The woman immortalized as the Statue of Liberty comes to life in this “refreshingly different and well researched” novel of nineteenth century France (Beryl Bainbridge, author of The Dressmaker). France, 1867. The elite of the world have come to Paris for the Great Exhibition, where they can enjoy the sophistication of the French Empire of Napoleon III. At the Imperial court, young Jeanne-Emilie de Lamont meets the man who will change her life: Frederic Bartholdi, the Republican sculptor who finds in her the inspiration for his greatest creation. When France and Prussia go to war, Emilie’s world is thrown into turmoil. As Bismarck’s army surrounds Paris, she sees a side of the city—and of herself—she never before imagined. While Paris reels under the twin blows of war and revolution, Frederic’s hopes for his Statue of Liberty are under threat. It will take a new continent, and an old dream, to save it. But can he save the girl who was Liberty? A sweeping historical epic, Elusive Liberty takes the reader from the splendor of the Great Paris Exhibition to the Pyramids of Egypt, from the Franco-Prussian War to Philadelphia’s Centennial Exhibition in 1876. “An exciting talent.” —Beryl Bainbridge, author of Master Georgie

本作の最大の魅力は、世界で最も有名な象徴「自由の女神」に一人の女性の血肉を通わせた文学的執念にあります。彫刻家バルトルディの創作意欲と、激動の十九世紀を生き抜くジャンヌ・エミリー。理想化された銅像としての自由と、戦火の中で泥にまみれ獲得される個人の自由との対比が、静謐かつ情熱的な筆致で見事に描き出されています。 華やかな万国博覧会から普仏戦争の惨禍へと移り変わる壮大なスケールは、国家の威信と愛が交錯する人間讃歌として響きます。虚飾の帝国が崩壊する中で、一人の女性がいかにして不滅の象徴へと昇華されたのか。彫像の裏側に隠された、荒々しくも気高い魂の軌跡に、読者は強く心揺さぶられるに違いありません。