The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer

The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer

Published by Graydon House ISBN 9781525826689

Trade paperback, $18.99, 352 pages

As Kelly Rimmer's fascinating novel The Paris Agent opens, four women who are British spies in 1944 were captured by Nazi forces and are now on a train being transferred somewhere unknown.

Flash forward to 1970 Britain where Charlotte and her father Noah are grieving the death of Charlotte's mother, Noah's wife. Charlotte believes that her father was a plane mechanic during WWII, and she is stunned to discover that Noah was actually a top secret SOE spy operative in France during the war.

Noah has been disconsolate lately; he wants to track down the man Remy who helped him when he suffered a serious head injury during the war. He has memory loss from that time and he believes that Remy can help fill in the gaps. 

Charlotte finds a professor who is working on a history of the SOE operatives. Perhaps he can find Remy for them, but Noah seems reluctant, even more so when it appears that there was a double agent working for the Nazis who endangered the lives of SOE operatives.

As the story moves back to 1944, we meet two female spies- Chloe and Fleur- as they narrate their stories of how they came to be spies for the British government and the dangerous missions they undertook. Rimmer writes an incredibly tense scene as Chloe and Noah's mission to destroy a Nazi weapons factory is detailed. It's a real nail-biter.

These brave heroes put their lives on the line for the safety of others back home, knowing they could be captured or killed. Those who came home often wanted to put that part of their behind them or were forever haunted by it. Noah was able to put it behind him until he could no longer do so.

I was pulled deep into this story, and although at first it is difficult to keep the characters straight because they use their spy names and real names interchangeably (a chart in the beginning of the book would have been helpful), I could not put this book down.

The characters are so well drawn, we feel deeply for them when they face unspeakable danger and as we draw closer to discovering their fates, I found my heart racing. If you are a fan of WWII novels, like Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, you'll want to read The Paris Agent.

Thanks to TLC Tour for putting me on Kelly Rimmer's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

TLC review tour schedule:

Monday, June 26th: @poisedpen 

Tuesday, June 27th: @nobookmark_noproblem

Wednesday, June 28th: @marensreads 

Thursday, June 29th: @andrea.c.lowry.reads 

Thursday, June 29th: @readthisandsteep and Read This and Steep

Friday, June 30th: @mrs._lauras_lit 

Monday, July 3rd: @wendysbookclub

Wednesday, July 5th: @megsbookclub

Thursday, July 6th: @laurasnextchapter 

Friday, July 7th: Bookchickdi

Saturday, July 8th: @addictedtobooks86

Monday, July 10th: @page_appropriate 

Tuesday, July 11th: Helen’s Book Blog

Wednesday, July 12th: @bigskybooks

Friday,  July 14th: @diveintoagoodbook

Monday, July 17th: @charliegirl.loves2read

Wednesday, July 19th: @finding_joyathome

Friday, July 21st: Girl Who Reads

Friday, July 21st: Books Cooks Looks

Monday, July 24th: @nurse_bookie

Wednesday, July 26th: @subakka.bookstuff and Subakka.bookstuff

Friday, July 28th: Eliot’s Eats

The Girl From Guernica by Karen Robards

The Girl From Guernica by Karen Robards

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778309963

Hardcover, $27.99, 464 pages

Karen Robards’ riveting new historical novel, The Girl From Guernica, takes the reader inside the horror of the Spanish civil war in April 1937 when the residents of the small town of Guernica in Spain are terrorized by an air raid that drops bombs on the city setting it ablaze. Residents who try to flee are shot dead in the streets.

Sixteen year old Sibi wakes up trapped under the rubble of a building and is rescued by  Griff, an American military attaché . Sibi tells Griff that the planes were German planes, a fact she knows because her German father helped design them.  When Sibi tells a reporter the same thing, that the planes were German not Spanish as thought, that leads to trouble for Sibi.

Sibi’s father comes to Spain to take her and her sisters back to their home in Berlin where he continues his work on rockets. When the Nazi leaders read the reporter’s account of German planes bombing Guernica, suspicion falls on Sibi as the person who spoke to the reporter.

In order to save her family, Sibi lies and becomes a tool of propaganda for the Nazis. She is forced to speak to reporters and make filmed statements stating that it was Spanish planes who reigned terror on their own countrymen. 

When Griff reconnects with Sibi, she offers to spy on her father and his colleagues for the Allies. Griff reluctantly agrees, knowing that Sibi will be putting her life in danger, but as Sibi says, her life is already in danger.

