MADEMOISELLE REVOLUTION BCK

T I K B U L C K BOO

DEAR READERS, I lived in the historical fiction section of bookstores from the ages of eight to twenty-eight, reading anything featuring a woman in stays or the tell-tale serif font. I’m a biracial woman raised in a white family, so my identity felt forced into a Western framework of history; but that reality didn’t stop me from my fantasies of a woman like me in French soirees or Italian palazzi.

I thought, based on the narrative laid before me by film and media, that a Black person in any role beyond that of property simply did not exist—and any representations otherwise were “woke” wish fulfillment.

Amateur research and a nuanced education as a young adult, as well as a better grasp of my own Blackness, revealed a different perspective. The whitewashed history I had been presented was fantasy, and the “radical” dream of Black people with agency and power was the truth. And so I invite you to embrace the first of what I hope will be many stories restoring Black and marginalized voices to our collective memory—alongside our favorite historical icons and events.

In Mademoiselle Revolution, Sylvie must grapple with the nature of justice, just as I watched the United States reckon with its degradation of Black lives. And as she strives to reconcile her privilege and lived experience, she endures the terror of the French Revolution.

But even the most noble quests for enlightenment are paved with missteps and wrong turns. I hope you find sympathy for our, albeit challenging,

heroine as she navigates revolution. We are not born with all of the answers: we must seek them out ourselves.

And so, by holding a mirror to the French Revolution, we might see ourselves more clearly. Vive la révolution, and happy reading!

All my best,

ZOE SIVAK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Zoe Sivak advocates for diverse stories and characters in historical fiction. In her writing, she strives to explore famous male figures through the lenses of the women beside them—women who could have existed, even if history left them behind. When not engrossed in historical research, Zoe is pursuing both her Juris Doctor and a master of public health in Philadelphia.

Photo © Happy Hour Headshot 2021

1.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS What are your first impressions of Sylvie?

At what points do you agree or disagree with her perspective?

2.

How does your knowledge of America’s past

slave society compare with the novel’s description of French-controlled Saint-Domingue in the late eighteenth century?

3.

After meeting Blanchard, how

do you think gender influences how someone experiences race? How does intersectionality mold the individual experience

in

France

and

territory of Saint-Domingue?

its

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10.

We only ever get Sylvie’s perspective of enslaved people. What do you think Alice thinks of Sylvie?

At first glance, what are the cultural and societal differences between mainland France and its territory of Saint-Domingue?

Why is Sylvie so intrigued by Robespierre and Cornélie?

How are queerness and sexuality represented in the novel? Did this surprise you? Why or why not?

Does this characterization of the French Revolution match your own view? Do you believe the French Revolution was a triumph?

Who (or what) are the main antagonists? Does this change as we progress through the novel?

Under the influence of Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon reestablished slavery in the French Empire. Does this change your opinion of the success of the Revolution?