WWI

Review: THE GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND by Jo Jo Moyes

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Recently I received a copy of THE GIRL YOU LEFT BEHIND as a gift. I had heard of Jo Jo Moyes, but never read her books before. This was a riveting and touching story, part current day/part historical fiction, centering around the portrait of a young woman from WWI.

In 1917 France, Sophie LeFevre is trying to keep her family’s inn going while the German occupation occurs. Her artist husband Edouard is gone to fight at the front, leaving Sophie, her sister, and her younger brother alone. Sophie and her sister must feed the German soldiers each night, and one evening the Commandant expresses an interest in the portrait of Sophie that her husband has painted. As time passes, Sophie becomes desperate to learn of her husband’s well-being, and risks everything she has to save him.

Meanwhile, in current day London, Liv Halston is now the owner of Sophie’s portrait. She is grieving the untimely death of her young husband, and the picture was a gift from him. However, the LeFevre family is looking for the portrait and want it returned. Classed as stolen during the war, they feel entitled to have it returned, while Liv is sure that not only did they obtained it legally, but that she has a connection to Sophie the others don’t. Thus begins a battle over the rightful ownership of the picture of “The Girl You Left Behind”. By the end, Sophie’s story is told and Liv’s story has unfolded and taken a new direction.

I really enjoyed this story! I love historical fiction, and having it interspersed with modern day was an effective way to tell the story. It has some mystery, some history, and some romance.

I’ve never read other books by Ms. Moyes, but I will look for more.

Review: CALL ME ZELDA by Erika Robuck

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A while back I went to a book talk and signing by Erika Robuck held at my favorite indie: The Concord Bookshop. I loved her talk about how she came to write CALL ME ZELDA, about Zelda Fitzgerald’s time spent in a mental institution while she was treated for schizophrenia and the relationship she forms with her nurse. I bought but saved CALL ME ZELDA until our trip in August so that I could take it with me (sort of like bringing along a special friend!). I enjoyed this beautiful but heart-breaking novel and didn’t want it to end.

In CALL ME ZELDA, psychiatric nurse Anna Howard is still recovering herself from the losses of WWI (her husband is MIA and her young daughter has died of pneumonia). She works at a mental hospital and has Zelda Fitzgerald (wife of F. Scott) in her charge. She and Zelda form a bond and become friends. Anna’s emotional attachment to the troubled Zelda leads her to leave her job and work privately for the Fitzgerald family, where she is privy to the highs and lows, the sweetness and the abuse, of Scott and Zelda’s relationship. Zelda, who is schizophrenic and also seems depressed, is unpredictable yet vulnerable. She shows great brilliance, yet feels smothered and held back by Scott. Scott, meanwhile, is an alcoholic who brilliance is at times eclipsed by his selfish manipulations. Anna’s own back story exists as another story line in this book: her struggle with coming to peace with her losses and her striving to begin to live life again.

All in all, I loved this book. It read easily and I felt the character of Anna was well-developed and believable. I didn’t know too much about the Fitzgeralds before reading this novel, and I realize it is fiction, but I found their portrayal quite fascinating. This is one of several books on Zelda Fitzgerald published this year and I put in with my “woman behind the man books” – e.g. “The Paris Wife”, “The Aviator’s Wife”, “Loving Frank”, etc. This was a great read and will undoubtedly be one of my top books for 2013 – made all the more special because my copy is signed by Erika!

Quick Review: PARIS by Edward Rutherfurd

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I really enjoy Rutherfurd’s books and have read most of them. I think my personal favorite is NEW YORK (see my review here: https://drbethnolan.wordpress.com/2010/07/18/review-new-york-by-edward-rutherfurd/ ). I bought PARIS for my birthday with a gift card I received. This tome weighs in at over 800 pages and it did not disappoint!

Similar to Rutherfurd’s other historical novels, PARIS follows the lineage of several families from medieval times to the 1900’s. Unlike some of his other novels, though, the timeline is not chronological, but jumps around, maintaining story lines throughout. Some readers may find this confusing, though I always find the family tree provided in the front of the book very helpful (I read a paper copy, not on my kindle).

Since Paris is one of my favorite places, it’s not surprising that I really liked reading this novel. The personal stories (fictitious) and the historical facts are interplayed so nicely, that you are learning while reading.

Review: “The House at Riverton” by Kate Morton

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I enjoyed Kate Morton’s “The Secret Keeper” so much I ordered “The House at Riverton” as a treat for myself from Amazon.

In current day, a young film maker approaches elderly Grace Bradley to interview her about Riverton House, where she went out to service at the age of fourteen. The book, which is told in flashback, follows Grace as she becomes close to the children of the house (who are about her age), particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. These are the years leading up to WWI and the world of the English aristocracy is about to change. Throughout the war and into the 1920’s, more changes come to society and to the family, who is rocked by their beloved son’s death. Then in 1924, a startling death occurs during a party at Riverton, and Grace holds the secret to what happened that fateful night – a secret she keeps for years.

As she is interviewed,  a Pandora’s Box of emotions and memories opens for Grace, now in her nineties. Will secrets remain secret? What exactly did happen that summer night?

Read it to find out!

I loved this book, which weighed in at 473 pages. I could scarcely believe it was that long as I read it quickly and it never dragged. I didn’t want it to end. I’m also a HUGE Downton Abbey fan, and this book fed right into my passion!