THE FUSE

I am rereading one of my own books, which has recently been republished by Open Road: Bluebird, or the Invention of Happiness. It is based on the life of the Marquise de la Tour du Pin, an Irishwoman who married a French marquis and escaped the French Revolution of 1789, thanks to her great courage. It was she who obtained the permits to leave France from Tallien, the fierce revolutionary. The family sailed from France in a one-masted boat, going to Boston during the winter months with their two small children. Lucy Dillon, which was her maiden name, was a source of inspiration to me. Brave, intelligent, and always curious, this woman of Irish origin came to America and kept her family alive by becoming a dairy farmer in the Albany area.