COLOR OF HOPE by Danielle Steel

 

Color of Hope  by Danielle Steel   253 pages

Following the unexpected death of her beloved husband, art gallery owner Samantha Thompson finds herself adrift in their Malibu beach house. Her three adult children -- scattered from New York to London to Milan -- are concerned for her well-being and encourage her to take a trip to Paris. An impulsive day trip from Paris to Biarritz leads Samantha to discover the charming medieval village of Arcangues in the Basque countryside, with its unique and iconic blue shutters and historic château. The château is the ancestral home of Xavier de Bonport, who is trapped in a loveless marriage and trying to dig himself out financially after a business failed due to the pandemic. He needs rental income as urgently as Samantha needs a refuge. With Xavier living in a smaller house on the property, Samantha begins to transform the château into a temporary home. As they each sense compassion and resilience in the other, as well as kindness, a friendship blossoms. Inspired by the stories of Xavier's grandmother, who saved hundreds of Jewish children during World War II, Samantha considers fostering some children at the request of the local Dominican nuns, whose orphanage is filled to capacity. As a newfound family begins to fill the château, Samantha and Xavier wonder if their friendship is becoming something more.

This Danielle Steel novel I did not enjoy as much as the others I had read.  It kept me reading until the end, but I did not feel a connection to this character.  I also felt like the writing was very repetitive.  I would read the same thing from one page to another, almost like she was just trying to fill up pages instead of quality work.   So, not my favorite book.

Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans Ninth Edition

 Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans Ninth Edition by Joan B. Garvey and Mary Lou Widmer-336 pages

⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis: Originally written by Joan B. Garvey and Mary Lou Widmer, this book is widely regarded as the definitive text for tourists, locals, teachers, and students. Complete with a new forward by Barbara Robichaux, a professional French Quarter tour guide, this concise history directs the reader through the diverse traditions and cultures of New Orleans. The updates in this tricentennial edition celebrate the 300-year history of New Orleans, with chapters including details of the city's founding, changing European rule, slavery, and much more. With lists of notable figures and events, this reference volume is a must for historians, tour guides, and lovers of the Big Easy.

Thoughts: I picked this up from William Faulkner Books in New Orleans while there. This bookstore is in the house where Faulkner wrote his first novel, thus the name. It is a good overview of New Orleans history. However, not all of the facts presented are 100% accurate (i.e. the authors say that at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 2,000 British were killed and only 7 Americans were killed. However, there were approx. 2,034 British casualties which included killed, wounded, and missing or captured. Only 291 were killed. 13 Americans were killed among 71 casualties). I did a quick Google search and found the 2 corroborating sources with the same statistics. Also, the writing style isn't very academic like one might expect from a book on history. It's more vernacular and everyday language instead of more academic. A few words are outdated and one in particular is considered offensive today (this book was published in 2017). Overall, it's a good overview of the history of New Orleans, as I said, but with a few drawbacks. 

The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris by Daisy Wood

 The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris by Daisy Wood 367 Pages

Summary: Paris, 1940: War is closing in on the city of love. With his wife forced into hiding, Jacques must stand by and watch as the Nazis take away everything he holds dear. Everything except his last beacon of hope: his beloved bookshop, La Page Cachée.

But when a young woman and her child knock on his door one night and beg for refuge, he knows his only option is to risk it all once more to save a life…

Modern day: Juliette and her husband have finally made it to France on the romantic getaway of her dreams—but as the days pass, all she discovers is quite how far they’ve grown apart. She’s craving a new adventure, so when she happens across a tiny, abandoned shop with a for-sale sign in the window, it feels fated.

And she’s about to learn that the forgotten bookshop hides a lot more than meets the eye…

My Thoughts: Oh man this book was heart wrenching. It was incredibly interesting having the focus be on a bookshop. I liked the two different perspectives from different years. 

Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles

Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles-315 pages

Based on the true story of Jessie Carson, an American librarian who changed the literary landscape of WWI Paris.

Jessie Carson takes a leave of absence from the New York Public Library to work for the American Committee for Devastated France. Founded by millionaire Anne Morgan, this group of international women help rebuild devastated French communities just miles from the front. Upon arrival, Jessie strives to establish something that the French have never seen—children’s libraries. She turns ambulances into bookmobiles and trains the first French female librarians. Then she disappears.

