Katharine McMahon- The Alchemist's Daughter

This book certainly isn't on my favorites list. The book was set in the 1800s but there was just something that was discordant with the book's characters and the era. I found Emilie Selden too modern and her language seemed more of our decade than that of 200 years ago. Anyhow, it was quite a well-written book. Emilie Selden was as explicitly stated in the title, the Alchemist's daughter. Her father, John Selden, was a student of Isaac Newton, and tried to raise his daughter to be a scientist and philosopher like himself. This was probably quite unheard of, in that era. John Selden kept his daughter in isolation, in an old house, with two servants. His plan of raising Emilie to be a true blue alchemist, was thwarted by the appearance of two men, one of whom, Emilie later married. Emilie was banished to London when she was pregnant with the child of Alsabie, the charming and philandering merchant. The child was later lost and Emilie began to regret abandoning her father and her scientist life.
The character of Emilie Selden was loosely based on that of the French female scientist, Emilie du Chatelet.