Paris, 1941: The city is growing more dangerous by the day. Signs proclaiming ‘No Jews’ are posted everywhere in the maze-like streets, and people are dragged away in handcuffs.Maggie Brouillard devotes herself to the Resistance, helping Jews escape. Though her life is a whirlwind of forged passports and midnight runs, she cannot stop thinking about her fiancé, who was forced to flee. She prays … forced to flee. She prays that the love of her life is safe, and sends coded, handwritten letters to her dear sister, Cécilia.
England, 1949: Harriet Conway arrives at grand, grey-stoned Chaffingham House to start her job as secretary. Home to the Brouillard family since they escaped Paris after the war, Chaffingham’s opulence has all but disappeared – its curtains faded, its carpets worn, tragedy hanging in the air…
Harriet is soon consumed by the mystery surrounding the family. The daughter, Cécilia, is confined to a wheelchair due to an accident they refuse to discuss and when a strange man turns up asking for Maggie, the door is slammed shut on him. Why won’t Cécilia look her son in the eye? Why will no one utter Maggie’s name?
It’s clear that Chaffingham is shrouded in secrecy, the family haunted by a past too shocking to speak of. And when Harriet stumbles upon a crumpled letter she uncovers something that will either repair a lifetime of heartbreak, or rip the family apart.
An evocative, riveting and stirring tale about the tragic realities of war, the fine line between loyalty and lies, and the power of love, even in the darkest of times. Fans of The Nightingale, The Letter and All the Light We Cannot See will be spellbound by this magnificent historical novel.
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I love historical fiction books set during WWII. I loved the prologue and how it started the book with a peak into a family’s involvement with the French Resistance. This is a dual timeline book, but the timeframe is closer in years. To be honest, I felt that the dialogue was trite and not deeply engaging. It seemed to be more of a young adult book if it weren’t for the subject matter. I did not care for any of the characters in the story except for Maggie. And she did not play that significant of a role. It’s not a horrible book to read, but also not one of my favorites in this genre.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoutre for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
This is a really accomplished novel that sucks you right in and doesn’t let you go. Harriet uncovers Cecilia and her family’s mysterious past – and it really is full of bombshells in this dual timeline set in occupied France and 1950s England. The pace is leisurely but the plot is fantastically twisty, the dialogue all plausible and the characters and their relationships with each other are all very real. I think its a really impressive book and would recommend it to anyone especially lovers of wartime fiction.
Not your usual WWII historical fiction, this one only spans around a decade instead of the 60+ years you often find. It works nicely mainly because the characters continue to bear the burdens of the war. I thought the follow-through from one timeline to another was smooth, and that there was real growth in some characters, especially Cecilia. It was an interesting story of family loyalty and the lasting repercussions of choices made in haste. For more thoughts, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC of the book.
Outstanding historical fiction, giving insight into the lives of those affected in WW2 when the Germans occupied France. Interesting characters that showed the best of the people willing to fight for their cause and … the worst in the people who were manipulative and controlling. Would highly recommend this book to any who are interested in history made real through fictional characters.
A family in turmoil
In Darkness, Look for Stars was an engaging book from page one. A famous musical family and their trials during and after the war. The over the top expectations of the mother, Rose. The inability of youngest son Sebastian to meet her demands. The disgrace of Cecilia. The heartbreak of Maggie. The death of the father and the eldest son. Rose’s collaboration with the Germans, and the resistance activities of Maggie and Cecelia. The betrayal by Sebastian.
Fast forward to after the war is over. Maggie Is dead, Cecelia in a wheelchair, and Sebastian still trying to please his mother and become a famous musician. Enter Harriet the new secretary for Rose. How they all interact, the secrets that finally come out, and the shocking final act by Sebastian, is the story remaining.
The book is about the war, it is about resistance, betrayal, forgiveness, and life. Most of all it is about humans and their relationships with each other. It is about some that cannot recover from hurt and some that start new lives and find forgiveness.
I enjoyed reading the book, and I would recommend it.
Thanks to Clara Benson, Bookouture, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of the book.
In Darkness, Look for the Stars by Clara Benson
Conflict, resistance, love, betrayal, ambition…and so much loss. This story was one that did have some happy moments but with war there is tension, fear and ultimately more loss than many can bear. The fight to survive and do what one perceives to be right is not easy and always takes a toll.
This story is set in the years of 1940, 1942 and 1949 moving seamlessly from one period to the other in a well scripted story that had me on the edge of my seat. I worried about the pilot dropped behind enemy lines and then about the girl who helped me to safety. I then wondered what would happen to Alec and Maggie and others as they were introduced. I hoped that the people I cared about would make it out unscathed or at least alive but not all of them did.
This book really made me think and feel and wonder what I would have done if I found myself in the shoes of Maggie, Cecilia, Harriet or even Rose. I was sad at times and wished the some of the characters had an easier time of it. Having been through a few wars I know it is never easy, people suffer and difficult decisions do not always provide the outcome desired. Life is hard and the characters in this book did not have it easy.
What I liked:
* Maggie: strong, resilient, focused on doing what she believed to be right.
* Harriet: intelligent, caring, moving on with her life as she took on a job that was not easy
* Cecilia: suffering losses that broke her in more ways than one – enjoyed seeing her transformation
* Rex: a delightful boy who deserved more than he had in those first years of his life
* Alec: a good man who made it through the war and found his HEA
* Emil: a man of principle
* The portions that described music in colors
* The plot, writing, characters and story
* That it moved me, made me feel and care and as if I was in the story
* Thinking about my parents during their romance of the same time period
* That the characters faced tough choices in real life situations
* The real feel of the story
* Meeting a new author and loving the story she told
What I did not like:
* War – I hate it and wish there was a way around it and this book made me realize this once again
* Sensing something was going to happen, wanting to caution the characters and knowing I couldn’t save them from what was coming.
Did I like this book? Definitely
Would I read more books by this author? Without a doubt
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
I really enjoyed this page-turner that featured several narrators and starts out in 1941 somewhere near Le Bourget with Maggie Brouillard working for the French Resistance against the wishes of her mother, Rose. Jean-Jacques Brouillard was a famous musician who died suddenly of a heart attack leaving his wife Rose to run the family. The story then moves to Hertfordshire 1949 where Harriet Conway, who has suffered loss of her own, takes on the job as secretary to Rose Brouillard. It isn’t long before Harriet figures out that the Brouillard family is very dysfunctional and she starts to discover the family secrets. The story ends in 1950 with all the loose ends nicely wrapped up. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this very interesting, fast-paced and sometimes heartbreaking book in exchange for an honest review.