582
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #27,912 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
A historical novel written by someone who never looked up the history
At the time I am writing this review there were over 37,000 reviews of this book. Over 80% were five stars. Obviously I'm in a minority in giving this book a bad review. In such a vast sea of reviews, I expect that my review will also sink like a stone to lie on the seabed unnoticed.
This novel is set in France during WWII. The plot centers around the French Resistance and the persecution of the Jews in France.
The author doesn't seem to know much of the history of the French Resistance. For example, they completely missed the French movie The Sorrow and the Pity (the title in English). This movie presents a stark picture of the French during the war and after the war. Although the resistance was mythologized after the war, during the war there was very little resistance to the Nazis. Also, the French have a long history of antisemitism, which continues to this day.
In this novel there is an active French resistance, with French people outraged at any hint of collaboration with the Nazis. In fact, many French people collaborated and the others just kept their heads down. The French resistance was far less active than the resistance in Czechoslovakia, Denmark or many other countries.
The writing is not bad, but the complete butchering of history in a historical novel got to me. I'm sorry that I spent $2.99 on this book. I should have read the preview first. But I mistakenly trusted the vast number of positive reviews.
