Armchair BEA 2014: GIVEAWAY winner

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 The happy winner is…

ArmchairBEA winnerand she chose to receive this book:

Gracianna

Gracianna, by Trini Amador – hardcover, brand new condition, signed by the author to my name

 

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Book review and giveaway: Gracianna

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Gracianna

by

Trini AMADOR

Publication Date: July 23, 2013
Greenleaf Book Group Press
Hardcover; 296p
ISBN-10: 1608325709

Hardcover received from the author
via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

GraciannaIn full compliance with FTC Guidelines,
I received this book for free from  the author 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.

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This book counts for the following Reading Challenges:

   hf-reading-challenge-2013 New Authors 2013

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS BOOK

Rating systemMy family, like still many families in France, was actively part of the Resistance, and suffered a great deal during that time. Hence the fair amount of historical novels on the Resistance I have read recently.

Like How Angels Die, the novel focuses on 2 sisters and how they deal with that period in their life. But Gracianna is unique first because of the region Gracianna and her sister Constance come from: the Basque region, on the French side of the mountain. But never tell a Basque he/she is French!

Also, Gracianna was the author’s great-grand-mother, so even so it’s fiction, a lot of it is based on family memories and stories.

Gracianna was born at the turn of the 20th century, and like many people of her region, her life revolves around sheep and nature. But this young girl has a very strong will and great dreams, such as going to live and work in the United States. So at 18, she just leaves to work in Paris, in the hope to make more money and faster than in her village.
And there’s Juan, the shepherd boy from a neighboring village, also a dreamer, and who enjoys Gracianna’s company…

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