by Linda Urbach
RHRC: The fabrics and fashion in this novel are so vividly described that I never had trouble picturing what the characters were wearing or talking about—and I wanted every single one of those gowns that Worth and Berthe create! Tell us about your personal favorite Victorian dress.
LU: That’s hard. I have a big fat file of Victorian dresses I downloaded from two wonderful websites about Godey’s Lady’s Book. The periodical came out every month for years and years. The illustrations and descriptions are absolutely delicious. What the women didn’t possess in personal freedom they made up for in ribbons and ruffles. Here’s one of my favorite descriptions:
Evening dress of straw-colored silk, the skirt trimmed with four flounces of Brussels lace, and caught up with small bouquets. The bouquet for the waist is of the same flowers as the wreath, as is usual in full evening costume. [What’s a wreath? We must use our imagination here.] Wreaths of purple heath, or mingled blossoms of aquatic plants, are the most fashionable this season. The heath is worn with ringlets, and made to droop at the side, while the others form small bouquets. Flowers are the most simple and natural ornaments a young lady can wear. [Yes!]
I love the fashion, the furniture, the hairstyles of those times. Women knew how to dress. Even the most humble of frocks had a style. In my opinion, no other era in fashion was quite as becoming to the female form.
RHRC: Did you know you were going to write about Charles Frederick Worth when you started this book?
LU: Not really. Actually, I didn’t meet Monsieur Worth until more than halfway through my first draft of the book. I knew that Berthe was headed for the world of fashion, but little did I imagine that she would one day end up employed by the world’s first great couturier. I should have realized he would play a big part in the book, of course. Who else had more influence on the world of fashion than he did? The man was a genius. When I discovered that he hadn’t gone to France until he was nineteen years old, I thought back to what a hard time I had with the language when I lived in Paris at around the same age. Needless to say, Worth ends up speaking French in the novel almost as poorly as I did.
RHRC: I’m curious about Millet, as well. How did he end up in the novel?
LU: Although Millet painted his famous The Gleaners five years after I placed him in Berthe’s life, I couldn’t resist manipulating the dates so that they could meet. Who better to encounter on a summer day in the beautiful French countryside than this brilliant, iconic artist of that era and place? Millet was truly a man of the country. He honored the homespun that Berthe’s grandmother forces her to wear and featured it in the dresses of the gleaners. He never forgot his family, who gave up their life savings to support his studies in art. What a striking counterpoint to Berthe’s own struggles to rise above her circumstances! It’s interesting to note, too, that Millet was an important source of inspiration for Van Gogh as well as Monet, as you can see in Monet’s paintings of the Normandy coast. There was so much going on in France artistically during that period that has continued to influence our culture today.
RHRC: Now here’s something many readers might be curious about: Armand. Are you with him or against him?
LU: By the end of the book I still hadn’t decided whether Berthe should end up with Armand or not. As with any relationship there are pros and cons. On the plus side, he is handsome, talented, on his way to having a very successful career as an artist, and, oh yes, the father of her child. On the minus side, he is self-centered, temperamental, and unfaithful—the kind of classic “bad boy” that women through the ages have fallen for. By the time Armand comes back onto the scene, Berthe is enjoying a full and happy life. Is there room in that life for him? I just could never decide, so I left it up to the reader to imagine what happens to them after the last page of the book is turned.
RHRC: How do you think Flaubert would feel about your sequel? If you could sit down for a drink with him, what would you want to know?
LU: Honestly, I think he would hate it. He was a craftsman. Every word was edged in gold. It took him more than four and a half years to write his masterpiece, Madame Bovary. Not that I didn’t sweat over Madame Bovary’s Daughter, but, hey, Flaubert’s novel is often considered one of the two greatest novels ever written, second only to Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.
As a writer I am humbled by Flaubert’s genius. I would be terrified to sit across the table from him. According to author Lydia Davis in the introduction to her highly acclaimed new translation of Madame Bovary, he was known to “bellow … while having dinner with friends.” Flaubert was a notorious perfectionist in his writing, always searching for le mot juste (the right word). I think if I were to sit down for a drink with him, I would be rendered sans voix (speechless).
Questions and Topics for Discussion
1. Berthe spends part of her life in the countryside, part in small cities, and part in Paris. In what ways does each setting affect her personally? How does each come to influence her work and her choices?
2. Discuss Jean-François Millet’s role in Berthe’s life. What did you learn from Millet’s paintings about the class issues of the period? Are those issues still relevant today? In what ways does Millet inspire Berthe, and how, if at all, does he hold her back?
3. Discuss Berthe’s relationship with Hélène throughout the book. How are the two girls alike? How are they different? How is Hélène important to the story?
4. Do you think Berthe was justified in stealing when she worked at the mill? What would you have done if you were in her position?
5. Emma Bovary was a notorious romance reader, and those stories are frequently blamed for her downfall. Do you agree or disagree? If you’ve read Madame Bovary, compare and contrast Flaubert’s depiction of Emma Bovary with Linda Urbach’s portrayal. Why was literature so important to Madame Bovary? What does Berthe take from her mother’s love of romance novels? How are books and reading significant to her own life? Discuss your own approach to literature: Do you expect a novel to reflect life as it really is or to present a fantasy of how life might be?
6. Discuss Berthe’s relationship with Madame Rappelais. Why does she seduce Berthe? Why does Berthe feel so conflicted about it? Did the author’s reversal of gender roles vis-à-vis Madame and Monsieur Rappelais surprise you? What was the author able to explore in their relationships with Berthe that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise?
7. During the dinner party scene, Millet and Charles Frederick Worth disagree vehemently about what qualifies as art. Whose position do you support, and why? Do you think that art still contributes as vitally to shifts in society’s thinking today as it did in the nineteenth century?
8. Madame Bovary’s Daughter can be regarded as metafiction in the way it continues Flaubert’s story as well as prompts readers to consider the themes of the original novel in a new context. Linda Urbach has created a rich intersection between literature, art, and fashion; by setting a story about another author’s fictional character amid real historical figures, in what ways has she encouraged readers to examine the cultural and societal contexts in which novels are written?
9. Why does it take Berthe so long to quit her job in the Rappelais household? What keeps her there? In what ways did the lives of Victorian women, as portrayed in the novel, differ from those of women today?
10. Berthe is one of the first women to work in the Paris fashion world. How is her background a challenge as she rises professionally? How does it help her?
11. Why does Worth take Berthe back after the public snafu with Cora Pearl? What does Berthe learn from the incident?
12. Compare Armand and Boulanger. In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they different? How was Berthe’s relationship with Armand shaped by her mother’s relationship with Boulanger?
13. Do you think Berthe has a moral compass? If so, where did she get it? Discuss some of the influences in her life and what she has learned about morals from each of them.
14. Why is owning a home so important to
Berthe? What does it signify to her?
15. Ultimately, how was Berthe like her mother? How was she different? If you have read Madame Bovary, is this what you would have expected for Berthe’s life?
16. What kind of mother will Berthe be? What does the future hold for Berthe and Armand? For Berthe’s daughter?
About the Author
LINDA URBACH is the founder of MoMoirs Writing Workshops For & About Moms. She lives in Black Rock, Connecticut.
