I had the great privilege of hearing Jennifer Donnelly speak this Wednesday. She is on the second week of her book tour for REVOLUTION–a story which bridges the centuries with the lives of two teenage girls.

Ms. Donnelly titled her presentaion, “The Past Is Present: Writing REVOLUTION.” The story involves the French Revolution, but it also deals with the revolution inside each of us. The author said, “All the books I’ve written have taken me on a journey. This book’s journey has been the most rewarding.”

The idea for the story started with a news article in the New York Times about the heart of the last dauphin, the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The dauphin died at the age of 10 while still imprisoned. His demise was one of the many tragic deaths during the Revolution’s upheaval.

In REVOLUTION, Ms. Donnelly wanted to explore the cruelty of a world where the deaths of innocent children were almost overlooked. The dauphin’s heart is still kept on display at the Basillica of St. Denis in Paris–a sad testimony to a tumultuous time.