Waiting for the Queen (32 page)

Meanwhile, we have imagination.

Bibliography

Although
Waiting for the Queen
is a work of fiction, I tried to be as historically accurate as possible in setting the story. To this end, I consulted the French Azilum material on file at the Bradford County Historical Society and Museum in Towanda, Pennsylvania, namely the following:

“The Fascinating Story of Historic French Asylum (or Azilum) in Pennsylvania, 1793–1800
. “Address by the Honorable A. C. Fanning at the dedication of the monument at Frenchtown, Pennsylvania, June 14, 1916, in memory of the French Royalist refugees. Reprinted from the Towanda
Daily Review
. Rock Mount, 2nd Edition, March 1932.

Hagerman, Alice. “The Village of French Azilum,”
The Settler, A Quarterly Magazine of History and Biography
. Bradford County Historical Society, Towanda, Pennsylvania. February 1955.

Murray, Elsie.
Azilum: French Refugee Village on the Susquehanna
. (A booklet.) Tioga Point Museum: Athens, Pennsylvania, 1956.

Murray, Elsie. “French Experiments in Pioneering in Northern Pennsylvania.” (Offprint.)
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
, April 1944.

“French Azilum,” (a leaflet). Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Division of History, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In addition, I read through numerous newspaper clippings, several leaflets about the site, and looked at maps as well as lists of refugees.

Other helpful sources include:

Bartlett, John Russell.
Dictionary of Americanisms
. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: Hoboken, New Jersey and Canada, 2003.

Bradfield, Nancy.
Costumes in Detail, Women's Dress, 1730–1930
. Plays Inc.: Boston, 1968, 1975.

Fradin, Dennis B.
The Pennsylvania Colony
. Childrens Press: Chicago, 1988.

Gorsline, Douglas.
What People Wore: A Visual History of Dress from Ancient Times to 20th Century America
. Bonanza Books: New York, MCMLI, MCMLII.

Kennedy, Pamela.
A Christmas Celebration: Traditions and Customs from Around the World
. Ideals Childrens Books: Nashville, Tennessee, 1992.

Philip, Neil, Ed.
Singing America
. Viking: New York, 1995.

Rockwell, Anne.
Savez-vous Planter les Choux and Other French Songs
. The World Publishing Company: Cleveland and New York, 1969.

Seymour, John.
The Forgotten Crafts
. Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1984.

For general information about Maria Antoinette and the French Revolution as well as Quakerism, I consulted the 1957 edition of
Encyclopedia Britannica
.

Finally, another helpful source for an understanding of the French Revolution:

The French Revolution
by the editors of
Horizon Magazine
, in consultation with Professor David L. Dowd. American Heritage Publishing, Inc.: New York, 1963.

Works of fiction useful for an understanding of the background:

Anderson, Laurie Halse.
Fever—1793
. Alladin Paperbacks: New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Singapore, 2002.

Erickson, Carolly.
The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette
. St. Martin's Press: New York, 2005.

I'm most grateful to Denise Golden of the Bradford County Historical Society and Museum in Towanda, Pennsylvania, for making available a wealth of material concerning French Azilum. Kathy Kretzmer, Bonnie House, and Linda Green, librarians at the Vestal Public Library, in Vestal, New York, helped in all the ways good librarians are noted for—with their expertise, their interest over the years, and their invariable good will and cheer. To Kathleen Kirk, a longtime dear friend, my great thanks for reading early drafts of this novel and for patiently answering numerous questions regarding the French language. I'm also deeply grateful to Ben Barnhart, my first editor, for his enthusiasm, keen editorial skill, and valuable comments and suggestions. In addition, Allison Wigen, Associate Editor, and the wonderful staff at Milkweed Editions deserve praise and thanks for the care taken with the manuscript of this novel. And finally, to my husband and first reader, Jerry, my boundless gratitude for his sustaining presence in this writer's life and in the life of our family.

From an early age Joanna Higgins loved books and writing. Born and raised in northern Michigan, she developed a taste for the fiction of Jack London and John Steinbeck and later earned degrees in English from the University of Michigan (MA) and Binghamton University (PhD). She studied writing with John Gardner and has also taught at colleges and universities. She now lives with her family in upstate New York and northeastern Pennysylvania.

Higgins is the author of three books for adults—
The Importance of High Places, A Soldier's Book
, and
Dead Center. Waiting for the Queen
is her first novel for young readers.

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