I actually just finished this book last week. The main character, Donata, is the daughter of a member of the aristocracy. The custom of the day is that only the oldest son and the oldest daughter can get married, so her future is pretty much already planned for her because she is not the oldest. She believes she will be forced into life at a convent. She craves a life of her own. She surreptitiously learns to read and write while her parents surprise her with the news that they’ve decided to break tradition and have chosen a husband for her. She decides to follow her own path instead of the life they’ve chosen and finds a way to let her twin sister get married instead. She convinces her parents to let her continue her studies at a university.

If I were going to do a plot analysis, I’d talk about the small decisions Donata makes that lead her to find her future. I’d do comparisons between her and her twin sister, and also her family and the Jewish family she meets. My conclusion would talk about whether the ending is a happy one or a sad one. Does everyone get what they want? Do you think they’ll be happy in their decisions or the decisions made for them?

I hope this helps. It’s a good read, although I found the beginning thirty pages or so really dry. Keep reading through it, because it does get more interesting.

I really liked it. I’m not sure how realistic it was, but I liked the plot and the characters.