A Girl And Her Chateau

What would you do if you received a phone call today that you had inherited a castle or manor house? A distant relative has passed away and you are the only living heir and it’s someone you didn’t even know about. One minute you are Jane Doe and the next you are Jane of the castle who has everything. This is the theme of my latest book called, A Girl And Her Chateau.

Vivienne De Lacy is the main character and she feels quite ill prepared as she discovers that she is the next chatelaine of the Chateau Des Rosier. Vivienne is a lovely thirty year old who has been left heartbroken after the failure of a prior relationship. She has a flair for the art deco style and wears her hair in a finger wave and dresses in the fashions of the 1920s and 40’s. She has exquisite taste and soon joins a group of chatelaine’s who have left the simple life in England and bought into a piece of France’s history with the purchase of a grand chateau.

She has a background in art, fashion and decorating but this is a huge job. This isn’t just a large two story mansion. This is a 17th century French castle with a 100 rooms and it hasn’t been lived in for thirty years. Where to begin? There are hundreds of jobs to be done. The fairytale stigma soon wears off when Vivienne moves into the house with her two dogs and discovers the horrors of decades and centuries of neglect. It’s not a job for the faint-hearted.

Restoration work is not easy and Vivienne can’t wait to get the fabric and wallpaper swatches out but the underlying work must be done first. Luke the caretaker tells her, “It is a huge job and once you start pulling things apart the sins of the previous generations are revealed,” a statement pretty close to the truth. Vivienne faces renovating every room, heating and plumbing problems. Giant glass window panes need replacing and water is leaking in through the roof.

And sparks fly when Vivienne meets Jack Perry, the gorgeous young man from the chateau Blanc, but they are not just sparks of romance as the pair irritate each other at times and Jack is a bit of a joker full of unusual pranks that leave Vivienne swooning but frustrated. Enjoy this heart warming story as Vivienne restores a French Chateau and goes to glamorous house parties as in the styles of the 1920s.