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A review by nturner2810
The French Photographer by Natasha Lester
5.0
Based on the real life of Lee Miller and many other important women war correspondents who have often been pushed aside in favour of men, almost lost to history, Lester presents an impact full tale of women and war, bringing some of their stories back into he light.
Jess May is a rising model at the beginning of the story, betrayed by her partner and relegated to the edges of model-society. Instead of giving up, she delves into writing and photography which leads her to the front of the seemingly endless war and into history as one of the women correspondents who pushed boundaries to bring home the ugly truths of war.
***Trigger warning: there are mature themes in the novel as Lester shines a light on the common mistreatment of women during and resulting from war.
As per the Author Note, Lester is able to lay hands and names on the inspirations for this story and justify her use of real characters in a fictional setting as well as explain where different scenes came from. I found this very interesting.
A queen of foreshadowing, making it a subtle art throughout her story, Lester builds characters that grip your heart. Despite the dual storyline, I was always surprised when we moved from Jess's story to (relatively) modern-day and D'Arcy's perspective. Jess and Dan are the stars of this story, by design and although the ending is bittersweet, it was good to see how they had lived their lives and never compromised their good character.
Jess May is a rising model at the beginning of the story, betrayed by her partner and relegated to the edges of model-society. Instead of giving up, she delves into writing and photography which leads her to the front of the seemingly endless war and into history as one of the women correspondents who pushed boundaries to bring home the ugly truths of war.
***Trigger warning: there are mature themes in the novel as Lester shines a light on the common mistreatment of women during and resulting from war.
As per the Author Note, Lester is able to lay hands and names on the inspirations for this story and justify her use of real characters in a fictional setting as well as explain where different scenes came from. I found this very interesting.
A queen of foreshadowing, making it a subtle art throughout her story, Lester builds characters that grip your heart. Despite the dual storyline, I was always surprised when we moved from Jess's story to (relatively) modern-day and D'Arcy's perspective. Jess and Dan are the stars of this story, by design and although the ending is bittersweet, it was good to see how they had lived their lives and never compromised their good character.