Intrigue, Drama, and Romance Over Two Continents Makes Dorothy Mackevich Marks’ Les Beaux Châteaux a Thrilling Ride Through Past and Present
Meet the author at Architectural Artifacts, Inc.,
1065 Orleans, Chicago | February 11, 2023, 2-4 p.m. | Details
(Chicago, IL) – What can go right when an estranged father and son become business partners and operate their architectural artifacts boutique from two continents?
In Les Beaux Châteaux, we meet Victor Marchand and Jean-Paul Marchand (JP), father and son, who live in two different worlds. Their chilly relationship goes into a deep freeze after the death of Victor’s late wife, Frida. The only way they can work together is to work apart. Victor, in France, is on the hunt for beautiful French treasures, painstakingly securing, then shipping them across the Atlantic. JP, in New York City, engages with wealthy Americans to purchase Victor’s finds – artisanal works now regarded art and architecture from a bygone era – at their antique shop, Les Beaux Châteaux.
As we experience these two men struggling with life, love, and each other, we meet a cast of spicy characters who seduce us with intrigue and betrayal as this story moves between the wealth of New York and the Hamptons and the quiet but volatile countryside surrounding Paris. We see French culture changing dramatically as young people move away to pursue modern life, as the physical embodiments of their past lives, like bakeries and fountains, are monetized and sold to the rich and famous.
In New York, Iris, ‘the girl Friday,’ makes sure Les Beaux Châteaux and JP’s life runs smoothly by wooing customers with her savvy sales approach. The tough-as-nails Rama moves in and out of JP’s life, offering him a walk on the wild side in business and pleasure. The ‘no detail escapes her’ Franny, Iris’ sister, manages JP’s seaside estate in the Hamptons as he restores it to an enviable elegance.
Meanwhile, Victor has his hands full in France with his fiancée, Caterina (Catty), a Russian refugee, and her entourage of Russian friends who want in on Victor’s operation and will stop at nothing to gain the upper hand. As Victor scours the countryside looking for the most exquisite architectural objets d’art, Oleg and his crew track him like a cat stalking its prey.
Will father and son find a way to bridge the ocean that physically and emotionally separates them to triumph over those who wish them harm? There’s only one way to find out – wander through Les Beaux Châteaux, by author Dorothy Mackevich Marks, available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Indiebound, or your local independent booksellers.
What Reviewers Say
As readers root for JP and Victor to thrive, they’ll get a delicious taste of France. An absorbing, French-accented story of a complex father-son bond. –Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2022
Dorothy Mackevich Marks has written a story that brings romance, family problems, fraud, and victory together in a delightful tale. Nothing is given away until one has got almost halfway through the book and all the characters have made their appearance. This was the most intriguing book I have read so far. —Readers' Favorite, 5/5-star review
What Readers Say
Author Dorothy Mackevich Marks
About the Author
Dorothy Mackevich Marks is a Chicago-based writer, screenwriter, and producer with a passion for unique and exquisite things and their history. She earned her MFA in screenwriting after studying journalism.
Early in her career, Dorothy worked with preservationists in Chicago to conserve and repurpose historic movie palaces—beautiful architectural confections that stimulate the senses. Her passion for the stories that artifacts can tell multiplied when she joined the community of Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. Working arm-in-arm with museum scientists and policymakers, she examines the future of encyclopedic museums, teaching and preserving while doing no harm.
With an eye toward function and beauty, Dorothy passionately brings fresh news from the past to curious and sophisticated audiences who want to learn from inspired cultures. Always a Midwesterner, her wanderlust began early, and, aside from the pandemic year, she travels when opportunity knocks to listen, learn, and share. Dorothy lives on the banks of Lake Michigan with her family and two cats. Visit her website.
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Media Contact
Joanna Broussard, The BizMark Group Inc
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