Flinn (The List) offers an evocative prequel to an upcoming series with the portrait of a free Black woman and her struggles against a strict society on the eve of the French Revolution. In 1788 Burgundy, France, Véronique Clair is unmarried at 23, a condition her perpetually matchmaking parents are desperate to rectify. Her mother, a teacher, was raised a free Black Frenchwoman, while her father, a laborer of moderate means, was formerly enslaved in Saint-Domingue. Now, he would prefer Véronique find a wealthy Black husband to elevate her status. Véronique, meanwhile, would rather sell the beautiful dresses she sews and marry for love. While working as a housekeeper, Véronique is offered an exceptional opportunity to work for a noble family, but she’s emotionally torn between a future of her own making and a life as wife to a condescending Black lawyer, Hubert Pentier, whom her father chooses for her. Though the corrosive characters verge on caricature, Flinn effectively demonstrates Véronique’s struggles against rigid social expectations. This is worth a look. (Self-published)