p.f. busch

Gabriella De Conte Thornsen, a young plantation owner from Louisiana, follows her cherished cousin Cardinal Thornsen, to the old continent to pursue an operatic scholarship at the Académie De Musique in Paris. When pirates capture the ship upon which she is a passenger, Captain Jean-Louis-Pierre De Pleyssis, a French aristocratic adventurer and Civil War veteran rescues her. Upon learning that the young artist is a close family member of the influential Cardinal, the Duke's interest is piqued. To French society's utter surprise, Gabriella soon makes her entrance in Paris as the Duke's passionate love interest. The young Southern Belle takes Paris by storm and is crowned as one of the greatest divas ever to sing on the European stage. Conflicted by her relationship with the Duke and her love for the Parisian artistic scene, the impressionists soon become her constant companions. She frequents the literary salons of Flaubert and Mallarmé, too frequently develops a taste for Absinthe, and runs with an avant-garde crowd.

Ironically with the ear of the very powerful De Pleyssis, Gabriella becomes an unexpected player on France's political stage. But will she be entrapped and subjected to a life of increasing dependence, or will she grasp her fate and accept the challenges of a famed opera singer on the world stage?