Came a Cavalier

While visiting the Beauregaurd-Keyes House in the French Quarter two weeks ago, I purchased a battered copy of a novel Frances Parkinson Keyes (rhymes with "prize") had written while living in Normandy and for which I was told she'd been awarded a French Legion of Honor medal. The first half of Came a Cavalier is a somewhat typical romance novel about a beautiful American Red Cross "Searcher" being pursued by various handsome suitors while she is stationed in France at the conclusion of World War I. The second half, on the other hand, is a real page-turner as the heroine, now a Baroness and French citizen with two grown children, must survive occupied France during World War II. The book, no longer in print but available on eBay, etc., would make a thrilling TV miniseries of the North and South variety. --Kim