1987: When NYPL librarian and aspiring writer Wendy Peterson stumbles across a passing reference to Jessie Carson in the archives, she becomes consumed with learning her fate. In her obsessive research, she discovers that she and the elusive librarian have more in common than their work at New York’s famed library, but she has no idea their paths will converge in surprising ways across time.

LOVED it...an exceptional read.

Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin

Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin 403 pages I love reading about World War II. This book took an unexpected turn because both of the main characters were from America but living in France, and met through a bookstore. The widower and the owner of the bookstore were both working for the resistance without the other one knowing. Their escape from France was very hard and kept me on the edge of my seat. I won't spoil the ending by telling you what happens and who makes it back to America. As the Nazis march toward Paris in 1940, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favorite English-language bookstore to allow the Jewish owners to escape. Lucie struggles to run Green Leaf Books due to oppressive German laws and harsh conditions, but she finds a way to aid the resistance by passing secret messages between the pages of her books. Widower Paul Aubrey wants nothing more than to return to the States with his little girl, but the US Army convinces him to keep his factory running and obtain military information from his German customers. As the war rages on, Paul offers his own resistance by sabotaging his product and hiding British airmen in his factory. After they meet in the bookstore, Paul and Lucie are drawn to each other, but she rejects him when she discovers he sells to the Germans. And for Paul to win her trust would mean betraying his mission. Master of WWII-era fiction Sarah Sundin invites you onto the streets of occupied Paris to discover whether love or duty will prevail.

Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini

 Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini-453 pages

General Pershing wants a group of American women to come to France to be switchboard operators.  This is an elite group who must have extensive training and experience and also be fluent in French and English.  These women are culled from ATT and without their expertise WWI may not have had the outcome it did.  Based on a true story these women were known as US Signal Corps in WWI.  Yet when the war was over they did not receive any recognition or benefits.  I appreciate Ms. Chiaverini's research and her writing.  Since my grandfather worked for ATT, I enjoyed getting to know a little more history about the switchboard girls.  I liked this book very much.

Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart

 Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart, 301 pages

6th in the Kopp Sisters series.  I found myself struggling through this one.  As the title implies the entire book is written through letters.  Between the sisters, and then other ones between them and their superiors.  

The Count of Monte Cristo (Manga adaptation) by Ena Moriyama

 The Count of Monte Cristo (Manga adaptation) by Ena Moriyama-274 pages

This is a Manga adaptation of the original novel by Alexandre Dumas. I have not read the novel, but I have seen the film of the same name (starring Jim Caviezel in the title role). The Manga has several differences from the film. One such difference is that Danglars is a banker in this Manga, but he is First Mate on the Pharaon in the film. Most of the differences are minor. I enjoyed reading the Manga, but I enjoyed the film much more. 

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah -- 438 pages.

This is the story of two French sisters set during WW2 in Nazi occupied France. I enjoyed the story and look forward to the film version which should be released either late 2021 or early next year. 

The Promise in a Kiss by Stephanie Laurens

 The Promise in a Kiss by Stephanie Laurens - 292 pages

What would you do if you were kissed by the most handsome stranger you'd ever seen? And what if that man was a Cynster?

Every girl—even convent-educated ones—dreams of forbidden kisses. So when a man literally falls at Helena's feet as she's walking through the courtyard one moonlit Christmas Eve, the pretty, young comtesse d'Lisle knows he's up to no good. He's clearly a bit dangerous... and obviously caught in the middle of a clandestine rendezvous. Why else would he have risked his neck and jumped out of a window into the snow?

It's wrong, it's outlandish . . . and it's the most utterly romantic gesture she's ever seen. So when the good sisters rush up, demanding to know ifshe has seen a man on the grounds, Helena ignores the years of strict upbringing that insist she reveal his presence.

To lie would be a sin, but 'no one can be good all the time.

As a reward for her silence, the stranger takes her in his arms and enticingly, unforgettably kisses her—and then departs, leaving a lingering if unspoken promise of all that might be, should fate decree that they meet again. Although Helena doesn't know it, her wild Englishman is Sebastian Cynster, Duke of St. Ives, a nobleman who will prove to be her destiny.

