Brigitte is complacent and comfortable in her life - until she loses her job (where she has loyally served) and her boyfriend of 6 years (whom she'd always assumed she'd marry) dumps her to leave for his dream job, running an archaeological dig in Egypt. Brigitte tries to continue working on her own book, a definitive anthropological look at women's suffrage that she has been working on for years. She can't make any progress, so she goes to visit her mother and decides to help with some research on their family genealogy - first going to Salt Lake City. Then, when she discovers an Indian woman's name, Wachiwi, amongst their French aristocratic ancestors, Brigitte gets interested and follows the story, first to Indian archives and then eventually to France. Eventually she uncovers the story of a Dakota Sioux chief's daughter who was captured by the Crow, then seen with a Frenchman, and eventually made her way to France, where she was presented at court, married a Marquis, had children, and helped defend their Brittany chateau during the French revolution. Of course, along the way Brigitte comes into her own and is befriended by a kind Frenchman, an author who helps with her research.
Brigitte is such a complacent, risk-averse person that she's not really a very likable character; in fact, the notion that she would go to France by herself seems out of character for her, as she has been represented. After Brigitte uncovers some of Wachiwi's history, the book starts to alternate between the two women's stories-- and Wachiwi's story is quite a bit more interesting (although maybe a little over the top; Wachiwi seemed a little too much to me -- beautiful, courageous, beloved by her father and brothers, a great horsewoman, clever and intelligent, etc., etc., with no apparent flaws).
I don't think I've read any Danielle Steele books before, and I was surprised at how poorly written this one was - very pedestrian language, repetitive, and overly descriptive in a bad way (although perhaps "Danielle Steele" at this point is more of a brand name than an actual author). I don't feel like reading this book was a total waste of my time, but I also won't be seeking out any Danielle Steele books anytime soon.
| Title: | Legacy |
|---|---|
| Author: | Danielle Steele |
| Date published: | 2010 |
| Genre: | Romance |
| Number of pages: | 338 |
| Notes: | read a library ebook |
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