On Thursday, March 5th, it is World Book
Day. It seemed appropriate to me that a
book review would be the subject of my blog this week. A book set in France, to be precise in the
most famous city in France, would seem to fit the bill perfectly. In addition, one of the central characters
owns a bookshop and a significant proportion of the action takes place in that
wonderful bookish environment. A
perfect fit for this particular week!
I haven't come across this
author's work before but, as soon as I started reading this book, I knew I was
going to be in for a comforting, uncomplicated but compelling read. The prose flows well, the narrative voice is
easy on the mind and the use of description is just right. This writer paints wonderful pictures with
her words. I found myself totally
immersed in this story from the outset.
Moving between two time frames -
the 1960s and occupied Paris - it tells the story of Valerie, her family and
the secrets that have been hidden from her since she was a tiny child. Les années noires, the dark years of the occupation, were an
especially difficult period of history for France. Although the book is partly set during those years, I felt that
the difficulties and actuality of everyday life during that time were underused
in the story. I had to keep reminding
myself that I was reading fiction, not history. Naturally there are some excellent tomes about that period of
French history; one or two of them have featured in reviews here on the blog.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the story, I found the
characters to be very well drawn and the dynamics between them compelling. I will be adding more of this author's books
to my kindle.
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