A Life Worth Living by Elaine Pryce
A father haunted by his past and the impact of a shocking fact of history upon his life. A mother determined to move on from a still longed-for past, and failing. A fearless Duchess, refusing conformity. A hermit friar, wrestling with his past, and his faith. A daughter unwanted by her mother and denied choice over her life, who finds solace in books and learning - and within an unhappy arranged marriage and heartbreak, a calling of wolves. Each, in their own way, on a quest - driven by a need to resolve the past, to reckon with the present, to create a life worth living. But at what cost?
Set in 17th century France, during the reign of Louis XIVth, in a Europe torn by war, poverty, deadly disease, religious persecution and life-threatening climate change, Jeanne-Marie Bouvier, her family, and surrounding community play out their lives against a background of both the grandeur and brutal realities of the time.