Aimie K. Runyan Brings a Forgotten Her-story to Light in Mademoiselle Eiffel

BY TRISH MACENULTY

One of the challenges for historical fiction writers lies in the fact that the stories of so many women who were crucial to the efforts of “important” men have often been erased, forgotten, and overlooked.

Aimie K Runyan, best-selling author of stand-alone historical novels, a historical fiction series, and a contemporary women’s novel, successfully tackles this challenge in her latest book, Mademoiselle Eiffel (William Morrow, September 2024), the compelling story of Claire Eiffel, eldest daughter of Gustave Eiffel. Claire played a significant role in the legacy of the family company and its iconic contributions to 19th-century Paris.

The book begins with the death of Claire’s beloved mother. Devastated by his wife’s loss, Gustave enlists 14-year-old Claire to look after her younger siblings and run the household. She not only keeps the family from falling apart, she also serves as her father’s secretary and confidante.

Runyan says she found the idea of a young woman who was foisted into adulthood so early due to the death of her mother extremely compelling.

“I can’t imagine what it would have been like to take on so much responsibility at the age of fourteen,” she said. “Not just looking after her four younger siblings and managing the house, but becoming her father’s right-hand woman would have been a heady responsibility.”

Claire continued to live with her father even after she married his protégé, Adolphe Salles. Her assistance was vital to her father’s successful endeavors, including negotiating the legalities of a financial scandal which briefly sent him to jail.

The book’s copious research entailed spending four days in the Eiffel Family Archives housed in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, which Runyan describes as a “generous and incredible experience.”

author Aimie K. Runyan

A surprising aspect to the story is the amount of resistance Gustave Eiffel faced in building the tower, which is so iconic today that it’s hard to imagine Paris without it. Runyan notes that people were worried about all manner of things, including “the aesthetic appeal (or lack thereof), the dangers of it as a lightning rod, the dangers of construction in the middle of a busy city.”

“Most of the arguments had a basis in truth, but Eiffel was meticulous in keeping a safe work environment, so most of those fears were allayed,” she said. “And of course some people couldn’t stand the look of the Eiffel Tower, but most were persuaded once it was built.”

Runyan visited the tower last year for the first time in about 20 years and had a new appreciation for all that went into the planning and construction of this massive structure.

“While it is indeed mobbed with tourists, I loved looking down at the city and seeing it as Claire and Gustave would have done,” she said. She added that Claire’s likeness in the form of a wax figure in the small apartment on the top highlights her importance to the project.

“I love how the role the tower has played in the city has evolved with time and technology, and I think Gustave would be immensely proud of that, too,” she said.

In order to convincingly recreate the life of Claire Eiffel, Runyan relied on her father’s timeline largely because they were together during the years the book takes place. While much of Claire’s story was lost to history, Runyan was able to reconstruct what was plausible from what she knew of her father’s whereabouts, household records, and photographs.

“I think once you dive deep into the archives and learn what you can from fact, it makes it easier (and more justifiable) to extrapolate personality and motivations based on what truths we have,” she said.

Runyan was also able to draw from her personal experiences as a mother—and a woman who has spent time as a single mother.

“The notion of sacrifice and sometimes being frustrated by having to make sacrifices while still loving one’s family dearly hit pretty darn close to home. I endeavored to make a woman who wasn’t selfish by any means, but who was learning not to be entirely selfless either,” she said.

To develop this tension between one’s dreams and one’s duty, Runyan gave Claire an aspiration toward becoming an artist in her own right. Until the death of her mother, Claire and her fictional best friend spend time together painting. Her mother’s death upends that dream. While her friend goes on to become an artist, Claire chooses to do her duty by her family.

“I liked the idea of giving her a suitably feminine pursuit—painting—that would have some overlap and utility in her father’s world of engineering and design. Adolphe Salles, her husband, had beautiful sketches and portfolios, so I thought it was also something they could bond over,” Runyan said.

Historians often describe the achievements of “great men” as something they managed to accomplish all on their own. Runyan believes that it’s vital to know the stories of the women behind the history.

“So often their contributions and sacrifices are overlooked, and I was delighted to shed some light on one of them,” she said.

About the contributor: Author of the Delafield & Malloy Investigations series, the historical coming-of-age novel, Cinnamon Girl (Livingston Press, Sept. 2023), and more, Trish MacEnulty is currently working on a play about silent film star, Theda Bara. More info at her website.