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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I knew I was going to love this from the start, dual timelines, Paris, dancing and the words ‘I love you, I beg you…I forgive you.’
2012, Miriam travels to New York to wind up her Great Aunt Esther’s estate and primarily her papers. There she finds notebooks telling of a family’s secret history and a dancer who risked everything to help jewish families in the war.
Esther tells her story of her life in Europe and a woman, Annie Mayer, a dancer in Paris in 1938. She dreams of becoming a ballerina, but when war reaches Paris, she has to keep her Jewish heritage a secret.
She’s offered a lifeline, to dance in a partnership with a new identity, and with it is able to use her fame to aid the resistance.
As Mim unravels the story she discovers truths about her family and herself. She is able to reconcile loss and heartbreak and to embrace her future and the possibility of new love.
I adore a dual timeline story and both threads in this one are equally powerful and captivating. I was blown away by a truly beautiful sweeping, yet intimate tale and it left me in pieces. Written with so much care, I felt like I knew the depths of these people and their lives. It has squeezed my heart and I won’t forget it for some time.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
A beautifully written dual timeline story which focuses on Mim in 2012, who, following the death of her great aunt, journeys to New York to sort out her apartment. In doing so, she discovers her journal which tells the story her family’s history in wartime Paris. Wonderfully woven together, for me it was a slow burn to begin with, but once it captured my attention, I couldn’t bear to put it down.
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is an absolute delight. The historical aspects are sensitively told, well researched and honest. The dual timeline narrative was perfectly intertwined to unravel the story gradually as the book progresses without being confusing. I think this would also translate perfectly to an audiobook format.
The characters were perfectly developed, beautifully and vibrantly written. There are romantic elements but it is so much more than a romance. The story is full of tragedy and sadness but somehow manages to be uplifting. The focus is on the journey through trauma and grief to hope, forgiveness and the discovery of one’s own strength and peace.
This is a truly fantastic example of historical fiction that I couldn’t put down and highly recommend. Intricately woven, evocative, enthralling and very moving. Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher Aria and Aries for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review. I loved it!
The characters were perfectly developed, beautifully and vibrantly written. There are romantic elements but it is so much more than a romance. The story is full of tragedy and sadness but somehow manages to be uplifting. The focus is on the journey through trauma and grief to hope, forgiveness and the discovery of one’s own strength and peace.
This is a truly fantastic example of historical fiction that I couldn’t put down and highly recommend. Intricately woven, evocative, enthralling and very moving. Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher Aria and Aries for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review. I loved it!