The Girl From Guernica is a riveting, thrilling novel. Robards doesn’t let up on the tension from the horror of the bombing of Guernica to Sibi’s meetings with Nazi leaders to her attempts to get information to Griff to the suspenseful conclusion, and my heart was in my throat the entire time. 

As someone who knew little about Guernica outside of the famous Pablo Picasso painting of the same name, I found the premise of the story fascinating. Sibi and her family are characters that work their way into your heart as you root for them to survive “by whatever means necessary.” Fans of WWII historical fiction like The Nightingale and All The World You Cannot See  will want to put The Girl From Guernica on their TBR list.

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on their Fall 2022 Historical Fiction Blog Tour.

The Bookseller's Secret by Michelle Gable

The Bookseller's Secret by Michelle Gable

Published by Graydon House ISBN 9781525806469

Trade paperback, $16.99, 400 pages

I've always seen books by and about Nancy Mitford (and her famous sisters) but haven't yet read one. After reading Michelle Gable's fascinating novel, The Bookseller's Secret, where Nancy Mitford plays a large role, I have already made a list of books about Mitford to add to my To-Be-Read pile.

We begin the novel in the present day with a young woman named Katie struggling in her career as a novelist. She had one successful book, and now her engagement to her boyfriend of many years is over. When her best friend Jojo offers to pay Katie's airfare to come to London stay with her, her husband and four young children, Katie gratefully accepts.

Jojo tells Katie about a very special bookstore, G. Heywood Hill Ltd., where the owner is a book concierge for a mostly wealthy clientele. For a large sum of money Felix will compile a personal library, consisting of books unique to each customer's interests. (My dream job!)

Author Nancy Mitford worked at the G. Heywood Hill Ltd. bookstore during WWII. Nancy is one of six sisters, some of whom are notorious for being friends with Hitler, as well as being Fascists and Communists, and she was friends with famous writers of the day, like Evelyn Waugh, who hung out at the bookshop. (Picture "Friends" as a group of intellectuals on a WWII BBC show.)

Katie becomes intrigued by the rumor that Nancy Mitford had written a memoir, and that Felix was in possession of it, which he vehemently denies. Then she meets Simon, a school principal, who was also looking for Mitford's memoir for reasons of his own.

The characters in this novel are so interesting and well drawn. Nancy Mitford jumps off the page, with her clever quips and saucy attitude. It's impossible not to fall in love with her. Between her infamous family, her  husband at war whom she hasn't heard from in three years, the French colonel who she falls in love with, her mission as a spy for Britain, and her struggles to write her next book, Nancy has a fascinating life. If you are a Nancy Mitford fan, you'll definitely want to read The Bookseller's Secret.

Other intriguing characters include Katie's grandmother, who is about to be kicked out her fantasy football league for her bad behavior, Jojo and her precocious son Clive, who is a real hoot. All three of these made me laugh. I also appreciated that the author wrote an informative real-life epilogue for several of the characters we meet. 

 

The question that lingers is "did Nancy Mitford write a memoir and if she did, where is it?" You'll have to read The Bookseller's Secret to find out. I highly recommend that you do.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on the Summer 2021 Historical Fiction Reads Tour.

The Last Bookshop In London by Madeline Martin

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

Published by Hanover Square Press ISBN 9781335284808

Trade paperback, $16.99, 251 pages

While there seems to be so many novels set in WWII, Madeleine Martin's The Last Bookshop in London feels like a fresh take on the genre.

Grace and her best friend Viv have left behind their lives in the country for what they hope will be the excitement of living in the big city of London. They move into the home of Grace's late mother's friend, Mrs. Weatherford, and her kindhearted son Colin.

Viv is able to get a job at Harrod's glamorous department store, but the only job Grace can get is at Primrose Hill, a local bookstore. Grace is not a reader, and she is taken aback at the disarray and disorganization of the store.

Mr. Evans, the owner of the bookshop, reluctantly takes Grace on as an employee on a temporary basis as a favor to Mrs. Weatherford. Grace gets to work cleaning and organizing the shop, and when handsome George comes in and suggests she read The Count of Monte Crisco to begin her education, Grace is smitten.

When England declares war on Germany after the invasion of Poland, things in London change. Colin and George are off to war, Viv leaves to join the war effort, but Grace stays behind with Mrs. Weatherford. Grace becomes a warden at night, walking the neighborhood to ensure that everyone follows the blackout envelop you as you read.

