Language: R (63 swears 3 'f'); Mature Content: R (fade to black sex, drinking, undescribed nudity) Violence: R (people killed in various violent ways, torture and rape.)
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Isabelle is 18yo at the beginning and Vianne is a little older. It is 1940 and war is coming to France. In a small village in northern France, Vianne and her daughter say goodbye to her husband as he heads off to fight. Soon enough, the Germans invade the little town and Vianne is forced to share her home with these brutal foreigners. As the food in town disappears, along with the Jews, Vianne will be pushed to her limits as she does what she must to protect her family. Meanwhile, Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is harnessing the vivacious spirit that had gotten her kicked out of so many schools. She becomes an integral part of the resistance.
Warning: you will cry. This novel paints a painfully brutal picture of wartime France, including the carnage, atrocities, and bleak hopelessness experienced by so many. I consider it a job well done when a book can make me cry, but this one had me sobbing. The story is so immersive and well-composed that the loss portrayed cut me straight to my core. This is a story about bravery in its many forms and the powerful and yet powerless force of love.
Mature content includes scenes of torture, brutal but not overly descriptive death, fade-to-black rape, and vague, undescribed sex. Nearly all characters are French or German.
Sierra Finlinson
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