The book starts in 1875 and we are gradually introduced to different characters.
In a park near the Madeleine a child walks with Father Xavier. The child's name is Roland Dartagnan Deudone de Cygne, and he is clearly of upper class.
Then Jules Blanchard, a trader, goes to meet his former lover, Josephine Tessier, in a café. His wife has given him a girl after two sons, and Jules tells Josephine that he wants to fulfill his promise and name the girl after her, but his wife wants to name her Marie. Josephine tells him not to bother, but he is adamant, and he tells her that he has plans to open a great department store like Macy's in New York.
Two other characters are the widown Le Sourde and her son, Jacques. The woman takes Jacques to the cemetery to tell him about the revolution and how his father was executed by an officer. Jacques wants to know who the officer is, and she tells him it's Vicomte de Cygne, and he has a young child, Roland. Jacques swears to kill Roland when he grows up.
The action jumps to 1883. Thomas Gascon has started working as an ironworker, and he is actually in the workshop of Monsieur Bartholdi, working in the construction of the Statue of Liberty, and Eiffel is also there. Thomas's young brother, Luc, went missing that morning, and his sister, Nicole, comes to find him. Bartholdi tells him that he can't leave and needs to keep working, but then Eiffel contradicts his partner and tells Thomas to go and find his brother.
This is a good start for a book I am sure I am going to enjoy.
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