Friday, August 5, 2016

# book # book review

Book Review: Sea Garden

Romance, suspense, and World War II mystery are woven together in three artfully linked novellas-rich in drama and steeped in atmosphere-from the critically acclaimed author of The Lantern

THE SEA GARDEN
On the lush Mediterranean island of Porquerolles off the French coast, Ellie Brooke, an award-winning British landscape designer, has been hired to restore a memorial garden. Unsettled by its haunted air and the bitterness of the garden's owner, an elderly woman who seems intent on undermining her, Ellie finds that her only ally on the island is an elusive war historian …

THE LAVENDER FIELD
Near the end of World War II, Marthe Lincel, a young blind woman newly apprenticed at a perfume factory in Nazi-occupied Provence, finds herself at the center of a Resistance cell. When tragedy strikes, she faces the most difficult choice of her life . . . and discovers a breathtaking courage she never expected.

A SHADOW LIFE
Iris Nightingale, a junior British intelligence officer in wartime London, falls for a French agent. But after a secret landing in Provence results in terrible Nazi reprisals, he vanishes. When France is liberated, Iris is determined to uncover the truth. Was he the man he claimed to be?

Ingeniously interconnected, this spellbinding triptych weaves three parallel narratives into one unique tale of love, mystery, and murder. The Sea Garden is a vivid and absorbing chronicle of love and loss in the fog of war-and a penetrating and perceptive examination of the impulses and circumstances that shape our lives.

----------------------------------------------
A few weeks ago, I was blessed enough to be able to go away for a week. Life had been burning me out and I needed the time away. On my way out of town, I stopped at the store and happened to pick up this book. After all, what's relaxing time away if you don't have a book to read while you're doing it?

I fell in love with how the author brought these stories to life, but I almost quit reading after the first novella in this book. The ending was...odd....and it didn't feel like it offered any closure to the story. Thank god I kept reading! By the time I was partway into the second story, I had almost forgotten my frustrations with the ending of the first. By the time I finished the book and saw how all three stories tied into each other, I was thrilled that I had picked this up!

If you get the chance, make sure you give this entire book a chance. Don't stop at the first story. Read the whole book and then decide for yourself! As for me, I enjoyed it. The author does a great job of drawing you into the story. If you do read it, let me know what you think!

Photobucket

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

No comments:

Follow Us @lifewithkatie