‘Hi, Mum. Hi, Kara. Hiya, Tim. Yes, it was great,’ replied Tilly. ‘Guess what, Mum? I got my French Revolution assignment back, and I got full marks!’
Tilly pulled the assignment out of her bag, waving it in the air like a victory flag.
‘Full marks!’ exclaimed Juliette. ‘I didn’t think they gave full marks for assignments.’
Tilly read the teacher’s comment aloud: ‘“A stunning essay, showing a detailed and perceptive understanding of the causes and effects of the French Revolution – one hundred per cent. Excellent work, Tilly.” Isn’t that great?’
Juliette grabbed the paper from Tilly and read the comment for herself, hardly daring to believe it was true.
‘That’s wonderful, Tilly,’ cried Juliette. ‘Congratulations. Kara didn’t write it for you, did she?’
Kara laughed. ‘Certainly not,’ she replied, shaking her head. ‘Tilly did it all by herself.’
Tilly grinned, pulling up a stool to sit at the bench.
‘And I got an A for my French test today,’ Tilly continued proudly. ‘My teacher couldn’t believe it!’
‘I can’t believe it either,’ replied Juliette in surprise. ‘You failed the last two.’
‘I know, but I love French now,’ Tilly said. ‘It is such a beautiful language. I didn’t really see the point before.’
Juliette sat down and shook her head in mock horror. ‘Okay, Kara, what did you do with my daughter? I think you’ve sent me home a changeling! I swear she is a different child.’
‘I didn’t do anything, I promise,’ swore Kara, holding up both hands. ‘I took Tilly shopping – that was all. Just like you, all she needed was a little break from everything.’
Juliette smiled. ‘Well done, Tilly. I’m so proud of you. And you remembered to unpack the dishwasher this morning. Now all we need is a miracle with maths and my life will be perfect!’
Tilly shook her head. Now that would be too much to ask.
‘Mum, would it be okay if I asked Maddie over tomorrow?’ Tilly asked. ‘I haven’t had her over for ages.’
‘Sure,’ agreed Juliette. ‘That would be lovely. I’ve missed Maddie.’
Tilly suddenly noticed that Kara was wearing the ruby talisman.
‘You’re wearing Amelie’s ruby,’ cried Tilly longingly.
‘I thought I’d wear it again,’ agreed Kara. ‘I’d forgotten about it until you came to stay last weekend and we started talking about the French Revolution. It’s too beautiful to moulder away in a safe. I felt like being adventurous today, so I thought Amelie-Mathilde’s spirit might help me.’
Tilly laughed, wondering what adventures Kara might have been up to in Annandale.
‘I’ve always loved the story of Amelie-Mathilde,’ added Juliette. ‘I used to love it when Nanna would tell it to us. I always wondered how a young orphan girl managed to escape across France during that terrible time. She must have been so brave.’
A vision of Amelie with her gurgling laugh came to Tilly, and she smiled.
‘No, I don’t think it was because she was brave,’ Tilly replied with conviction. ‘I think Amelie was just an ordinary girl like me. She just had really good friends who loved her.’
‘With friends you can achieve anything,’ Juliette agreed, squeezing Tilly’s hand.
‘Absolument,’ said Tilly with a grin.
Fast Facts on the French Revolution
• The French Revolution, and the subsequent Reign of Terror, lasted from July 1789 to 1794. The major causes of the revolution were high taxation of the working classes, starvation and the contrasting extravagance of the nobles, who did not pay taxes.
• During this five-year period, about forty thousand men, women and children were killed.
• In eighteenth-century France, one in three babies died before their first birthday, mostly through infectious diseases exacerbated by poor diets.
• Half of all children died before the age of ten, and average life expectancy was less than thirty years old.
•It was a common practice to send babies to live with wet nurses in the country, who were paid to breastfeed and raise infants. This practice was not just among wealthy, aristocratic families, but also among middle- and working-class families. Many of these babies died through neglect and disease.
• Children usually went out to work at the age of twelve or fourteen, although children would work for the family before that with household chores, harvesting and animal husbandry. Girls would work as lacemakers, seamstresses, weavers, servants, spinners, laundresses, milkmaids and so on.
• Nearly half the married women died during childbirth. Most women had five or six pregnancies.
• Eighty per cent of French people lived in rural areas.
• The French nobles or aristocrats numbered about nine thousand families, which was approximately one per cent of the population.
• In the 1780s, Paris was the third-largest city in Europe, with a population of half a million people.
• About six thousand people lived in the Palace of Versailles. The palace has two thousand windows, seven hundred rooms, twelve hundred fireplaces, sixty-seven staircases and thirteen hundred fountains in the gardens. The stables held six hundred horses.
• Marie-Antoinette introduced bathing to France – she had one of the few flushing toilets in Versailles.
