as her mother is taken off to face the guillotine.

Thankfully, Anatasia's mother is spared the blade of the guillotine by the Monroe family. And upon her release, her mother decides to join her husband, the Marquis de Lafayette, in prison in Austria. With Anastasia and her sister accompanying her, as well. And in prison, Anastasia becomes ill. But the happy Lafayette's are determined to stay together, even under such conditions. And Anastasia eventually recovers.

Of all of the tests to the Lafayette idealism that the Marquis faced, such as being wounded in the leg during the American Revolution, losing his fortune, and being imprisoned in Austria, his biggest test to the ideals of "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité" comes after he and his family are released from prison. For their release is secured by the competent and kindly Charles de

Maubourg, who comes from a respectable family, but not a patrician family. And when Charles and Anastasia fall in-love, the Marquis must decide whether or not to go against the social order of the times and allow the marriage.

Both Fayette County, Alabama and the city of Fayette, Alabama are named after the beloved Marquis de Lafayette who came to Alabama after the Alabama General Assembly passed a

joint resolution inviting him to come to the state. With the Marquis arriving in Alabama in March of 1825 at the Fort Mitchell crossing of the Chattahoochee River.

Available on Amazon in both book form and kindle form, "Patriot's Daughter: The Story of Anastasia Lafayette" by Gladys Malvern can also be obtained at a reasonable price off of eBay.