Soon the Germans begin nightly bombing runs over England, known as the Blitz. Each night the residents  of London would take cover in the underground subway tunnels while German planes bombed civilian targets in the city, destroying it piece by piece. Martin immerses the reader in this terrorizing nightly ritual alongside the London residents.

One night, Grace begins to read aloud to her neighbors in the Underground, which becomes a balm to them. She takes to afternoon readings in the bookshop, and people pack the store to hear her.

As someone who works at a bookstore, I truly enjoyed Grace's evolution of the shop. She creates marketing ideas, including participating in the National Book Token system. People were encouraged to buy book tokens that people could take into bookstores to exchange for books, like a gift cards. I had not heard of this, and I loved it.

Madeline Martin does such a brilliant job putting the reader into this neighborhood in London, which was a character in the book, as was the bookshop. We understand the importance of the bookshop as a refuge from war to the community, and how the community comes together when the bookshop needs them. 

I highly recommend The Last Bookshop in London for anyone who loves bookstores and a good WWII story told from a fresh perspective. 

Thanks to Harlequin Books for putting me on Madeline Martin's tour.

The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear

The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear

Published by Harper ISBN 9780062868022

Hardcover, $27.99, 352 pages

It's been two years since we had a Maisie Dobbs fix, as author Jacqueline Winspear published a memoir last year in place of her annual Maisie Dobbs historical mystery. 

In  2019's The American Agent, London was dealing with the Blitz, the nightly bombing of London. Maisie and her best friend Priscilla drove an ambulance ferrying injured civilians, and Pris was seriously burned as they pulled injured children out of danger. One of Pris' sons was seriously injured during the evacuation of trapped troops in Dunkirk. It was a harrowing time for Maisie and company.

In the new novel, The Consequences of Fear,  private investigator and psychologist Maisie Dobbs has been pressed into service in the SOE (Special Operatives Executive) by her old comrade Robert McFarlane. She is tasked with psychologically evaluating people who will be sent into France as spies.

At the same time, her private investigation office has a new case- a young boy who has been acting as a messenger witnesses a murder but the police seem to be reluctant to admit that there was a murder. Maisie and her able assistant Billy Beale work to discover why and what connection it may have to the French resistance working in London.

Maisie's personal life has taken center stage in this novel. Her young adopted daughter Anna is growing very attached to Maisie and Maisie's father and stepmother, and Mark Scott, who works at the American embassy in London, has become an important part of Maisie's life. Is Maisie ready to let love back into her life after the tragic loss of her husband years ago?

The Consequences of Fear is vintage Maisie Dobbs. The juggling of her private investigation work and  confidential government work is becoming increasingly more difficult, and with the war ramping up in Europe, the next novels in the series are sure to examine that. 

This is the 16th novel in the series, and not one that you can jump into without having background on Maisie Dobbs. Start at the beginning and you'll find Maisie's story as fascinating as I do. It's one of the only series that I have read every book, and it's a terrific series for high school age young women to read, as Maisie is a terrific role model. It's also a great Women's History Month read. Maise Dobbs fans will be pleased with this one.

My review of The American Agent is here.

My blog post about Jacqueline Winspear's visit to Barnes & Noble is here. 

The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal

The King's Justice by Susan Elia MacNeal
Published by Bantam 9780399593840
Hardcover, $27, 352 pages

Now that I have binged the entire three seasons of Netflix's The Crown, I couldn't wait to return to the world of WWII in Susan Elia MacNeal's Maggie Hope series with her ninth book, The King's Justice.

We last left Maggie on an island in Scotland where she was forced to stay with other British intelligence agents who had been deemed security risks in The Prisoner in the Castle.  (my review here) Now Maggie is back in London, but she is no longer working for British intelligence.

Her job is still dangerous though, as it is 1943 and Maggie is part of a team who dismantles the many unexploded German bombs that lie in wait around London. She is training a young man, a conscientious objector who wants to do his part.

Maggie is dragged back into her past as the man she shot and helped put behind bars, Nicholas Reitter "the Blackout Beast", a wannabe Jack the Ripper, is awaiting sentencing for his crimes. While he is in prison, a copycat killer is on loose.

Reitter, in a Silence of the Lambs scenario, will only talk to Maggie, so she is pressed back into service to help track down the new killer. The scenes between Maggie and Reitter are incredibly tense, something MacNeal excels at as a writer.