Seven years later, Helena has been transformed from a pretty schoolgirl to an aristocratic beauty. Her sparkling wit has made her sought after by London's hostesses; her considerable dowry has made winning her hand the aim of many a gentleman . . . but she is deadeningly aware of how boring so many ofthese gentlemen are.

Her manipulative guardian has unexpectedly allowed her to find a husband of her own choosing, and she has no intention of marrying any man who tries to tame her. There must be someone perfect for her . . . someone who can live up to the promise ofthat long-ago kiss.

Then, at a ball, fate strikes. Once again, it is the Christmas season, and across the crowded room Helena stands transfixed . . . for there is the man whose kiss she has never forgotten, the man of her memory whom no other has ever been able to supplant. Her wild, mysterious Englishman, Sebastian Cynster, Duke of St. Ives.

One look, and he's determined to reclaim her . . . .

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

 

 The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah-440 pages

This is my go to book whenever I need inspiration.  Just to draw on the strength of these women and men who lived through such horrors.  A time that they did not know when it would end or if it would end.  The strength of family and bonds of friendship..to the death.  It makes me feel like as bad as these times are we can survive.  This book will always be in my top five favorites..if you haven't read it I highly recommend it to you. 

All Blood Runs Red: the legendary life of Eugene Bullard-boxer, pilot, soldier, spy by Phil Keith with Tom Clavin

All Blood Runs Red: the legendary life of Eugene Bullard-boxer, pilot, soldier, spy by Phil Keith with Tom Clavin
352 pages

"Eugene Bullard lived one of the most fascinating lives of the twentieth century. The son of a former slave and an indigenous Creek woman, Bullard fled home at the age of eleven to escape the racial hostility of his Georgia community. When his journey led him to Europe, he garnered worldwide fame as a boxer, and later as the first African American fighter pilot in history.

"After the war, Bullard returned to Paris a celebrated hero. But little did he know the dramatic, globe-spanning arc of his life had just begun.

"All Blood Runs Red is the inspiring untold story of an American hero, a thought-provoking chronicle of the twentieth century and a portrait of a man who came from nothing and by his own courage, determination, gumption, intelligence and luck forged a legendary life."  --from the publisher

What an amazing person! I'd like to have half his adventurous spirit. The authors do a great job relating his story and putting it in context of world events. I give it four out of five stars.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn - 503 pages


In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.

The Second Worst Restaurant in France by Alexander McCall Smith

The Second Worst Restaurant in France by Alexander McCall Smith
(Paul Stuart #2)
256 pages

"Renowned cookbook writer Paul Stuart, renewed and refreshed from his time in Tuscany, has returned to Scotland to work on his new book, The Philosophy of Food in Six Easy Chapters. Writing, though, is complicated by Paul's changed domestic circumstances. His editor and new girlfriend, Gloria, has moved in with him despite not being specifically invited, and she's brought her two rather demanding Siamese cats. When Paul's cousin, Chloe, suggests Paul visit her in the French countryside, Paul jumps at the chance. However, once he arrives, he finds his fortunes tangled up with the infamous local restaurant that gives the book its title. In this story about a man who prides himself on his taste finding delight in the most unexpected places, we have Alexander McCall Smith at his most witty and charming."  --from the publisher

I'm sorry to say I'm a bit disappointed in this one.  Maybe my expectations were impossibly high since he is one of my favorite authors.  The story just didn't flow for me, and I started to wonder what it was supposed to be about.  I think if I had read it as a sort of "season in the life of" Paul Stuart I might have enjoyed his adventure with Chloe in this odd little French village.  I gave it three out of five stars.

