“The Guardian of Lies” brings us back to 1953 in the South of France, a time when the peace between the West and the Soviet Russia was fragile and volatile. This is the story of one family torn apart by secrets and conflicting allegiances.

It is hard not to be spellbound by the sense of place and times that utterly take us at the heart of Camargue during the Cold War. In the 50’s the south of France had become a battleground between the Americans and the Soviets. By establishing a nuclear airbase with the intent on stopping the spread of Communism, the Americans turned the small town of Arles upside down and caused conflict within its residents.

The author has taken writers privilege in her fiction and has placed the airbase in the south of France rather than in the north where the tactical air units where located during that time. Having said this, although the actual area may have been changed the story nevertheless reflects the challenges those affected had to go through.

The main character is Eloise Caussade, a courageous young Frenchwoman raised on a bull farm who followed her brother André to Paris after he became an intelligence office working for the CIA. Her dream was also to become a CIA operative but instead worked at a PI Agency. When her life was thrown into turmoil she headed back home only to find a town in a state of unrest. What happens in the town is a wonderful tale of courage, subterfuge, love, betrayal and murder.

The story maintains a steady pace and the author keeps it jogging throughout the entire novel. The narrative is as deceiving as the spies who played roles. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, it is easy to get fooled ……eventually, what is slowly revealed is a twisty plot full of switches and a scheme Eloise is drawn into.

This is an enjoyable read

I received this ARC from Simon &Schuster Canada via NetGalleys for my thoughts

Post war Germany 1945, this epic historical fiction brings us to Graufeld Displaced Persons camp where we follow Klara Janowska and her daughter Alicja, they along with thousands others who needed to navigate through dangerous conditions and do anything to find a safe home. Klara and Alicja were the lucky ones.

Klara and Alicka are the heart in this sad tale. The story highlights how far a mother would go to protect her child and how deep the love of a daughter has for her mother. Both had endured the horrors of war before fleeing their native Poland walking for weeks to get to Graufeld , a camp where they found themselves in a grim situation, with basic rations and where they will be plunged in a cat and mouse game with an old adversary….. Oskar Schotz. 

The story is narrated by Klara, Alicja and Davide Bouvier, the camp administrator.

The characterisation is superb especially when Klara and Oskar circle each other amidst the confines of the camp. The story also moves beyond the camps’ walls where the cost of war is revealed in heart wrenching depth. Cruelty and kindness and simple human compassion are poignantly explored. Ms. Furnivall particularly knows how to emotional engage us with shocking events in the darkest days of wartime and by vividly bringing to life the uncertainty and desperation of the displaced.

“The Survivors” although brutal is beautifully written, full of tension, thrills, and historical details. This is another cleverly plotted historical fiction which explores the resistance of human against adversity.

Well-done

Thank you Simon & Schuster and Netgalleys for this ARC

 Fantasyland 9

Read a book that is tagged fantasy or fairy tale on GR. I will be reading Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan as planned. This book is 352 pages, & is worth $3.00

New Orleans Square Station 14

Read a book that involves overseas travel or has a suitcase on the cover. I will be reading East of the Sun by Julia Gregson.

Carsland 18

Read a book that was published in 2006, 2011, 2013 or 2014, or that has a car on the cover. I am planning to read Natchez Burning by Greg Isles, which was published in 2014. Finished 4/30/17 - 865 pages ($10.00).

Adventureland 24

Read a book set in Asia or Africa. I will be reading Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnival. Finished 5/5/17 - 448 pages ($5.00)

Tomorrowland 34

Read a book tagged YA or MG, or that has a child's on the cover. This one is an easy one! Let's go with The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, which was shelved YA 215 times on GR!

Book: Shadows on the Nile

Author: Kate Furnivall

Genre: Fiction/Mystery/20th Century Britain/Egypt/Family Stories

Summary: 1912, London, Jessie Kenton hears her young brother, Georgie, scream in the middle of the night and wakes up the next morning to find him gone. Her parents never speak of him again. 1932. Twenty years later, Jessie is haunted by the same nightmare. Her other brother, Timothy, has inexplicably vanished from her parents’ home. Wracked by guilt because of her failure to ever find Georgie, and convinced that the two events must be related, she sets out on a quest to find Timothy. She plunges into a mysterious world of seances and mystics, nebulous clues and Egyptian artifacts. With the help of a dashing and impoverished aristocrat, Sir Montague Chamford, Jessie follows the trail into the alien, swirling sands of the Egyptian desert. Amid the ancient intrigue and blistering heat, a powerful romance sparks between Jessie and Monty. But they must first confront the demons of Jessie’s past - and reveal the dark secrets that threaten not only Timothy’s life but theirs as well. -Penguin, 2013.