MacNeal also does a great deal of research for her Maggie Hope novels, and in this one we learn about the prejudice facing Italian immigrants in Great Britain during WWII. I had no idea that Italian immigrants were rounded up and placed in custody, much like the United States did to Japanese- Americans following Pearl Harbor.

When it becomes apparent that the killer is targeting conscientious objectors, Maggie believes that that the police, including Detective Chief Inspector James Durgin whom Maggie has worked with and cares deeply about, should warn the objectors. Durgin doesn't want to tip off the killer and refuses, which causes Maggie much anguish.

Now that we are back in London after books set in Paris and Scotland, we see the toll that the war is taken on Maggie and her friends. Maggie is drinking way too much, her flatmates Nigel and his wife Charlotte are having marital problems, and her friend Sarah is still struggling after her horrific intelligence mission in Paris.

The King's Justice gives us everything we want in a Maggie Hope novel- a suspenseful mystery to be solved, catching up with Maggie and her friends, and a new look at a piece of WWII history we knew little about. (And as someone who recently visited the Tower of London, I really enjoyed the ravens section, we loved our tour of the Tower.)

 Fans of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series should begin the Maggie Hope series right away while we await the next Maisie book due in 2021.

New In Paperback- The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

The Women In The Castle by Jessica Shattuck
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks ISBN 9780062563675
Trade paperback, 400 pages, $16.99

Two of the biggest publishing sensations of the past few years are Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and the Pulitzer Prize-winning All The Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Both dealt with people trapped by the horrors of WWII in France and Germany.

Jessica Shattuck's new novel, The Women In The Castle, tackles that same era and will definitely appeal to readers who were so moved by those two books.

The story opens in November of 1938 at Burg Lingenfels, a castle in Bavaria, where the Countess' annual harvest party is about to begin. We meet Marianne von Lingelfels, the Countess' niece-in-law, who will act as hostess to the party. She is married to Albrecht von Lingelfels who fears that the Nazi regime and Adolf Hitler have become too powerful.

Albrecht is disgusted by the actions of Hitler, and actively participates in the resistance movement along with others, including Connie Fledermann, a man who is always the charming life-of-the-party and Marianne's dear friend. Connie is married to the beautiful, young Benita, and if Marianne admits it, she is a little jealous.

The action moves back and forth in time, and a few years later we find Marianne and her young children living in the castle, a shadow of its former grand self. Marianne has promised Connie that she take care of Benita and their young son, and along the way also picks up Ania, a refugee with her three children.

The three women and their children band together to survive the horrors and deprevations of war. We learn where Benita and Ania were before they came to Burg Lingenfels, and what they had to do to survive.

We see the horrors of war through their eyes, and some of the scenes are so jarring, such as the one of Ania and her friend seeing what they believe to be sacks of food piled high on open air wagons. As it gets closer they realize that the sacks are actually people. There are more than a few heartbreaking scenes in this searing novel.

The story moves along, following the war's end and what happens to those who survive. Some do their best to move on, forget the past, while others are haunted too much. Marianne does her best to live up to her high principles, even if that hurts those she loves, while others do whatever it takes to survive. Which way is right? That is the big question to be answered.

The women face many moral dilemmas, and the reader is left to wonder what she may have done in their situations. Shattuck does an admirable job of putting the reader in their shoes, making us identify with these women, creating empathy.

The Women In The Castle is a haunting story, one that you cannot rush through, but must read and contemplate. These characters' stories will stay with you for a very long time. Fans of Chris Bohjalian's The Sandcastle Girls and David Gillam's City of Women should put this one on your TBR list as well.

Doubleheader- Two Great Books About Female Spies

I read not one, but two, fabulous novels about female spies recently- the seventh book in the Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia MacNeal, The Paris Spy, and the newest pick in Reese Witherspoon's Book Club, Kate Quinn's The Alice Network.

You don't need to have read any of the previous books in the Maggie Hope series to enjoy her latest, The Paris Spy. (That being said, anyone who has read the series will find this exceptional.) Maggie Hope is working as a spy in WWII Paris for the SOE, Special Operatives Executive, under the direct orders of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

She is working with two other operatives, Sarah, posing as a ballerina, and Sarah's husband Hugh, posing as a musician, both with the Paris ballet. Maggie's cover as an Irish socialite shopping for her wedding trousseau in Paris brings her into contact with famous designer Coco Chanel, who plays an important role in this fascinating and heartpounding story.

Maggie is looking for her half-sister Elsie, hoping to bring her home to England, when she gets caught up as a female operative goes missing, along with important information that will help England decide where best to land in France as a final push to destroy the Nazis and win WWII.

