Thrilled to accompany her famous dress-designing grandmother to Paris to help with a royal gown, Rachelle Courtinay is proud of her silk-producing family---who are Huguenots. With persecution rising against French Protestants, Rachelle finds herself in danger from the deceptive regent, Catherine de Medici. How can a young provincial woman escape the sophisticated queen mother's intrigue? 352 pages, softcover from Zondervan.

Average Customer Rating:

4.6

out of

(12 Reviews) 12

Rating Snapshot (12 reviews)

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

2 out of 367%customers would recommend this product to a friend.

Customer Reviews for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Review 1 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

This review is fromDaughter of Silk - eBook.

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Fascinating historical fiction!

Date:July 11, 2012

Professor South

Age:45-54

Gender:female

Quality:

5 out of 5

Value:

4 out of 5

Meets Expectations:

5 out of 5

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Chaikin's Daughter of Silk! For those who haven't studied the French language in high school or college, you may have some difficulty and need to search the glossary to understand some of the words, as Ms. Chaikin incorporates many French words and expressions into her novel. However, if you have some understanding of French, even a little, this makes the novel more realistic, and more like watching a movie, as if you can hear their voices with that lovely French accent. There is also the historical setting, with events leading up to St. Bartholomew's Massacre, a despicable event where many Huguenots (those in France who chose to be Protestant rather than Catholic) were murdered by the thousands. Chaikin attempts to relate to us that this was truly a political power struggle whereby certain ruling and/or powerful members of the French elite who were nominal Catholics had specific reasons for their desire to rid the country of the Huguenots. True believers who were Catholic were not necessarily involved in this anti-Huguenot plot.

Extremely interesting and fast-paced. A great novel to have your World History or Western Civilization students read, particularly if you're studying the Reformation. Keeps you on your toes and difficult to put down for a good night's rest.

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Review 2 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Suspenseful Historical Read!

Date:August 1, 2011

Faith

Location:SD

Age:Under 18

Gender:female

Quality:

5 out of 5

Value:

5 out of 5

Meets Expectations:

5 out of 5

First of all let me say that I am a huge fan of Ms. Chaikin, so I was totally stoked to receive the sequel to this lovely book, Written on Silk to review. But upon finding that it was a sequel I opted to read the first book first.

Rachelle is a lovely young Huguenot grisette, dressmaker in the court of Catherine de Medici, or Madame Serpent, as she is called for her snake-like eyes. Rachelle catches the eyes of the handsome Marquis Fabien, a controversial courtier who's loyalties are questioned. Rachelle becomes a maid of honor for Catherine's daughter Marguerite, and is swept into a world of religious intrigue. As a Huguenot, Rachelle position is precarious at best. Royal intrigues swirl, and betrayal lurks in the house of de Medici.

This book is the whole package. Excellent for fans of suspense in a rich historical setting. The book was peppered with French words, that simply "took me there." I admit that it did interrupt the flow of the book a bit to be flipping back and forth to the glossary to find out what French word meant what. But my overall opinion is that it enriched the experience. The historical setting was well researched and the characters were well developed. I shivered whenever Catherine de Medici entered the scene, she was absolutely chilling!

This is a book for those among who like suspense, tension, betrayal, and twisting plots. I would caution you though that the setting of this book is not exactly conducive to a morally clean setting, but Ms. Chaikin handled it very nicely. It was just mildly suggested that some of the ladies at court were not very reputable.

To be completely honest with you though, this book kept me up late at night, steadily flipping the pages trying to find a "good stopping place," which I couldn't find!

I believe that fans of Gilbert Morris, will really like this book. (I'm a huge Gilbert Morris fan).

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Review 3 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

3 out of 5

Alright

Date:April 7, 2011

amazed

Top 1000 Contributor

Location:Ontario Canada

Age:18-24

Gender:female

Quality:

2 out of 5

Value:

3 out of 5

Meets Expectations:

2 out of 5

I enjoy reading Lynda's books but found this one very difficult to get into. I didn't like how much french was encorperated into the book. I felt that I had to flip back and forth between the definitions to understand what the people are saying and it made the reading much slower and less enjoyable.

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Review 4 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:January 1, 2008

Christine

I really liked this book. It developed the characters and plot well and also painted a picture of the French culture during the conflict between the Huguenots and the Catholics. I recommend it to anyone and also suggest reading the rest of the series.

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Review 5 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:November 22, 2007

Stephanie

Top 250 Contributor

I'm fascinated by the Protestant Reformation in any country, so the time period alone earned brownie points with me, but time period or not, this is a wonderful book. I loved the familial closeness of Grandmere, Rachelle, and Idelette, the contrasting characters, and the court intrigue. This is one of those books with a romance you root for, a villain you love to hate, and spiritual substance to spare. I had to read it twice to get the full impact, but by then, I was looking forward to the next one. Nice work, Linda.

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Review 6 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:May 11, 2007

Rae Lavallee

This was a really great book! It was a little drawn out though. The ending is so suspenseful, and I plan to read the 2nd book this Summer!

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Review 7 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:October 22, 2006

Lincar

VERY good! Yeah for Linda Chaiken! I loved the French, because it seemed more realistic and I love the French language! It also helped that there was a glossary in the front. It was very hard to put it down, and when I finished it the first time, I just didn't fell like going on to another book, so I read it 1 1/2 more times! Speed up the next one!

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Review 8 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:July 10, 2006

Becky Kleinz

Linda Lee Chaikin has written another wonderful historical fiction novel, filled with intrigue and pure romance. (I loved her East of the Sun series.) I was challenged to remember my French lessons. To Robyn from Texas, might I suggest you gloss over the French words and enjoy this engaging book.

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Review 9 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

3 out of 5

Date:May 25, 2006

Robyn

Okay, I tried to read this book but just couldn't get past all of the French words. For some reason, they were a real stumbling block for me. It may very well be a good book but I was not able to get very far into it to see...

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Review 10 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:May 21, 2006

Jenn

What a riveting story! I couldn't put it down so I had to take this book with me to work! Linda has done her research well...and her message in the story is clearly conveyed. Rachelle and Fabien are enjoyable lovable characters and I found myself caught up in all the intrigues in the palace. I'm defintely eagerly waiting for the next book! Keep up the good work, Linda!

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Review 11 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

4 out of 5

Date:April 29, 2006

Erica L. Motes

Linda Chaikin is my favorite author! This newest book was great, as all of her books are. Some of the french words were a little hard to read through, but the story line and plot were wonderful. Can't wait for her next book. I had other books waiting at home to be read, but as soon as I realized her new book was on the self, the other books still waited for me on my bookcase! Keep up the good work, Linda!

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Review 12 for Daughter of Silk, The Silk House Series #1

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Date:April 25, 2006

jessica

Yyou can tell that Chaikin has done some research! I love Chaikin's works because she is able to be true to the history, but also add a great fictional plot with wonderful characters.

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