Mademoiselle Eiffel by Aimie K. Runyan

 The story of Mademoiselle Eiffel reveals a fascinating figure of Claire Eiffel who made a great impact in maintaining her family’s legacy and their iconic contribution to the city of Paris.

The story begins with the family grieving the loss of the mother and wife of Gustav Eiffel. As the family pulls themselves together, the father expects his eldest daughter Claire to take over running the household and taking care of the younger children.

Claire relates the story and is glad to be close to her father and away from the overbearing grandmother. She becomes his personal assistant as she is the one he trusts the most. This is a time when her father is working on an important project, building a bridge in Portugal, which takes longer than expected. Thus, Gustav goes to the site and takes his daughter with him. And as Claire gets more involved in her father’s projects, she learns his architectural trade.

When Eiffel takes a young protégé, Adolphe Salles, under his wings, Claire feels pushed aside, but the animosity turns into friendship and more.

Then Eiffel receives the biggest commission of his life, a great iron tower, and the family legacy grows. But when the building of Panama canal turns into disaster, Claire fights in preserving his father’s legacy.

Claire is an interesting character, educated, strong-willed, devoted, but there were moments when I questioned if she’d be defiant to such extent as she was toward her grandmother and speak in such strong words as she did.

Despite her good traits, at times, she seemed to be a bit self-centered as she worried about not being able to leave her mark on the project her father and husband were working on. 

In some parts the story is heavily driven by dialogue.

Overall, it is a fascinating story, and it was interesting to learn about her character and contribution she made.

Released: September 2024

Source: William Morrow Paperback