MacNeal does an impressive job with her research into the use of female spies in WWII, used because it was felt that the Nazis would not suspect that women would be involved. (Indeed, it was an international violation to send women behind enemy lines during war.) She helpfully lists the books she used as research at the end of the book for anyone who wishes to learn more.

We also get a look into the British war effort, complete with warring factions in the espionage agencies and the mistakes that were made that endangered not only the operatives, but the war effort itself.

There is so much tension in The Paris Spy, I found myself gasping out loud more than once, and if this were a movie, I would peeking between my fingers at certain points. Maggie Hope is one of the most interesting characters in mystery series, and the crisis of conscious she is faced with at the end of the story is one that will propel the next entry in this most interesting and informative series. I give The Paris Spy my highest recommendation, and I read it in one sitting.

Kate Quinn's The Alice Network also deals with female spies, but is set in WWI and the aftermath of WWII. Young, pregnant and unmarried in 1947, Charlie is traveling with her mother to Switzerland to end her pregnancy. She makes a detour in London to search for her cousin who has been missing for three years in France.

Charlie finds Eve, a middle-aged woman, who is drunk, angry and has a gun. Charlie convinces Eve and Eve's Scottish driver/assistant Finn to help her find her cousin. Eve reluctantly helps, but she has an ulterior motive- she wants to find the man who tortured her during WWI and kill him.

The story shifts in time to WWI, where Eve is working as a spy in France with the Alice Network, run efficiently by Lili, a small woman of large talents. Eve works as a waitress in a restaurant frequented by Nazis, where she is able to gain information useful to the British government.

But getting this is information comes at a high price for Eve. She becomes involved with a French collaborator, and this relationship will haunt her for the rest of her life.

As with The Paris Spy, The Alice Network is a pulse-pounding read. Eve's mission is dangerous, and she and Lili risk their lives more than once. Also like The Paris Spy, The Alice Network is based on true events- there was an actual Alice Network, a spy ring run by women in France. The characters are brilliantly drawn, and although both stories are intriguing, Eve's story is truly astonishing. I can't get her out of my mind.

If you're looking for two amazing books about strong women, you like history, and your heart needs a good workout, check out The Alice Network and The Paris Spy now. 

The Paris Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal- A+
Published by Penguin Random House ISBN 9780399593802
Hardcover, $26, 320 pages
Susan Elia Macneal's website is here.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn- A+
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks ISBN 9780062654199
Trade paperback, $16.99, 528 pages
Kate Quinn's website is here.

The Marriage Bureau by Penrose Halson

The Marriage Bureau by Penrose Halson
Published by William Morrow ISBN 9780062562661
Trade paperback, $15.99, 320 pages

Before there was E-harmony or Tinder, there was The Marriage Bureau, which is recounted in Penrose Halson's book of the same name.

In 1938, twenty-four-year-old Audrey Parsons had already been through a litany of jobs near her home in England. She worked in a factory (too boring), as a dental receptionist (too bloody- she had to pick up teeth off the floor!), as a photographer's assistant (the darkroom was too dark), as a delivery girl for a cake shop (fired for eating the cakes) and as a riding instructor (she refused to muck out the stables).

Audrey went to visit her Uncle George in Assam, India and he gave her the idea of starting a marriage bureau in London. There were so many young men working overseas looking for a wife to join them, he thought Audrey could do something about that.

So Audrey found a partner in Heather, who was practical and logical in contrast to Audrey (now called Mary), who was more romantic and imaginative. They made a perfect team for this job!

The Marriage Bureau was formed, and thanks to a slew of good publicity in local newspapers, it was successful right out of the gate. The idea was that people would come in and be interviewed, giving their requirements for a potential spouse. They paid a small fee, and if a match led to marriage, they paid an After Marriage Fee.

The Marriage Bureau: The True Story of How Two Matchmakers Arranged Love in Wartime London is filled with stories of the many clients who came in looking for love. Their first wedding was a 68 year-old bride to a 70 year-old groom, which garnered so much publicity (including a short documentary film) that the bureau was overrun with inquiries across the world- India, dozens of African nations, and once WWII broke out, even American servicemen stationed in England used their services.

The stories are charming and sad, and some are even maddening. Mary and Heather were so successful, they even found a match for Cedric, a man they both found unappealing and disagreeable. Maybe there is a lid for every pot.

