Generals Mistress

As a spirit of change overturns Europe’s old order, strong-willed Elzelina Versfelt enters her own age of revolution. Married as a romantic young girl to a man who wanted only her money, but neither loves nor desires her, Elza refuses to be chained any longer. Leaving Amsterdam, her marriage, and her home, she flees to France—where the old rules no longer apply, debauchery is not a sin . . . and nothing is forbidden.

Yet Elza finds herself bound in a new way, to the ambitious General Moreau. And while they share pleasure, pain, and carnal adventures, she dreams of another man, an unruly red-haired soldier she first saw in the promise of a Tarot card. Drawn by this half-real, half-imagined hero, Elza defies her relationship with Moreau, and begins a perilous search across war-torn Europe. . . . But will this woman with the instincts of a survivor, the passion of a courtesan, and the gift of second sight ever find the destiny for which she has risked it all?

This stunning novel blends history with the language of the heart to tell a sensual story of an era of upheaval . . . and of the clamoring, dangerous desires of a woman’s soul.

Elza believed her Dutch husband would be her handsome prince, with whom she’d live happily ever after. But he soon turned cold, dismissive, and scornful, more interested in politics than Elza. When he grows violent, she leaves everything and runs away to post-revolutionary Paris, where she finds herself in need of a protector. Elza makes a deal with a commander in the French army: in exchange for his defense against her husband, she will become his mistress.

     So begins a sensual journey that leads from the decadent salons of Paris to the Italian coast to the bed of General Napoleon Bonaparte himself. Elza finds that she has a survivor’s instincts, a courtesan’s passion, and the gift of second sight. When a tarot reading reveals the face of a soldier who she senses is her soulmate, Elza must once again decide if she is strong enough to risk everything for her destiny.