I'm delighted to be one of the stops on the blog tour for Arlette's story by Angela Barton and sharing my review today. First of all let's take a look at the description for the book...
One woman’s struggle
to fight back against the enemy in order to protect the ones she loves.
When Arlette Blaise sees a German plane fly over
the family farm in 1940, she’s comforted by the fact that the occupying forces
are far away in the north of the country. Surely the war will not reach her
family in the idyllic French countryside near to the small town of
Oradour-sur-Glane?
But then Saul Epstein, a young Jewish man driven
from his home by the Nazis, arrives at the farm
and Arlette begins to realise
that her peaceful existence might be gone for good …
Purchase from Amazon UK
Well I'm not sure where to start with my review other than to say what an emotional and heartfelt story this is! This book was written in such a way that I felt as if I was right there with the characters experiencing everything with them. It's safe to say that I felt a range of emotions when reading and this is always a sign of an expertly told story. History is something that I have always been interested in and Angela Barton easily brought the past to life with this vivid story. Showing both the horrific events but also the hope that the people had to cling to along with surviving. It was all handled sensitively showing devastating events along with the effects left on the people living through it all.
Arlette is a character who will leave you thinking about her long after finishing this book. This story shows her life change in unimaginable ways along with experiencing a beautiful romance that also places everyone in a extremely dangerous situation. With heartbreakingly tense moments that had me turning the pages but also feeling trepidation over what was going to happen next.
Arlette's Story is not only vivid but is a truly emotional story that will grab hold of you until the very last page. Love, family and hope are all themes in this captivating story that I couldn't put down.
Five stars from me!
With thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for my copy.
Angela
Barton was born in London and grew up in Nottingham. She is married with three
grown up children. Passionate about writing both contemporary and historical fiction, Angela loves researching for her books and
is an avid reader. Having signed publishing contracts for three of her
completed novels with Ruby Fiction, Angela is excited to be working alongside
such a friendly and supportive publishing team. She is a member of the Romantic
Novelists’ Association and Nottingham Writers’ Studio.
Having
recently moved to France, Angela (alongside her husband, Paul) is now a
lavender farmer, creating products from the oil that’s distilled. Angela says
she’s looking forward to spending more time writing in the company of her two
spaniels while sitting on her veranda overlooking the breath-taking countryside
of Charente.
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Why not follow along with the tour, see below...
Thank you so much for your wonderful 5* review. I'm so touched and grateful for your words. I'm sure I'll wake up soon and still be waiting in trepidation for my first review! HUGE thanks. Ange xx
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure Angela, it's a wonderful story that has definitely made it onto my top picks of 2018! xx
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