The Draper's Daughter

The Draper's Daughter is the first book by Ellin Carsta that I have read and I was pleased to find a new author that I like. Carsta is the pen name of German writer Petra Mattfeldt who writes a variety of genres. She has published thrillers, true crime, young adult and historical fiction. 

The story takes place in Cologne in 1351 with twins Elizabeth and Stephen Hardenstein working in their father's textile business. Stephen has no interest in pursuing the cloth trade, preferring idle joys to hard work. Elizabeth, on the other hand, desperately wants a career in the trade and hopes to continue working with and learning from her father.  When their father suddenly dies, Stephen abruptly changes his mind about the business. He takes over the ownership while trying to find a husband for Elizabeth to get her out of the way. However, Stephen makes poor decisions and the business loses money and gains significant debts. Elizabeth works in the background to try to save the family business.

The plot is typical for historical fiction. We have an intelligent female protagonist who is trying to begin a career and she has the usual male family member trying to subvert her efforts and marry her off.  I never get tired of these types of stories though. I loved the Elizabeth character.  She was focused on her ultimate goal and did not get sidelined by the problems her brother threw her way.  All women would do well to follow her path to success.  The brother, however, was the perfect villain.  He was lazy, drunk most of the time, and obnoxious.  His power over the family was only due to him being the only son who would inherit his father's business.  Elizabeth's mother Ellin was always sick and spent years in bed.  The physicians could not find anything wrong with her.  Ellin eventually gets better after Elizabeth hounds her to get up and help her save the business.  The work Ellin did helped her recover.  There is another message here: you cannot fix your problems by ignoring them. 

This was a perfect story in every way. The characters were compelling and the pace fast.  I highly recommend this one to historical fiction fans.  5 out of 5 stars.