Arlette's Story by Angela Barton
Published: 26th June 2018
Publisher: Ruby Fiction
Available on Kindle
Rating: 5/5
Blurb
One woman’s struggle
to fight back against the enemy in order to protect the ones she loves.
When Arlette Blaise sees a German plane fly over the family farm in 1940, she’s comforted by the fact that the occupying forces are far away in the north of the country. Surely the war will not reach her family in the idyllic French countryside near to the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane?
But then Saul Epstein, a young Jewish man driven from his home by the Nazis, arrives at the farm and Arlette begins to realise that her peaceful existence might be gone for good …
When Arlette Blaise sees a German plane fly over the family farm in 1940, she’s comforted by the fact that the occupying forces are far away in the north of the country. Surely the war will not reach her family in the idyllic French countryside near to the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane?
But then Saul Epstein, a young Jewish man driven from his home by the Nazis, arrives at the farm and Arlette begins to realise that her peaceful existence might be gone for good …
Review
Arlette’s Story is a beautifully written novel by Angela
Barton which captures life in occupied France during the Second World War. I
have read many novels set in wartime Britain and a few on the side-lines of the
battlefields but never once which has focused on the lives of ordinary people
in rural France, who initially believe they were safe from the horrors of war,
so this was an interesting and at times heart-wrenching novel.
Young Arlette Blaise lives on her small farm on the edge of
the village of Montverre with her brother Gilbert and father Henri. As the war
progresses and German troops enter France Gilbert decides to go off and help
his country in the Resistance. Polish-French Jew Saul Epstein is then sent to
help on the farm after he was evicted from his home in Paris. Slowly Arlette
and Saul begin to fall in love and thoughts of war are far from their minds,
until Germans take over the local manor house and issue orders that any Jew
found will be persecuted. As the war sweeps into every aspect of their lives Arlette
and her family stay strong despite facing some truly shocking and
heart-breaking moments.
This novel is a roller coaster of mixed emotions, with the
blossoming romance between Saul and Arlette and the knowing glances between
Gilbert and Francine it feels softly romantic and makes you smile and then you
feel sad as you read how the family struggled to have enough to eat and keep
everyone safe and then you will no doubt cry when you read about the horrific
events at Oradour-sur-Glane. Angela Barton has captured every emotion these
characters feel perfectly making this a truly engaging read and one which will
stay with me for a long time.
Arlette’s Story is a novel of love, family, loyalty, struggles,
war, torture and survival. It’s a brilliantly written novel that I can highly
recommend. As a debut I think Angela Barton has done a wonderful job and I’m eager
to read what she writes next as I have a feeling it will be just as captivating.
Thank you to Ruby Fiction and Netgalley for sending me a
copy to review and Rachel’s Random Reads for inviting me to be part of this
blog tour.
About the Author
Author Bio –
Angela
Barton was born in London and grew up in Nottingham. She is married with three
grown up children. Passionate about writing both contemporary and historical
fiction, Angela loves researching for her books and is an avid reader. Having
signed publishing contracts for three of her completed novels with Ruby
Fiction, Angela is excited to be working alongside such a friendly and
supportive publishing team. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’
Association and Nottingham Writers’ Studio.
Having
recently moved to France, Angela (alongside her husband, Paul) is now a
lavender farmer, creating products from the oil that’s distilled. Angela says
she’s looking forward to spending more time writing in the company of her two
spaniels while sitting on her veranda overlooking the breath-taking countryside
of Charente.
Purchase from Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arlettes-Story-Angela-Barton-ebook/dp/B07D4L74LP/
Social Media Links –
Twitter - https://twitter.com/angebarton
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/angela.barton3
Giveaway – Win a beautiful notebook
(UK Only)
*Terms and Conditions –UK
entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below. The
winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will
be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days
then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants
aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry
is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with
the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway
organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will
delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of
the prize.
Huge, heartfelt thanks for including Arlette's Story on your blog for my online tour. Book bloggers are so important to both writers and readers and we truly appreciate you. Thank you also for the lovely things you say about my book. Ange xx
ReplyDelete