Waiting for the Queen: A Novel of Early America - Hardcover

by Joanna Higgins (Author)

Fifteen-year-old Eugenie de La Roque escapes the French Revolution with little more than her precious dog and the clothes on her back. Along with her family, she sails to America, hoping to find glorious French Azilum amid the wilderness of Pennsylvania. But when they arrive, they discover that the village awaiting them is nothing like the festive balls or carefully manicured gardens they've left behind.

Hannah Kimbrell is a young Quaker who has been chosen to help prepare the settlement for the arrival of the aristocrats. But in truth she wants nothing more than to be home with her mother and baby brother. Her homesickness is only deepened by the demands of the newly arrived French nobles, who are dismayed to find that simple log cabins are their only protection against the coming winter.

In this wild place away from home and the memories they hold dear, Eugenie and Hannah find more in common than they first realize. A story of friendship against all odds, Waiting for the Queen is a loving portrait of the values of early America, and a reminder that true nobility is more than a royal title.

Front Jacket

Intermediate Fiction $16.95

Fifteen-year-old Eugenie de La Roque escapes the French Revolution with little more than her precious dog and the clothes on her back. Along with her family, she sails to America, hoping to find glorious French Azilum amid the wilderness of Pennsylvania. But when they arrive, they discover that the village awaiting them is nothing like the festive balls or carefully manicured gardens they'd left behind.

Hannah Kimbrell is a young Quaker who has been chosen to help prepare the settlement for the arrival of the aristocrats. But in truth she wants nothing more than to be home with her mother and baby brother. Her homesickness is only deepened by the demands of the newly arrived French nobles, who are dismayed to find that simple log cabins are their only protection against the coming winter.

In this wild place away from home and the memories they hold dear, Eugenie and Hannah find more in common than they first realize. With much to learn from each other, the girls unite to help free several slaves from their tyrannical French owner, a dangerous scheme that requires no small sacrifice.

A story of friendship against all odds, Waiting for the Queen is a loving portrait of the values of early America, and a reminder that true nobility is more than a royal title.

JOANNA HIGGINS is the author of The Importance of High Places, A Soldier's Book, and Dead Center. she received her PhD from SUNY-Binghamton, where she studied under John Gardner. Higgins lives with her family in upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. Waiting for the Queen is her first novel for young readers.

Photo by Christopher Higgins
Cover design by Rebecca Lown
Cover art (c) Elsa Mora

Author Biography

Joanna Higgins is the author of A Soldier's Book, Dead Center, and The Importance of High Places (Milkweed Editions), a collection of short stories. She received her PhD from SUNY-Binghamton, where she studied under John Gardner. An adoptive mother of two children, Higgins lives with her family in upstate New York. Waiting for the Queen is her fist book for young readers.