Claire T. Harper

Claire Harper fell in love with stories when she lived in Paris as a child. She and her sister eagerly listened while their father read aloud in his warm, deep voice. There were endless books to be discovered, transporting them into captivating new worlds. Years later, after earning degrees in Psychology and Photo Illustration, Harper worked in advertising in San Francisco. She and her husband eventually switched coasts to raise boys, bunnies, and chickens. Her mother asked her to write a family history book, and the call to bring ancestors to life was irresistible. There was one great-great-great-grandfather in particular who fascinated Harper. Louis Gargam de Moncetz’s father and forefathers had worked for French kings. Having older brothers, Louis, of course, attended military school. It could have been bad timing or it could have been intentional, but he became an artillery officer in the French Revolutionary Army – during the Reign of Terror. The dilemma Louis must have faced as the son of nobility inspired Harper to write Ripples in Stone. This is a lively tale about two very different sisters, young noblewomen trying to survive the French Revolution.