Waiting
for the
Queen
Also by Joanna Higgins
The Importance of High Places
A Soldier’s Book
Dead Center
Waiting
for the
Queen
A Novel of Early America
Joanna Higgins
milkweed
editions
Although two characters in this book are historical personages—the Vicomte de Noailles and the Marquis Antoine Omer Talon—and other historical figures are alluded to, this is a work of fiction. The characters and events herein are either fictional or used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is unintended and coincidental except where substantiated by actual historical events.
© 2013, Text by Joanna Higgins
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher: Milkweed Editions, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.
(800) 520-6455
Published 2013 by Milkweed Editions
Cover design by Rebecca Lown
Cover art by Elsa Mora
13 14 15 16 17 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
Manufactured in Canada in July 2013 by Friesens Corporation.
Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Bush Foundation; the Patrick and Aimee Butler Foundation; the Dougherty Family Foundation; the Driscoll Foundation; the Jerome Foundation; the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Higgins, Joanna, 1945–
Waiting for the queen / Joanna Higgins. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: In 1793, fifteen-year-old Eugenie de la Roque, her family, and other nobles barely escape the French Revolution and arrive in Pennsylvania, where homesick young Hannah Kimbrell, a Shaker, is among those charged with preparing New France for the aristocrats’ arrival.
ISBN 978-1-57131-877-0
[1. Frontier and pioneer life—Pennsylvania—Fiction. 2. Social classes—Fiction. 3. Friendship—Fiction. 4. Shakers—Fiction. 5. Slavery—Fiction. 6. Pennsylvania—History—1775–1865—Fiction. 7. France—History—Revolution, 1789–1799—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.H5349548Wai 2013
[Fic]—dc23
2012042167
Milkweed Editions is committed to ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book production practices with this principle, and to reduce the impact of our operations in the environment. We are a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the world’s endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Waiting for the Queen was printed on acid-free 100% postconsumer-waste paper by Friesens Corporation.
To Kaili and Christopher
Waiting
for the
Queen
Contents
6. Hannah
7. Eugenie
8. Hannah
9. Eugenie,
10. Hannah
11. Eugenie.
12.
