To Dance at the Palais Royale
CBC Books | CBC | Posted: March 1, 2017 6:28 PM | Last Updated: March 2, 2017
Janet McNaughton
The year is 1928. Seventeen-year-old Agnes ("Aggie") Maxwell leaves her native Scotland to pursue a new life in Canada, working as a domestic servant in Toronto. Her hopes are to get over the grief of her older brother's death and eventually rescue her family from their bleak existence of coal mining by bringing them to Canada. When she meets a Newfoundlander with his own secrets, Aggie faces a moment of reckoning where she must choose between her allegiance to her family in her home country and the possibility of a new life of her own.
To Dance at the Palais Royale is for readers ages 12 and up.
From the book
Aggie was shaking when she left the kitchen, but her mind was clear. This was just about the worst thing that could possibly happen. If she were dismissed as a thief, no one else would hire her. She might even be shipped back to Scotland in disgrace. Carefully, in her mind, she went over every corner of the Stockwoods' bedroom. She was certain there had been no watch.
From To Dance at the Palais Royale by Janet McNaughton ©2006. Published by HarperCollins.