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I adored this book, it reminds me of my great love of historical fiction and was an part of history which I knew little about and also even less about the great Champagne houses. How wonderful to discover that a woman was behind one of the greatest much to the chagrin of most. Historical fiction is of course just that but what it does and this book does it in abundance is open your eyes and the world up to reading much more about these fabulous women who have shaped history, who have made an impact and should be recognised much more. It reminded me why I love history.
Left profoundly deaf after an accident, Émile is no stranger to isolation - or heartbreak. Now, as Nazi planes loom over Guernsey, he senses life is about to change forever.As their paths entwine, loyalties are blurred and dangerous secrets forged. But on an island under occupation, courage can have deadly consequences... The tangled relationships in the novel get under your skin and make it hard to put down. Émile still loves Isabelle but both are married to other people. Émile’s daughter Maud is on a mission to uncover hidden family truths. Letty takes drastic action to earn money. The tensions in Émile’s marriage are portrayed with great insight and originality. There is never a clichéd moment.
A wartime love story on the island of Guernsey. A story of two people Emile and Isabelle, a lost love and a new beginning amongst the German occupation of the island. One Man Emil, two women Isabelle and Lily. How can Emile choose between his wife and his lost love.
Trapped in a tense, fearful marriage, Isabelle doesn't know what has become of Émile and the future she hoped for. But when she glimpses him from the window of the French House, their lives collide once more.
Nicole as a young girl liked nothing more than running around the village and knew all the locals to chat to, she became friendly with people below her elevated position and when she finds the man she wants to marry it isn't about what her parents want, it is about what she wants. Historical Fiction readers who enjoy snippets of romance and "real" life (aka not fluff), do read this. Just know there are occasional adult situations. who got separated due to the war and parental pressure and then who lived miserable lives during the course of the war under untold hardship. Don Wallace knows how to paint a picture; we see what he sees, smell the smells, experience the colours, feel the textures of the scene.The story is set at the end of 18th century, briefly during the French Revolution, Bonaparte’s conquests, and Russian advances on Europe. It was interesting to read about the occupation of Guernsey during the Second World War which I previously read about in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peal Society. Although the German occupation, meant the island residents were spared the bombings of mainland Britain, food was still scarce and the islanders still lived in fear, as every move was scrutinised. I have to say in the beginning I didn’t find either Émile or Isabelle very sympathetic characters. I felt Émile treated Letty badly, but as the book progressed and we find out more about what happened over the time they were apart, I warmed to both of them, but I still felt sorry for Letty. The French House is set in Nazi-Occupied Guernsey and follows the lives of several inhabitants during these years, focusing in particular on Emile and his family, as well as Isabelle Larch and her husband, and the German solider, Peter Schreiber, who is billeted with them. Emile and Isabelle were engaged to be married many years before, however, that was before Emile had the accident that left him deaf. Now though as both work at the French House, their paths cross once more, and indeed the lives of all these characters will intertwine in sometimes unexpected ways. The French House is a most moving and absorbing novel set in Guernsey during the German Occupation. At its heart is a love story between Emile, who is profoundly deaf after an accident while seeking a better life in Canada, and his childhood sweetheart Isabelle.
Though Nicole knows the mechanics of running a vineyard, her job is made doubly hard given the fact she is a woman. In her time and place, single, even widowed women, simply don’t own and run a successful business. At nearly every turn, Nicole is faced with yet another man hellbent on hindering her success. What’s more, the men willing to work with her either have to grudgingly admit to her knowledge and expertise and work with her as well as becoming to next focus of the town’s gossip. As a young girl with her whole life ahead of her, the headstrong Nicole Clicquot agrees to marry the man of her dreams. With the world at their feet and beautiful and bountiful vineyards as their future, there is nothing the Clicquot’s cannot accomplish. Unfortunately, Fate always has her hand in the lives of mere mortals and this time, she takes Nicole’s husband far too soon. With a small child and employees to care for, Nicole decides, against all the odds and conventions of her time and place, she will run the vineyards and make them the success she and her beloved once dreamed they could be.
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In this book, as on Belle Île, I have followed the light of a glowworm on a country lane.” That prett much sums up this book - rambling and a bit vague. I had trouble following the timeline and the details, and the book was missing what I love about books like this - a real sense of place and characters.
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