Scan barcode
A review by bookswithamb
The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau
5.0
The Blue is a vast and intricate historical fiction novel set in the 18th century that centres around a woman named Genevieve who dreams of becoming an artist and thinks the only way to make that a reality is to start work in a porcelain factory and steal the secret formula for a new shade of blue.
This was a story extremely rich in historical accuracy and you can tell how much research has gone into it. The history of porcelain is something I knew nothing about before, but turned out to be an extremely interesting topic. It was also interesting to learn about the Huguenots that were forced to flea France to avoid persecution due to their religion, and how even in their country of refuge, people still had misconceptions about their loyalty to the French crown.
The whole book was action packed and full of twists and turns and I couldn’t read quick enough, desperate to find out what happened next. The plot was very clever and felt like one giant knot, but I never once found it difficult to keep up with. I particularly enjoyed the way Nancy writes morally grey characters, as I couldn’t tell who I was supposed to like and my opinions changed by the page. This is a brilliant book and I will definitely be picking up Nancy’s other novels.
Thank you to Lume Books for providing me with a copy for review.
This was a story extremely rich in historical accuracy and you can tell how much research has gone into it. The history of porcelain is something I knew nothing about before, but turned out to be an extremely interesting topic. It was also interesting to learn about the Huguenots that were forced to flea France to avoid persecution due to their religion, and how even in their country of refuge, people still had misconceptions about their loyalty to the French crown.
The whole book was action packed and full of twists and turns and I couldn’t read quick enough, desperate to find out what happened next. The plot was very clever and felt like one giant knot, but I never once found it difficult to keep up with. I particularly enjoyed the way Nancy writes morally grey characters, as I couldn’t tell who I was supposed to like and my opinions changed by the page. This is a brilliant book and I will definitely be picking up Nancy’s other novels.
Thank you to Lume Books for providing me with a copy for review.