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To Capture What We Cannot Keep
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Polly Stone
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
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To Capture What We Cannot Keep
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Publisher's Summary
Set against the construction of the Eiffel Tower, this novel charts the relationship between a young widow and an engineer who, despite constraints of class and wealth, fall in love.
In February 1887, Caitriona Wallace and Émile Nouguier meet in a hot air balloon, floating high above Paris—a moment of pure possibility. But back on firm ground, their vastly different social strata become clear. Cait is a widow who because of her precarious financial situation is forced to chaperone two wealthy Scottish charges. Émile is expected to take on the bourgeois stability of his family's business and choose a suitable wife. As the Eiffel Tower rises, a marvel of steel and air and light, the subject of extreme controversy and a symbol of the future, Cait and Émile must decide what their love is worth.
Seamlessly weaving historical detail and vivid invention, Beatrice Colin evokes the revolutionary time in which Cait and Émile live—one of corsets and secret trysts, duels and Bohemian independence, strict tradition and Impressionist experimentation. To Capture What We Cannot Keep, stylish, provocative, and shimmering, raises probing questions about a woman's place in that world, the overarching reach of class distinctions, and the sacrifices love requires of us all.
Polly Stone, who was praised for her use of French accents in her reading of The Nightingale, will bring the same talent to her narration of To Capture What We Cannot Keep.
"Stone's French accents add authenticity and a sense of place to her reading." -AudioFile on The Nightingale
What the critics say
“Once I entered the world of Beatrice Colin's novel, To Capture What We Cannot Keep, I did not want to leave it! Set against the enticing backdrop of Parisian life in 1880's, as Monsieur Eiffel constructs his tower, this book is both daring in its historical scope, and rich in its intimacy. It is a must-read for every fan of Paris, for every fan of the fight for love against the odds, and for every fan of great and deeply satisfying storytelling.” —David Gillham, New York Times bestselling author of City of Women
“It’s sexy escapism, but the book’s real selling point is its illumination of 19th-century Paris and that phenomenal landmark.” —People Magazine (Book of the Week)
“To be in Paris to witness the construction of the Eiffel Tower is a magnificent occasion: to have a hand, however small, in its building, even better…This exquisitely written, shadowy historical novel will appeal to a wide variety of readers, including fans of the Belle Époque.” —Library Journal (starred review)