At the end of the book, there are two lists that must be read- Requirements for Female Clients 1939-1949 and Requirements for Male Clients 1939-1949. These lists contain such specific client requests as:
Women required:

• Not too sophisticated but not too dumb
• Man who will cherish a large woman
• I divorced my husband who was teacher. Not another teacher
• No bridge, pub crawling, golf, passion for The Club or Americans

Men required:

• No hysteria, no gold diggers; likes mountaineering
• Able to play a portable instrument (string or woodwind) well. Rather a prairie than a hothouse flower
• Someone who doesn't expect too much
• A nice, stylish girl, not too brainy, with the appearance of a West End mannequin. No objection to a rich widow. Someone who likes living and is human.

Reading this put me in mind of PBS' series Home Fires, and if you like that, this book is for you. Mary and Heather were women ahead of their time, and I enjoyed reading about their successful business and all of the lovely people they helped to find love. I recommend The Marriage Bureau.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Penrose Halson's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Tour Stops

Thursday, May 4th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Friday, May 5th: BookNAround

Monday, May 8th: Always With a Book

Tuesday, May 9th: Tina Says…

Wednesday, May 10th: bookchickdi

Thursday, May 11th: Man of La Book

Friday, May 12th: Reading is My Super Power

Friday, May 12th: View from the Birdhouse

Monday, May 15th: StephTheBookworm

Monday, May 15th: A Bookish Affair

Tuesday, May 16th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Wednesday, May 17th: The Feminist Texican [Reads]

Thursday, May 18th: Just Commonly

TBD: Reading Reality

The Women In The Castle by Jessica Shattuck

The Women In The Castle by Jessica Shattuck
Published by William Morrow ISBN 9780062563668
Hardcover, $26.99, 358 pages

Two of the biggest publishing sensations of the past few years are Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and the Pulitzer Prize-winning All The Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Both dealt with people trapped by the horrors of WWII in France and Germany.

Jessica Shattuck's new novel, The Women In The Castle, tackles that same era and will definitely appeal to readers who were so moved by those two books.

The story opens in November of 1938 at Burg Lingenfels, a castle in Bavaria, where the Countess' annual harvest party is about to begin. We meet Marianne von Lingelfels, the Countess' niece-in-law, who will act as hostess to the party. She is married to Albrecht von Lingelfels who fears that the Nazi regime and Adolf Hitler have become too powerful.

Albrecht is disgusted by the actions of Hitler, and actively participates in the resistance movement along with others, including Connie Fledermann, a man who is always the charming life-of-the-party and Marianne's dear friend. Connie is married to the beautiful, young Benita, and if Marianne admits it, she is a little jealous.

The action moves back and forth in time, and a few years later we find Marianne and her young children living in the castle, a shadow of its former grand self. Marianne has promised Connie that she take care of Benita and their young son, and along the way also picks up Ania, a refugee with her three children.

The three women and their children band together to survive the horrors and deprevations of war. We learn where Benita and Ania were before they came to Burg Lingenfels, and what they had to do to survive.

We see the horrors of war through their eyes, and some of the scenes are so jarring, such as the one of Ania and her friend seeing what they believe to be sacks of food piled high on open air wagons. As it gets closer they realize that the sacks are actually people. There are more than a few heartbreaking scenes in this searing novel.

The story moves along, following the war's end and what happens to those who survive. Some do their best to move on, forget the past, while others are haunted too much. Marianne does her best to live up to her high principles, even if that hurts those she loves, while others do whatever it takes to survive. Which way is right? That is the big question to be answered.

The women face many moral dilemmas, and the reader is left to wonder what she may have done in their situations. Shattuck does an admirable job of putting the reader in their shoes, making us identify with these women, creating empathy.

The Women In The Castle is a haunting story, one that you cannot rush through, but must read and contemplate. These characters' stories will stay with you for a very long time. Fans of Chris Bohjalian's The Sandcastle Girls and David Gillam's City of Women should put this one on your TBR list as well.

