Zibeline — Complete

Valentine de Vermont arrived in Paris with a fortune and a secret: her father's name is synonymous with disgrace, and she is determined to wash away his sins with generosity. Known as Zibeline, this unconventional French-American heiress moves through the glittering salons of Parisian high society with both wealth and conscience, seeking to remake herself while remaining haunted by the past. The novel opens at the Restaurant des Freres-Provencaux, where military glory mingles with gambling debts and aristocratic ambition, introducing Henri de Prerolles, a young marquis whose fate becomes entangled with Zibeline's. This is a romance of manners set against the opulent backdrop of late 19th-century Paris, where reputation is currency and love costs more than money. Philippe de Massa writes with sharp observation about the treachery beneath champagne toasts and the genuine feeling that survives within social performance.