Madeleine, Daughter of the King
Traumas of a Contract Bride
by
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As a strong fifteen-year-old Madeleine had a naturally energetic gait. Toting the two hefty baskets of blooms left her feeling fresh but with no trace of fatigue. She vigorously hoisted her merchandise up onto the rustic counter and began enthusiastically arranging it according to type and color.
Just then, wafting on the warm spring air, drifted sweet tones from a wooden block-flute. They originated from across the isle and two stalls down. The melody was familiar yet fresh like the exhilarating spring morning and after placing the last flower, she turned to see from whence the tones were emanating.
At that moment, the first direct rays of the rising sun and the enticements of nature conspired to render her helpless to resist the disarming statuesque image and noble spirit of a robust young man. His strong features and gentle expression locked instantly into her soul. She was aware she was gawking, but she could not pull her gaze away. He, too, had become fixated upon her. The femininity of her enticing physicality and shining spirit was irresistible like the sirens of Ulysses’ odyssey, and Jean had quickly become bereft of even the very desire to resist. So he abandoned himself and stared right back. After a few moments of surrender to their overwhelming and sudden mutual attraction, the faint tracings of smiles simultaneously broke onto their lips, and joy fl ooded through their bodies. Slowly and shamelessly, they took one step then another until they were separated by only two arm-lengths.
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About the Book
Madeleine, a beautiful peasant girl, cannot resist the charms of Jean, a handsome champion of the upper class. She surrenders to her heart’s desires, and their love sweetens into something amazing. But when her father is murdered, her dreams of marriage collapse before the impenetrable wall of class prejudice. With her grim new prospects restricted to life as a beggar or a whore, Madeleine grasps at the only escape she can: a new life in the New World. She signs a contract to emigrate to Québec—where she’ll marry a stranger and bear many children to help populate the New France colony.
Madeleine’s experience quickly turns bitter as she struggles to overcome the frigid Canadian winters, the constant threat of Iroquois attack, wild animals, and the soul-eroding abuse of her husband. Isolation and crushing homesickness set in.
Worse, just as she comes to feel she cannot go on, the real nightmare begins: she discovers that the very man who murdered her father is living on her farm.
Her struggle for survival of body and soul are set against the expansive panorama of colonial Québec, a place of awesome beauty and lethal danger. As Madeleine’s extraordinary love story unfolds, real historical characters and authentic cultural details weave seamlessly into a rich tapestry of courageous pursuit of love and dreams.
Can her spirit resist defeat under extreme tribulation and deprivation of emotional support?
About the Author
For thirty-five years, Dan Butler made his living as a high school music teacher and member of both the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Pro Coro Canada, a professional chamber choir. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Alberta and a master of arts degree in musicology from BYU. He and his wife, Jan, eight children, and twenty grandchildren live in Alberta, Canada.