Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Isabelle and her family make lace in the town of Versailles. They're behind on their rent and work to keep up with the bills. If only they could get someone from the royal household wearing their lace, then they might stand a chance.

When Isabelle delivers some lace to the palace, she purposely takes a wrong turn to view more of the castle. She bumps into Marie Antoinette, who introduces the young girl to her daughter. The princess and Isabelle become friends and Isabelle changes from the lacemaker to a member of the royal household each day she visits, only to return to reality when she leaves for the day. Problems at home force Isabelle to take over the family business and to live the life she's come to despise.

Then she hears grumbling from the townsfolk and even her brother. There's talk of a revolution of change for the common people. Isabelle defends her friend without question, but soon she hears and sees things that make her mind whirl. Can friendship conquer family?

This story addresses the question of loyalty and what happens when you're torn between two sides. An alternative look at the court of Marie Antoinette is also entertaining. THE LACEMAKER AND THE PRINCESS is a historical novel that fans of the new movie Marie Antoinette will enjoy.

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Children's historical fiction set in the time of the French Revolution - Isabelle and her mother and grandmother make lace to sell to fashionable ladies in Versailles, and while making a delivery to the court, Isabelle gets chosen by Marie Antoinette to be a playmate to her daughter Marie Therese. While Isabelle and her family struggle to have enough to live on, she observes the the careless luxury and waste that the royal family and the court don't even think of, and the resentment from the people in the city those who serve the courtiers in menial ways as stablemen, candle lighters, scullery maids and so forth. Adequate story, not great.

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I really enjoyed this book, written for children, showing some of the unrest in France just before the French Revolution. I appreciated a look at Marie Antoinette that went beyond the jesting that is more common.

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I really, really liked this book. I am a mom, with an 8 year old daughter. I wanted to read it before she did and I enjoyed it immensely.

One can learn a lot about the time of Marie Antionette and the differences in classes. How hard some needed to work while royalty were pampered. Naturally that disparity still exists, but the message might be more easily absorbed as a girl reads this book and develops feelings for Isabelle, the lacemaker. While Theresa, the "princess", doesn't necessarily understand those living in poor conditions, never having been hungry, she does begin to see and comprehend through her relationships with her 2 friends of lower class. And even more so when the masses come to rebel and threaten the royal family's safety.

This book held my interest the entire time. There is some blood at the end (revolutions are usually not pretty), but in my opinion was appropriate in its detail.

I highly recommend this book!

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I liked this book very much, but the cover implied it was a true story. The Lacemaker is fictious, not a person Marie Antoinette knew. The true event was the French Revolution. I think this book is a wonderful introduction to the period for a young reader, as it is well researched and well written.

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