The Protégée

In 1850, 18-year-old Angélique works as a seamstress for Madame Violette, one of Paris’s best dressmakers. The position’s minuscule salary makes providing for her family difficult; moreover, the other apprentices (“half are Black, half are white”) disparage biracial (Black and white) Angélique. When Angélique’s younger sister and mother are brutally killed by a machine while working at the Fournier Fabrics factory—the same place Angélique’s father died years ago under similar circumstances—she becomes solely responsible for her 12-year-old sister Elodie. Then Madame Violette reveals that she is searching for a new protégée, and the position will go to whichever seamstress designs the best dress. Angélique—harboring simmering disdain for the upper class—intends to win the role, gain access to Paris’s high society, and avenge her family’s deaths. Though characterizations of upper-class antagonists often veer into cartoonishly evil territory, Ridley (Hot Earl Summer, for adults) persuasively portrays Angélique’s acute anger and sorrow. The richly imagined Paris setting adds an element of glitz and glamour to this twisty and visceral revenge thriller. Ages 14–up. Agent: Lauren Abramo, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (May)