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jennaaaaaa's review against another edition
Nicht in der richtigen Stimmung für das Buch
jgtruesdell's review against another edition
3.0
While I loved the personal look into another facet of WW2 that I had never considered I found the memoir meandering. I ended up not sure how I felt about the Author's Aunt. We would all like to think we would have fought for the resistance or done something heroic but in the end it was about surviving the best you knew how. I developed a strong dislike for Priscilla's "best friend" Gillian who waited until her friend died to become quite venomous. In the end I guess we should be glad she did otherwise the story would have been incomplete, but still.
joweston's review against another edition
4.0
Listening to R4 Book of the Week abridged version, read by the author which is always good as well. Fascinating story, I would love to read the full book one day.
bookpossum's review against another edition
2.0
I found this book dragged somewhat. I did learn something of the difficulties of life in occupied France, but in the end, this was a sad tale of a woman who wanted to be loved and seemed to spend her life looking for it in all the wrong places.
vioxvive's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
janinasheart's review against another edition
4.0
I throughly enjoyed this book. I really liked the mixture of non fiction and then it almost feels like you’re reading a fiction book again.
Priscilla’s story was super interesting and I especially loved her friendship with Gillian (side note: a movie focused on these two would be incredible!).
Priscilla’s story was super interesting and I especially loved her friendship with Gillian (side note: a movie focused on these two would be incredible!).
hannahmayreads's review
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
A fascinating story of a captivating woman. But a warning, it will leave you wanting more; perhaps with more questions than answers.
Priscilla is an interesting woman, so obviously tortured by many of the things that happened throughout her life - some her own fault, but mostly just part of a dangerous spiral triggered by her unstable relationship with her father. And confounded by the occupation of France in WW2.
I was tempted by this books telling if another side of the French occupation that is usually forgotten by history: the collaborators who weren't really collaborating, just getting by as best they could. We have heard many stories of battle and the French Resistance, most of the facts are largely familiar to anyone interested in the period. But women like Priscilla, have been written out of history and considered national embarrassments and traitors at worst, and whores by the more forgiving. But I ask: what would you have done? Gone to ground and risked your life, or done as told by the Germans? In reality, most chose the second. Unfortunately for a beautiful woman such as Priscilla, who was worse off as a British woman in occupied France, you were asked for more than you might like to give. But if it would save your life, yes is the obvious answer. The Resistance heroes are the exception, and while Priscilla's case is a little more extreme, it is more reflective of the general population.
At times confusingly written, the book would've benefited from some serious editing to focus the story and reflect the chronology better.
Priscilla is an interesting woman, so obviously tortured by many of the things that happened throughout her life - some her own fault, but mostly just part of a dangerous spiral triggered by her unstable relationship with her father. And confounded by the occupation of France in WW2.
I was tempted by this books telling if another side of the French occupation that is usually forgotten by history: the collaborators who weren't really collaborating, just getting by as best they could. We have heard many stories of battle and the French Resistance, most of the facts are largely familiar to anyone interested in the period. But women like Priscilla, have been written out of history and considered national embarrassments and traitors at worst, and whores by the more forgiving. But I ask: what would you have done? Gone to ground and risked your life, or done as told by the Germans? In reality, most chose the second. Unfortunately for a beautiful woman such as Priscilla, who was worse off as a British woman in occupied France, you were asked for more than you might like to give. But if it would save your life, yes is the obvious answer. The Resistance heroes are the exception, and while Priscilla's case is a little more extreme, it is more reflective of the general population.
At times confusingly written, the book would've benefited from some serious editing to focus the story and reflect the chronology better.
fionamo's review against another edition
3.0
This book intrigued me. Women's lives in World War 2 have long been an interest of mine, but this story was quite different from accounts I've read before. Nicholas Shakespeare, long fascinated by his glamorous aunt, living in the middle of nowhere on a mushroom farm, is given a box of documents by her daughter. What slowly unravels is the story of Priscilla's life, before, during and after the war. Before writing the book, Nicholas seems to be in awe of Priscilla, and what is so deeply interesting about this book is the way he weaves in his research and his own personal responses to the various discoveries he makes about Priscilla's life. It seems so easy for people to judge one other, and what Nicholas brings up time and again is the fact that we can never truly understand another's situation and the choices they make unless we have been in similar situations ourselves.
lnatal's review against another edition
2.0
From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week:
Nicholas Shakespeare writes about his aunt's life in Paris during the German Occupation
Sunday Book Review.
Nicholas Shakespeare writes about his aunt's life in Paris during the German Occupation
Sunday Book Review.
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