tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
3.5
‘It was six o’clock at Waverley Station.’
1942. Charlotte Gray is in her mid-twenties when she leaves Scotland for England, hoping to do something meaningful for the war effort. Charlotte takes on a job as a medical receptionist but caught up in the frenetic social life prevalent for some at the time, falls in love with RAF pilot Peter Gregory.
Shortly after, Peter Gregory fails to return after a flight into France. Charlotte, who spent much of her childhood in France, has just the language skills that the British secret service needs access to, in order to support the French resistance. And so, Charlotte is trained as a messenger. Her hair is dyed, her fillings are replaced as is her clothing. She is to accompany a less fluent French speaker to France and then to deliver items required by the resistance. Charlotte does this but then, instead of returning to England as planned, heads off to look for Peter Gregory. Charlotte travels further into France.
Mr Faulks describes life in France under the Nazi Occupation: the hunger, the danger, the varying allegiances of the villagers in Lavaurette. I confess: my attention was less focussed on Charlotte’s search for Peter than on the fate of the two young Jewish boys saved (temporarily) by Julien Levade. Despite this, I became caught up in Charlotte’s quest and while aspects of the story (including Charlotte’s relationship with her father) irritated me I found the story absorbing.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
robertwhelan's review against another edition
4.0
Took a while to get into it but enjoyable in the end. Quite moving descriptions of how it must have been for many french Jews at that time.
robertwhelan's review
4.0
Took a while to get into it but enjoyable in the end. Quite moving descriptions of how it must have been for many french Jews at that time.
lucym80's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
mazza57's review against another edition
2.0
I know this was written a long time ago -1998 - and maybe at that time it was out there with the best of historical literature about WW II. However for me it has nothing new and in some ways I find it more disappointing than just the general glut of such fiction. I felt that the boundaries of what could have happened and what did happen were sometimes stretched beyond credulity. A girl sent on a short trip by government is just allowed to stay to try and find a boyfriend. This is a girl who supposedly wants to do more for her country but spends an inordinate amount of time being a housekeeper. I am simply not convinced by it. For me it also has elements of the things i find most difficult about Faulk's writing, the sheer wordiness made me think of Tolstoy - lots of words, little action. Everything happens in the last 100 pages of the book.
rachelp's review against another edition
5.0
This was a wonderful book. Perhaps better than Birdsong, but that may be because I prefer the World War II era to World War I.
ellsoquent's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hotbiscuits's review against another edition
2.0
I had mixed feelings about this book. It shares many similarities with Birdsong, lovers, war, etc etc. The language is gorgeous, Faulks writes in a way that really engages the you. You feel as though you really know Charlotte, you almost feel what she feels. For me it felt as if all that was missing from this novel was a good story. For huge sections of the novel nothing happens at all. Faulks has seemed to have just focused on the travelling between places and writing out many conversations in which Charlotte describes, and in my view, exaggerates her love for Gregory. She seems to view love as one person exploiting another through a wound. Read into that what you will. And I guess one could agree with her. Charlotte is a strange character, at points in the book she seems very wise and strong willed, and at others almost infantile. I think beneath it all she is still a child and seeks from Gregory the love that was never/rarely bestowed on her as a child. That's another thing I dislike about this book, it's transparency. The ending is obvious from the moment you open the book. All the other components(everything but the story) however, were perfect. If you read this expecting another Birdsong, you will probably, like me, be disappointed.