A review by palliem
The Girl in the Blue Beret by Bobbie Ann Mason

2.0

Unlike the other reviews of this book I have seen, I thought this novel started really strong and then tapered off. I liked Marshall's story and was invested in his journey to finding out what had happened to those in the French Underground who had saved him during WWII. Halfway through the novel, however, Mason basically abandoned this storyline and introduced a new one. At this point, we find out what happened to everyone, but there was still over 150 pages left in the novel! Mason had to introduce a new "conflict" into the book, but it never quite gelled for me. I was less interested in Annette's story (perhaps just because by the time it was introduced it was late in the story and I hadn't had a chance to start to care about her as a character) and then the whole thing turned into a love story. I was expecting strong historical fiction and got a tepid love story. Disappointing.