What we did for love: resistance, heartbreak,
betrayal by Natasha Farrant (Scarlet Voyage, 2014)
Originally
published as: The things we did for love (Faber and Faber, 2012)
ISBN 978-1-62324-028-8
3 Parts
(February – June 1944); 208 pages
Subjects:
World War Two, France, Resistance, young adult fiction (Year 10-13)
(This is the cover of the book I read, but there are several other designs.)
Synopsis
"A story of love, sacrifice, betrayal and redemption, set against one of the most
tragic and devastating episodes of French World War II history. France 1944.
As war rages in Europe, teenagers Luc and Arianne fall
passionately in love. But German forces are closing in and Luc, desperate
to atone for his family's past, is drawn into the dangerous world of the
Resistance. Arianne will do almost anything to keep him safe, but someone else
is secretly in love with her - someone who will stop at nothing to get rid of
his rival..."
That’s taken from
Natasha Farrant’s website, where you can also read a sample chapter.
Reviews:
The Bookbag review begins: "There are many kinds of
love in this moving story, from family loyalty and friendship to patriotism,
but what really preoccupies the two central characters, Arianne and Luc, is the
passion and agony of first love."
Kirkus reviews says: "Set against the
backdrop of World War II, Farrant’s first for teens... captures the whirlwind of first
love and the complications of taking action during a most dangerous time… A
worthwhile addition to historical romance that honors one real French town’s
tragic and true event.
I think
this Guardian review is a good one. It makes some pertinent points about
plot, motivation, readership and language, including the dialogue, which I
noticed as I read the book. Some of the phrases –
like “drop dead gorgeous”, encountered very early on pg 10 - seem too contemporary, and like the reviewer, I didn’t get a feel for any French phrases or patterns of speech.
Author’s website
On her
website, Natasha Farrant says “I get very grumpy if I don’t have a good
book to read, if I’m not writing, if I’m hungry, tired or don’t get enough
exercise. Otherwise I am a generally cheerful person.”
Things I didn’t know
The final
event in this book is based on something that did actually happen. The
Afterword explains how “on
10 June 1944, at around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the 2nd SS Panzer Division
Das Reich really did enter the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane and ordered
all the inhabitants to assemble on the market square, under the pretext of
checking their papers."
The village
of Oradour-sur-Glane was situated
22 km north-west of Limoges;
you can visit its museum, the Centre de la mémoire, or read more about it
online, but it is a sad tale.
Have you read it?
Have you read it?
Have you
read this book? Let me know what you think!
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