• On October 5, 1789, the market women of Paris marched on Versailles, threatening to kill Queen Marie-Antoinette. She escaped through a secret door in her bedchamber to the King’s room. The Royal Family was taken to live at the Palace of the Tuilleries in Paris, then later, after a failed escape attempt, imprisoned at the Temple Tower.
• King Louis XVI was guillotined on Monday, January 21, 1793, and Queen Marie-Antoinette was guillotined at 12.15 pm on Wednesday, October 16, 1793. Many people commented on the bravery and composure the Queen showed as she was led to her execution. Dauphin Louis Charles died at the age of ten of illness and neglect. His sister, Marie-Therese, was released at the age of seventeen to marry her cousin.
• The aristocrats were often referred to as ‘blue bloods’. It is thought that this name arose because you could clearly see the blue veins under the aristocrats’ fine, white skin, as opposed to the toiling peasants who had rough, sun-coarsened skin.
•Many of the bodies of those killed during the revolution were thrown down into the catacombs – the tunnels under Paris – including one of Marie-Antoinette’s best friends, the Princesse de Lamballe, and King Louis XVI’s sister Elizabeth.
Acknowledgements
I have always been fascinated with the French Revolution and the beautiful and tragic Queen Marie-Antoinette. This fascination was deepened in 2007 when I spent several weeks living and travelling in France, exploring the catacomb tunnels under the streets of Paris, wandering the gilded salons of Versailles and experiencing Paris and the surrounding countryside. As I stood in the dank, dark tunnels of the catacombs – surrounded by the skulls and bones of people killed during the Revolution– I decided I must write a book set during this tumultuous time.
While much of this story is my imagination running wild, much of it is also based on real people and true events, particularly the violence and bloodshed surrounding the fall of the Bastille and the start of the French Revolution. To research this story I read many books, both non-fiction and fiction. Some of these were written by people who experienced the Revolution firsthand, such as Memoirs of the Private Life of Marie-Antoinette by Madame Campan (1818). Others were written many, many years later, such as Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser (2001), all of which gave me lots of facts to base my story on.
As always, this book comes to life with the help of so many people, particularly my avid proofreaders and fellow researchers – Rob, Nick, Emily and Lachie. To Zoe Walton and Brandon VanOver at Random House – thanks once again for all your hard work.
And for all the kids, parents and even grandparents who have emailed me and written to m
e – inspiring me to keep writing – thank you!
About the Author
Belinda Murrell comes from a very literary family, with a history of Australian writers stretching back 180 years – her great-great-great-great-grandmother Charlotte Atkinson published the first Australian children’s book in 1841, and her sister Kate Forsyth and brother Nick Humphrey are both published writers.
While Belinda studied Children’s Literature at Macquarie University and has been a professional writer for more than twenty years, her passion for children’s books was reignited when she had her own three children and began telling and writing stories for Nick, Emily and Lachlan. She is also inspired by her travels around Australia and the world. Some of the family’s recent adventures include living with an Aboriginal family on the remote Dampier Peninsula, staying on vast outback cattle stations, sailing the islands of the Barrier Reef, fossicking for gold and gemstones and exploring the Strzelecki Desert.
Belinda lives in Manly in a beautiful old cottage overlooking the sea with her husband Rob, three gorgeous children and lots of animals including a brave and loyal Rhodesian Ridgeback called Asha, who was the inspiration for a character in one of her books.
Find out more about Belinda at her website:
www.belindamurrell.com.au
THE LOCKET OF DREAMS
When Sophie falls asleep wearing a locket that belonged to her grandmother’s great-grandmother, she magically travels back to 1858 to learn the truth about the mysterious Charlotte Mackenzie.
Charlotte and her sister, Nell, live a wonderful life on a misty Scottish island. Then disaster strikes and it seems the girls will lose everything they love. Why were the sisters sent to live with strangers? Did their uncle steal their inheritance? And what happened to the priceless sapphire – the Star of Serendib?
Sophie shares in the girls’ adventures as they outwit greedy relatives, escape murderous bushrangers, and fight storm and fire. But how will her travels in time affect Sophie’s own life?
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THE QUEST FOR THE SUN GEM
BOOK ONE IN THE SUN SWORD TRILOGY
After their village is attacked, a young brother and sister set off on a dangerous quest to save their captured family and friends – and free their land from the Sedah invaders. Where are Ethan and Lily’s parents being held? And where have the Sun Sword and its magical gems been hidden?
Joined by their friend Saxon and the determined Princess Roana, Ethan and Lily must solve puzzles and riddles, escape legendary sea monsters and outwit bandits along the way. But the greatest threat to the children is the sinister Sedah tracker, Sniffer, who is close on their trail...
Can the four friends find the sun gem – before the Sedah can find them?
The Quest for the Sun Gem, The Voyage of the Owl and The Snowy Tower available at all good booksellers!
The Ruby Talisman Page 20