Thanks to TLC Tours for putting me on Jessica Shattuck's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

Tour Stops

Tuesday, March 28th: bookchickdi

Wednesday, March 29th: Literary Quicksand

Thursday, March 30th: Ms. Nose in a Book

Friday, March 31st: Just Commonly

Tuesday, April 4th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Wednesday, April 5th: Diary of an Eccentric

Wednesday, April 5th: Living Outside the Stacks

Thursday, April 6th: West Metro Mommy

Friday, April 7th: Broken Teepee

Monday, April 10th: I Brought a Book

Tuesday, April 11th: Tina Says…

Thursday, April 13th: Let Them Read Books

Friday, April 14th: View from the Birdhouse

Monday, April 17th: Girls Just Reading

Tuesday, April 18th: Kahakai Kitchen

Wednesday, April 19th: The Paperback Pilgrim

Thursday, April 20th: Books on the Table

Monday, April 24th: Kritters Ramblings

Wednesday, April 26th: #redhead.with.book

Friday, April 28th: StephTheBookworm

Friday, April 28th: A Chick Who Reads

New in Paperback- The Light In The Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

Published by Vintage ISBN 978-0-307743923

Trade paperback, $15.95, 320 pages

I've read some WWII books set in Germany (City of Women, The Life of Objects), France (Suite Francaise)  and England (The Guernsey Potato Peel & Literary Society and Phillip Rock's Abingdon Pryory trilogy), but I hadn't read many set in Italy.

Chris Bohjalian returns to historical fiction again after his last novel, The Sandcastle Girls, was set after WWI in Armenia during the genocide there. This time in The Light in the Ruins, we meet the Rosatis, Italian descendants of nobilty. They have a lovely large mansion near Florence and life is good until Italy decides to throw its fortunes in with Hitler's Germany.

What I find interesting about many of these books is the theme of what happens to people who want nothing to do with war, who do not support their government. They cannot openly defy their government, and they can hide from the war for only so long before it comes to their doorstep.

The story takes place both during WWII and ten years later when someone begins to murder the surviving members of the Rosati family. Daughter-in-law Francesca, who lost her husband and children to the war, is brutally butchered. It is thought that she picked up a strange man who killed her, until another Rosati is murdered.

We meet a female Italian homicide detective, Serafina Bettini, which is a unique job for a woman in Italy in the 1950s. Serafina has a fascinating past, and as the story unfolds, we discover her connection to the Rosatis. I loved this character and would enjoy seeing Serafina in another book (hint hint Mr. Bohjalian). Bohjalian has a knack for writing interesting, complicated female characters (Midwives, The Double Bind,  The Sandcastle Girls).

The book moves back and forth in time, and we see how the Rosatis are drawn further into the war. One son, Francesca's husband, is an engineer who ends up on the front lines. Another son is an art historian, and his job is protecting art from falling into the hands of the Nazis. This part of the story intrigued me, and I learned much about a topic I had not known about before.

The youngest Rosati, Cristina, falls in love with a young German soldier, and this complicates matters. Her family is upset, and the townspeople, some of whom are resistance fighters, distrust the Rosatis. They feel that the Rosatis have thrown their lot in with the Nazis and deserve whatever misfortune comes their way.

War is hell, and their is plenty of horrific atrocities that take place in the book. Even though as a reader you brace yourself for it, the things that happen are shocking and brutal. The Rosatis have to deal with the Germans, and then the Russians as they come through looking for the Germans. The horrors of war come right into their home and the result is devastating.

There is so much in this book to recommend. The history, the characters, the setting (it has increased my desire to visit Italy), the mysteries (who is killing the Rosatis and why, and what happened to Serafina during the war), they all come together in the skilled hands of Chris Bohjalian.

I lost myself in The Light in the Ruins and isn't that really why we read books? This is one of the best books I have read this year.

rating 5 of 5

Chris Bohjalian's website is here.

Read an excerpt here.

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian
Published by Doubleday ISBN 978-0-385-53481-9
Hardcover, $25.95, 320 pages

I've read some WWII books set in Germany (City of Women, The Life of Objects), France (Suite Francaise)  and England (The Guernsey Potato Peel & Literary Society and Phillip Rock's Abingdon Pryory trilogy), but I hadn't read many set in Italy.

Chris Bohjalian returns to historical fiction again after his last novel, The Sandcastle Girls, was set after WWI in Armenia during the genocide there. This time in The Light in the Ruins, we meet the Rosatis, Italian descendants of nobilty. They have a lovely large mansion near Florence and life is good until Italy decides to throw its fortunes in with Hitler's Germany.

What I find interesting about many of these books is the theme of what happens to people who want nothing to do with war, who do not support their government. They cannot openly defy their government, and they can hide from the war for only so long before it comes to their doorstep.

The story takes place both during WWII and ten years later when someone begins to murder the surviving members of the Rosati family. Daughter-in-law Francesca, who lost her husband and children to the war, is brutally butchered. It is thought that she picked up a strange man who killed her, until another Rosati is murdered.

