This is a historical romance novel about World War II and the Nazi occupation of France. As far as I know, the novel accurately depicts life in occupied France: miserable conditions, food shortages, Nazi soldiers and informants all over the towns and cities, people killed, and children wrenched from their parents. But the novel has a positive, heartwarming wrap-up at the end. All the loose ends are tied in a neat bow, so that the aged main character can die.
The novel follows the lives of sisters Vianne and Isabel Rossignol, as well as their father, Julien, alternating between the present (1995) and the past (1939-1944). The two sisters appear to be opposites, one safe and ordinary, the other rebellious and troublesome. Their father appears to be a cruel, selfish son-of-a-bitch. Two of the three have surprises in store for us, as well as the other characters. In addition, the novel follows a huge cast of diverse supporting characters. For instance, Rachel de Champlain, Vianne’s best friend since childhood. As a Jew, she faces deportation to the death camps, along with her two children. Another example is Henri Navarre, a mild-mannered innkeeper who runs a resistance network. And third, Madame Babineau, and old friend of the sisters’ late mother, who helps Isabelle run an escape route over the Pyranees Mountains and into Spain for downed Allied pilots. These are just a few examples of the engaging cast of characters. The day of reckoning comes for each character.
Vianne and Isabelle have love interests, and Vianne has a daughter. Her husband Antoine Mauriac must go to war, and is captured and imprisoned by the Nazis. Isabelle’s lover, Gaëtan, is an underground resistance fighter, as is Isabelle. I loved the many supporting characters, few fully formed, but all original and individual. The novel is a page-turner, and I enjoyed it. (Score 4/5)
