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Lies Told in Silence

In full compliance with FTC Guidelines, I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was in no way compensated for this post as a reviewer, and the thoughts are my own.

Lies Told in Silence By M.K. Tod Publication Date: July 28, 2014 at Tod Publishing Pages: 367 ISBN: 978-0991967025 Genre: historical fiction Source: Received from author for a virtual book tour on France Book ToursGoodreads

This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

       

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

I discovered author M. K. Tod last year with her brilliant historical novel Unravelled. When she contacted me about her latest novel on the same events, viewed from the perspective of the other major character involved in the story, I didn’t hesitate a second, especially as we celebrate this year the somber anniversary of WWI.

When Lies Told in Silence opens, we are in May 1914 near Bois de Boulogne, Paris. Helene is 16 and her two brothers 19 and 13. Henri’s father, Henri, works at the War Ministry. Hearing about the preparations for a war, and assuming Paris will be the first target, he decides to send his old mother Mariele, his wife Lise and his children away to the house owned by their Aunt Camille in the little village of Beaufort in Northern France, where they should be safe.

Lise and Helen are very upset at the idea of living in such a tiny place, away from the education and culture offered by the capital. The beginning of the novel is at a slow pace, conveying so well the ambiance of heavy weather before a storm, and what a storm it will be…

Indeed, contrary to all expectations, Germany invaded Belgium in August, which eventually made Beaufort just 20 miles away from the front.

Most of the novel focuses on daily life in war time, with excellent details. It is time for a rough coming of age, a very quick maturing for Helene in these circumstances, as well as for her mother, certainly not used to a life of sacrifices, nor to taking care of her wounded son and to working in a soldiers hospital.
But they are in the company of the grand-mother Mariele. She is a great loving character, who blooms again as she rediscovers the joys of simple living. She is also a very comforting and stabilizing figure. A great relationship slowly develops between the three generations of women.

Then one day Canadian soldiers arrive in the area, to prepare a major preparation against the Germans. At a local dance, Helene meets one of them, Edward, who asks to see her again. It is the beginning of a deep love. Before he is sent further away, they promise to wait for each other until the end of the war, but she suddenly stops receiving news from him. Why? What happened to him? Did he die? Or weren’t his feelings genuine toward her? Will they ever meet again?

I’m certainly not going to answer all these questions for you. You need to go grab the book now and read for yourself. Every line is worth your time. Even though you may guess in chapter 36 what really happened,  as I did, the whole book is for you to savor word by word.

Don’t forget to admire the cover, designed from one of the author’s family pictures!

There were a few edition problems in my copy, lots of words with weird and unnecessary hyphens; François spelt Francois (making it sounds frankwa instead of fransswa, tough for my French ear). There’s also mention of la fête de la musique in 1960. Actually this annual event started only in 1982, I remember the very first one!
But really these are tiny details that didn’t prevent me from devouring the book very quickly and enjoying it thoroughly. Lucky you if you have not yet read Unravelled, you have something else now to read related to the story. As for me, the end of this one makes me expect with excitement the next novel by M. K. Tod!

VERDICT: For lovers of historical novels, the best way of reading something special at the occasion of the anniversary of WWI is to grab the latest book by M. K. Tod. Full of true to life characters and details on this somber page of French history, it will make you relive these dreadful events as if you were there, in the company of a normal family in northern France.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction featuring WWI and WWII.
Her debut novel, UNRAVELLED, was selected as Indie Editor’s Choice by the Historical Novel Society.
In addition to her writing, Mary maintains the blog www.awriterofhistory.com  where she talks about reading and writing historical fiction.
She has also conducted two well-regarded historical fiction reader surveys and in her spare time reviews books for the Historical Novel Society.

M.K. Tod is delighted to hear from readers at mktod at bell dot net.

Visit her blog

Follow her on Facebook |   Twitter | Goodreads

 

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HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK YET?
Any other historical novel set during WWI
you would recommend?
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