One of the most prominent themes in The Moreau Witches is that of loyalty. Loyalty to the Church. Loyalty to family. Loyalty to revolutionaries. Loyalty to the nobility. Loyalty between lovers. It is this loyalty that saves the lives of many of the characters, but not without casualties. After all, what is a paranormal murder mystery novel without a death or two?
The Symbol
Perhaps the most important symbol of loyalty in The Moreau Witches is the blackened castle walls of Château de Lamoreaux. In the novel, the castle is the family seat of the Moreau Family, and home of the current Marquise de Lamoreaux, who weathered the French Revolution behind its walls as its then, Seigneuresse—a title lost after the French Revolution.
Even the walls of a mighty fortress are not immune to fire, however, and the peasantry put this knowledge to good use. It was the loyalty engendered by the Marquise—more commonly known as Mamie—that saved her life.
The Scene
Readers are first introduced to this castle in chapter fifteen, through the eyes of Eli Bernard and the Marquise’s grand-daughter, Mademoiselle Madeleine Moreau. Some of the wording has been changed for brevity and to remove spoilers.
Madeleine turned to look at him, savouring the sheer wonder upon his face. “Welcome to my home, Eli. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It is, but is there a reason the walls are blackened?” he asked. “Is that from fire?”
“Yes,” Madeleine answered. “After the storming of the Bastille, villagers from a neighbouring town came to Lamoreaux and set the castle on fire. I suppose they believed they were doing the villagers here a kindness, but they were mistaken. When everyone else had been starving on mere bread and vegetables, Mamie had seen to the needs of her people.
“The villagers did not forget her kindness, nor her wisdom. And so, they drove the outsiders from the town, put the fire out, and rescued Mamie from the blaze. When Mamie repaired the damage done by the fire, she decided to keep the blackened stone walls facing the village as a reminder.”
“A reminder of what?” Eli prompted.
“Loyalty.”
The Implications
Throughout the novel, this theme of loyalty is replicated a thousand times over as the characters band together to bolster each other’s weaknesses with their strengths, from the lowest servant to a baron’s son.
However, no group works in perfect harmony forever. What happens when loyalty to the group comes at too great a price for one’s personal ambitions— for love, for freedom, for salvation? What then? Does the group remain unified to its joint purpose, or do the fragments begin to show?
Publishing Update
The Moreau Witches is on its second round of external edits, which will be completed by British writer, Rosetta Yorke. We are still on schedule for publishing by this Halloween, October 31st 2018. I’m also looking into making pre-order available by early October at the latest. If you have any questions or suggestions, I’m all ears!
—
Please share this post on social media to help me spread the news of my upcoming novel. For ongoing updates, check out the #MoreauWitches hash tag on Twitter, where I often tweet in real-time, while working on the novel. If you would like to help with funding, please grab an item from my store! 😁
Alexis Chateau
Activist, Writer. Explorer.
I love knowing you were conscious of themes such as loyalty running through the novel. I think your wide reading was able to inform your writing. I am always amazed at people who want to write but rarely read.
Thank you! I thank my literature classes for making me think of themes when I write fiction.
I have heard of those writers who don’t read often, but I have never met any. How do they function? I find that my writing always improves the more I read. Seems like common sense to me!
And let’s not even get started about poets who have never read any poetry. Agh!!
Now THAT would be interesting! 🤣 I guess maybe some people have a bigger hubris than others.
OMG. Tell me about it!
It sounds very interesting. Always love a castle and you can’t beat a french Château! You simply must come over to France ASAP! 👍
Thank you! Unfortunately, they don’t spend as much time at Mamie’s chateau as elsewhere, but some interesting things do happen while they visit! 🙂
I’ll be writing more theme-related posts on the book as we get closer to publishing date. Keep an eye out! ^_^
Woo hoo! Cannot wait!
Little more than a month left.