Interactive Historical Fiction e-books
The Bound Girl by Nan Denker
“The first thing, of course, is to change her name.”
“Change my name?” Félicie’s soft brown eyes open wide in astonishment. “Why should my name be changed? I like my name. It means ‘happiness.’ And I am always happy. That is, I always was happy until these very sad things happened.”
From her home in France, where she had been loved and waited upon all her young life, Félicie Charreau has been forced to flee to America because of religious persecution. She finds herself, now an orphan, in an American colony near Boston, where she is placed as a bound girl in the home of a severe Puritan family who immediately changes her name to Felicity. Here, she must learn to work hard and keep her place as a servant in the house.
In time, however, she succeeds in charming all the members of the Todd family with whom she lives and in winning their respect for her newfound sense of responsibility.
When Felicity innocently provokes the disapproval of one of the colony’s leading officials and is in danger of severe public punishment, it is the Todds, who have grown to love her dearly, who come to her rescue. The son of the family teases Felicity and quarrels with her but ends up falling in love with her. When Felicity has an opportunity to return to her former luxurious way of life in France, her decision is that of a mature and independent young woman.
For readers age 11 and older.
“*Spoiler Alert*
“Felicie Charreau, a bereft Huguenot refugee, comes to Boston in 1712, and, although she is deeply religious, the Todd family’s strict Puritanism proves to be a confining atmosphere. Hannah Todd disapproves of her French dress and even of her French accent and decides to call her Felicity. The local tax collector, Stoneman, resents her and makes her life difficult. But through the months and years, Felicity does not lose her gaiety and manages to share it with the Todds and their children. In turn, the formative ideals of the new country become part of her and when the chance comes to return to her former life of wealth as the daughter of a Paris designer, she turns it down for marriage to the Todds’ son, Nathan, and a rightful place in the young years of America. Seriously toned and uncomplicated.” ”
