Children of the Siege
In 1870 the wealthy St Clair family had left their comfortable Parisian home to spend the summer in the country. However, they did not return as usual in September. War with Prussia and its German allies intervened, resulting in humiliating French defeats and the siege and occupation of the capital. We meet the family as they unwisely decide to return to Paris in early 1871, now under the control of the Commune which is in rebellion against the central government. The journey is difficult and hazardous. They set out confidently and comfortably in a coach and arrive ‘tired and on foot, pushing their possessions before them on a handcart’.
This is the account of how that prosperous family, an architect, his wife, their two adult sons and three younger daughters then fare in a radically altered world. In particular Emile St Clair, the haughty and emotionally inhibited father of the family completely fails to understand and adapt to the new circumstances, expecting his family and servants to maintain the privileged pattern of their former life.
Helene, his spirited and more open-minded 11-year-old daughter, becomes accidentally separated from the household, and her desperate plight at the mercy of the low life of Paris is the central and exciting story of the book. Hair-raising encounters are intertwined with vivid descriptions illustrating the fear, chaos and unpredictability of Paris in the midst of the civil war. The daily struggle to find enough food pre-occupies both rich and poor. Her brothers have chosen to support opposite sides in the war but both are dedicated to finding their young sister.
It is a story of contrasts: between rich and poor, and between those who can adapt to changed circumstances and those who cannot. Diney Costeloe has given us an exciting and thoroughly enjoyable story which she skilfully marries with the complex historical setting.