Rose Under Fire (Code Name Verity #2) by Elizabeth Wein

Rose Under Fire (Code Name Verity #2) by Elizabeth Wein-368* pages

I read Code Name Verity in Summer 2015 for the Teen Services class I was taking during Library school and it was a good read. I decided I wanted to read this for historical fiction month. It is an even better read. Rose Justice is an American Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) pilot in Britain during WWII and works with Maddie (one of the protagonists from Code Name Verity). On her way back to Britain from one of her transport flights, Rose is captured by Nazis/Germans and eventually sent to Ravensbruck. The atrocities that took place at the hands of the Nazis there (and at all of the concentration camps) are appalling. Many things that we take for granted today were barely considerations for them (freely going to the bathroom/working toilets is one thing). "Prisoners" were experimented on (infected with disease, operated on, had bones and/or muscles removed, etc.), beaten with whips, shot on a whim, gassed, forced to stand for hours or days at a time, and given very little to eat. Many of the women (and men) at Ravensbruck and all of the camps who survived were skeletons of their former selves (in many cases both physically and emotionally). Wein's story about Rose is good because it tells a story that needs told (continually so that no one forgets) and it is well-written and told well. Although it is a work of fiction, I felt as if I were there with Rose and the other women at Ravensbruck and that is the mark of a good work. Overall, it was a good read, though not easy at times. I would recommend it to anyone (though be prepared for sad moments).

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

French Milk by Lucy Knisley-188 pages

I read An Age of License by Knisley during the travel month, but had to request this from a distant library, so I could not get it in time to read it for that month. I somewhat enjoyed reading this, although it definitely wasn't my favorite. I enjoyed An Age of License better. French Milk is a travelogue of Lucy Knisley's stay in a Paris apartment for a month to celebrate her birthday with her mom. Her dad and a friend also stay for a few days at different times. I was amused at her love of French milk, which is fresh and always whole. They don't drink skim milk. I would like to visit Paris and, especially, the Eiffel Tower someday. I really want to go to Europe. Overall, this was an okay graphic travelogue.

An Age of License: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley

An Age of License: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisley-195 pages

Since this month's theme is travel, I decided to read some highly acclaimed graphic travelogues and this is one that was recommended. Lucy (the author) travels to Norway, Sweden, Germany, and France in September, 2011 and documents her travels in this graphic volume. Lucy is an acclaimed cartoonist/graphic novelist/artist who is invited to Raptus Comics Fest in Bergen, Norway which is the original reason for her travels, but she decides to visit friends/lovers in the other countries she travels to. It is an interesting, easy read and I would really like to take a trip like this someday.

A Cool and Lonely Courage by Susan Ottaway

A Cool and Lonely Courage by Susan Ottaway -324 pages

"The untold story of sister spies in occupied France," is the subtitle of this account of two French/English sisters who volunteered to be a courier and radio operator for the Resistance. Although both were initially belittled by their British trainers, Eileen and Jacqueline Nearne became productive agents in an extremely dangerous network of allies and traitors. Eileen was eventually captured by the Nazis and barely survived enslavement in several concentration camps before liberation. Jacqueline survived her service and became a successful liaison at the U.N., while Eileen worked as a nurse and suffered from post-traumatic stress throughout much of her life. The author describes what emotions the sisters must have been feeling too often early in the book, but this is an interesting glimpse into the shady realm of World War II covert operations and their high cost.

The Frozen Dead by Bernard Minier

The Frozen Dead by Bernard Minier - 496 pages

Saint-Martin-de-Comminges is a tiny town high in the French Pyrenees where nothing too exciting ever happens.  Workers at a hydroelectric plant stumble across an elaborately staged corpse that brings in the police and the state investigative units to try and find answers.  The current crime unearths a web of lies from the past that puts everyone in danger from the highest halls of power to the everyday sidewalks of the town.  

I generally like European suspense novels because their tone is usually much more stark and the narrative is very spare compared to American works in the genre.  I'm a firm fan of "show me, don't tell me."  This book was good overall but the action was slow to start and there seemed to be some characters who existed solely to give exposition.  I'm not a fan of switching narrators within a book and the portions of the plot with police Commandant Martin Servaz were definitely much more compelling than that of the psychologist Diane Berg.  The serial killer element with the asylum in the mountains did have a nice Silence of the Lambs / Shining vibe that added an extra layer of creepiness.     

Goddamn This War, by Jacques Tardi

   Goddamn This War, by Jacques Tardi, 152 pages

This was a pretty powerful graphic novel about the despair and desolation inherent to war in general, but in this particular instance, the Great War (WWI).  There are no winners, just the maimed and the dead, in this bleak depiction by the great French graphic artist.  An interesting addition to the other material that will be undoubtedly released for the centennial of the war.