Tag: Reviews

My Week in Books – 12th December 2021

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MyWeekinBooks

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I published my review of historical crime mystery The Room of the Dead (Betty Church Mystery #2) by M. R. C. Kasasian.

Tuesday – I took part in the publication day push for Sherlock Holmes & the Singular Affair by M. K. Wiseman.

Wednesday – I shared my review of historical novel, The Visitors by Caroline Scott as part of the blog tour. WWW Wednesday is the opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to have a good nose around what others are reading. 

Thursday – I shared my publication day review of historical thriller Where God Does Not Walk (Gregor Reinhardt #4) by Luke McCallin. 

Friday – I shared my review of The Golden Girls’ Getaway by Judy Leigh as part of the  blog tour, 

Saturday – I published my review of The Lost Girl in Paris by Jina Bacarr.

As always, thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on or shared my blog posts on social media.

New arrivals

Love in a Time of WarLove in a Time of War by Adrienne Chinn (eARC, One More Chapter)

Three sisters
The Great War
The end of innocence…

In 1913, in a quiet corner of London, the three Fry sisters are coming of age, dreaming of all the possibilities the bright future offers. But when war erupts their innocence is shattered and a new era of uncertainty begins.

Cecelia loves Max but his soldier’s uniform is German, not British, and suddenly the one man she loves is the one man she can’t have. Jessie enlists in the army as a nurse and finally finds the adventure she’s craved when she’s sent to Gallipoli and Egypt, but it comes with an unimaginable cost. Etta elopes to Capri with her Italian love, Carlo, but though her growing bump is real, her marriage certificate is a lie.

As the three sisters embark on journeys they never could have imagined, their mother Christina worries about the harsh new realities they face, and what their exposure to the wider world means for the secrets she’s been keeping…

Being Edith PinsentFinding Edith Pinsent (Netta Wilde #2) by Hazel Ward (eARC, Hope St Press)

Netta Wilde has a task to complete.

She’s agreed to go through the late Edith Pinsent’s diaries and possessions personally. The problem is, she’s been busy sorting out her own life.  But she’s in a better place now. She’s free of her manipulative ex, has a new love in neighbour, Frank and has reunited with her kids. What better time to begin Edie’s story?

But the path to discovery is not easy. There are missing diaries to contend with, boxes of memories to uncover and revelations that turn everything on its head. Revelations that make Netta question if her own life really is sorted.

Delving deeper into Edith’s history, Netta is overtaken by a need to revisit her own past and put things right, but to do that she has to find the two people who once meant everything to her. As her two challenges intertwine, Netta realises that Edith had a purpose for her. One that she must fulfil. Bit by bit, the house yields a lifetime of secrets and the real Edith Pinsent begins to emerge.

But will it be the Edith everyone thought they knew?

The City of TearsThe City of Tears by Kate Mosse  (eARC, Pan MacMillan)

May 1572: for ten violent years the Wars of Religion have raged across France. Neighbours have become enemies, countless lives have been lost, and the country has been torn apart over matters of religion, citizenship and sovereignty. But now a precarious peace is in the balance and a royal wedding has been negotiated. It is a marriage that could see France reunited at last.

An invitation has arrived for Minou Joubert and her family to attend this historic wedding in Paris in August. But what Minou does not know is that the Joubert family’s oldest enemy, Vidal, will also be there. Nor that, within days of the marriage, on the eve of the Feast Day of St Bartholomew, her family will be scattered to the four winds and one of her beloved children will have disappeared without trace . . .

Sweeping from Paris and Chartres to the City of Tears itself – the great refugee city of Amsterdam – this is a story of one family’s fight to stay together and survive against the devastating tides of history . . .

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

  • Book Review: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
  • Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Winter 2021 To-Read List
  • Book Review: The Alphabet of Heart’s Desire by Brian Keaney
From ‘An Edwardian Christmas’ by John S. Goodall

#BookReview The Lost Girl in Paris by Jina Bacarr @BoldwoodBooks

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The Lost Girl in ParisAbout the Book

‘I will never forget what the Nazi did to me. Never’

Paris, 1940. As Nazis patrol the streets of the French capital, Tiena is alone, desperate and on the run. After defending herself against the force of an officer, she must find a new identity in order to survive.

An accidental meeting with members of the Resistance gives her a lifeline, as she is offered the chance to reinvent herself as perfumer Angéline De Cadieux. However Angéline will never forget what happened to her, and will do everything she can to seek revenge.

But vengeance can be a dangerous game, and Angeline can only hide her true identity for so long before her past catches up with her, with some devastating consequences…

Paris, 2003. When the opportunity arises for aspiring journalist Emma Keane to interview world renowned perfumer Madame De Cadieux about her life during World War Two, she is determined to take it. There are secrets from her own family history that she hopes Angéline may be able to help unlock.

But nothing can prepare Emma for Angéline’s story, and one thing is for certain – it will change her own life forever…

Format: Paperback (390 pages)              Publisher: Boldwood Books
Publication date: 30th November 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Lost Girl in Paris on Goodreads

Purchase links
Hive | Amazon UK
Links provided for convenience only, not as part of an affiliate programme

My Review

The book alternates between two timelines. The first, set in 2003, features ambitious journalist Emma Keane who manages to gain the agreement of famous parfumier Angéline De Cadieux to tell the story of her life and wartime experiences, a story Angéline has carefully guarded up to that point. As well as promising to be a career-enhancing scoop, Emma has reasons of her own for wanting to delve into the secrets of Angéline’s past and the secrets of the parfumier’s art.

In the second timeline, set in wartime France, the reader learns about the traumatic events Angéline experienced as a young woman, experiences that put her in fear of capture by the Nazis – and by one Nazi in particular – and that resulted in her transformation from Tiena Cordova to Angéline de Cadieux. We also learn about her time working as a parfumier and as a member of the nascent French Resistance, risking discovery at any moment.  As Angéline’s subsequent experiences show, the consequences of discovery are degradation, inhuman treatment and almost certain death.

I wasn’t completely won over by the dual timeline structure in which Angéline’s reminiscences are sometimes related to Emma and at other times direct to the reader in chapters contemporaneous with the events being described. I preferred the style of writing in the latter and I was always glad to immerse myself again in Angeline’s story. However, I appreciate the book’s structure enabled the author to draw interesting parallels between the two women. One thing the two women share is the presence of two handsome men in their lives. For Angéline this is a much-lamented past love whilst for Emma it is an enticing future prospect (although in true Pride & Prejudice style initially she intensely dislikes the man in question). Eventually the two women’s stories come together by which time the bond between them has grown deeper.

Although many of us will know about the persecution of Jewish people by the Nazis, the plight of the Roma people under the regime is probably less well-known, although what they suffered was equally horrific. Angéline’s first-hand experience of this, although difficult to read at times, was the most compelling part of the book for me, showing the courage of those who endured the worst that human beings can do to one another. As Emma observes at one point, it’s a story that needs to be told.

I received an advance review copy courtesy of Boldwood Books via NetGalley.

In three words: Emotional, dramatic, intense

Try something similar: The Young Survivors by Debra Barnes

Jina_BacarrAbout the Author

Jina Bacarr is a US-based historical romance author of over 10 previous books. She has been a screenwriter, journalist and news reporter, but now writes full-time and lives in LA. Jina’s novels have been sold in 9 territories. Sign up for Jina’s newsletter letter here.

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