We meet a female Italian homicide detective, Serafina Bettini, which is a unique job for a woman in Italy in the 1950s. Serafina has a fascinating past, and as the story unfolds, we discover her connection to the Rosatis. I loved this character and would enjoy seeing Serafina in another book (hint hint Mr. Bohjalian). Bohjalian has a knack for writing interesting, complicated female characters (Midwives, The Double Bind,  The Sandcastle Girls).

The book moves back and forth in time, and we see how the Rosatis are drawn further into the war. One son, Francesca's husband, is an engineer who ends up on the front lines. Another son is an art historian, and his job is protecting art from falling into the hands of the Nazis. This part of the story intrigued me, and I learned much about a topic I had not known about before.

The youngest Rosati, Cristina, falls in love with a young German soldier, and this complicates matters. Her family is upset, and the townspeople, some of whom are resistance fighters, distrust the Rosatis. They feel that the Rosatis have thrown their lot in with the Nazis and deserve whatever misfortune comes their way.

War is hell, and their is plenty of horrific atrocities that take place in the book. Even though as a reader you brace yourself for it, the things that happen are shocking and brutal. The Rosatis have to deal with the Germans, and then the Russians as they come through looking for the Germans. The horrors of war come right into their home and the result is devastating.

There is so much in this book to recommend. The history, the characters, the setting (it has increased my desire to visit Italy), the mysteries (who is killing the Rosatis and why, and what happened to Serafina during the war), they all come together in the skilled hands of Chris Bohjalian.

I lost myself in The Light in the Ruins and isn't that really why we read books? This is one of the best books I have read this year.

rating 5 of 5

Chris Bohjalian's website is here.
Read an excerpt here.

Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
Published by Harper Collins ISBN 9780061988349
Hardcover $26.99

I don't read a lot of WWII history books, but when I heard that Lost in Shangri-La: The True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff featured a WAC from Owego, I became intrigued.

I grew up near Owego in central New York, and my dad has older sisters who served as WACs during the war. I always found that interesting, and so dived right into this incredible story.

On May 13, 1945, a group of 24 American servicemen and WACs went on a sightseeing mission in New Guinea. They wanted to see this valley that "time forgot", and hoped to see the rumored "race of giants" tribesmen that they had been told existed there.

When the plane crashed, only three survived- John McCollom, whose twin brother died in the crash, Kenneth Decker, who was badly burned and injured, and Margaret Hastings, who also was badly burned.

The three managed to make it to a tribal village, and instead of giants, found a village filled with people who lived in a long-ago time. They had stone tools, wore gourds and skirts made of sticks, and had never seen a white person before.

The book recounts the horrifying crash and the efforts of a group of paratroopers who parachuted in to try and rescue the survivors, and even more difficult, figure out how to get everyone out of a valley where no plane could land.

Zuckoff had lots of primary source material, including the journals kept by Hastings, who caused quite a stir of interest from the tribesmen, and Captain C. Earl Walter, the man in charge of the paratroopers. They told their amazing story of the day-to-day life in the valley, working and befriending the tribespeople, and planning a way to get out.

Unbelievably, a documentary filmaker also parachuted into the valley to document the effort to rescue the survivors. He is quite a character himself, and the fact that he was allowed to do this sounds like something out of the TV show MASH, yet it happened.

Zuckoff's story is filled with photos of the survivors, paratroopers and tribesmen. The writing is superb, and the tension is palpable on the page as the survivors meet the tribesmen and try to communicate with them.

There is also humor, as when the daily supply plane keeps dropping cases of Kotex for Hastings, but not one extra pair of panties that she had requested, a typical bureaucratic bungle.

As I was looking at a photo of the servicemen and the tribesmen all working together to push a glider into position, I was struck with a thought: I think that everyone in Congress and the White House should read this book.

How is it that two disparate groups of people who do not speak the same language and have little in common were able to come together to work towards a common goal, yet the people we have elected and paid to work for the American people to solve the major problems that face us all seem unwilling to work together?

I can't believe that this story hasn't been made into a movie yet; it is made for the cinema (or maybe an opera?). I enjoyed the epilogue, where Zukoff follows up on the lives we have gotten to know, and he uses extensive endnotes to document each chapter. Zuckoff's website  has video and photos from the mission.

World War II history buffs will be thrilled with Lost In Shangri-La, as will readers who just enjoy a crackerjack true story, filled with interesting people in an amazing situation. It's better than any fictional thriller you could read.

rating 4 of 5