FBT: Review of Wolfsangel by Liza Perrat with Giveaway

Wolfsangel

by Liza Perrat

SYNOPSIS:

(NB: The story involves a small amount of sex, but not graphic. It contains the violence of WW2, but again, not graphic, except one event at the end of the story, which is quite graphic and could be a bit shocking).

Seven decades after German troops march into her village, Céleste Roussel is still unable to assuage her guilt.

1943. German soldiers occupy provincial Lucie-sur-Vionne, and as the villagers pursue treacherous schemes to deceive and swindle the enemy, Céleste embarks on her own perilous mission as her passion for a Reich officer flourishes.

When her loved ones are deported to concentration camps, Céleste is drawn into the vortex of this monumental conflict, and the adventure and danger of French Resistance collaboration.

As she confronts the harrowing truths of the Second World War’s darkest years, Céleste is forced to choose: pursue her love for the German officer, or answer General de Gaulle’s call to fight for her country.

Her fate suspended on the fraying thread of her will, Celeste gains strength from the angel talisman bequeathed to her through her lineage of healer kinswomen.

The decision she makes will shadow the remainder of her days.

A woman’s unforgettable journey to help liberate Occupied France, Wolfsangel is a stirring portrayal of the courage and resilience of the human mind, body and spirit.

 

Release date: 16th November, 2013.

Page number: approx 390.

Publisher link: www.triskelebooks.co.uk/

ISBN Paperback: 9 782 954 168 128

ISBN E-book: 9 782 954 168 135

Buying links:

Amazon      Kobo    Smashwords

Author bio:

Liza grew up in Wollongong, Australia, where she worked as a general nurse and midwife for fifteen years

When she met her French husband on a Bangkok bus, she moved to France, where she has been living with her husband and three children for twenty years. She works part-time as a French-English medical translator.

Since completing a creative writing course twelve years ago, several of her short stories have won awards, notably the Writers Bureau annual competition of 2004 and her stories have been published widely in anthologies and small press magazines. Her articles on French culture and tradition have been published in international magazines such as France Magazine and France Today.

She has completed four novels and one short-story collection, and is represented by Judith Murdoch of the Judith Murdoch Literary Agency.

Spirit of Lost Angels is the first in an historical series set against a backdrop of rural France. The second in the series – Wolfsangel – will be published in November, 2013, and Liza is busy working on the third novel in the series: Midwife Héloïse – Blood Rose Angel.

Liza reviews books for the Historical Novel Society and Words with Jam magazine.

Contact and Other Information:

E-mail: liza.perrat@gmail.com

Website: http://www.lizaperrat.com

Blog: http://lizaperrat.blogspot.com

Twitter: @LizaPerrat

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liza.perrat.5

Author Collective: http://www.triskelebooks.co.uk/ Blog: http://triskelebooks.blogspot.com

My thoughts:

Wolfsangel, is not the type of novel I would be drawn to in a bookshop.  I've always avoided stories of war, even those which describe the ability of the human spirit to survive.  Perhaps it was that I was born in the midst of the Vietnam War to very "counter-culture" parents and I just got sick about hearing of war.  Nevertheless, Wolfangel had me riveted.   

The protagonist, Celeste Roussel, still cannot get over her guilt for the events of the past seven years since the German occupation.  Celeste is torn between her blossoming love for a young German officer stationed in her town and her patriotic duty to fight with the French Resistance. As tensions in the town mount, Celeste's choices lead her deeper into a dangerous game of deception with life or death consequences.

Perrat has a wonderful way with character development; they are so real, so human.  The reader feels their anguish, anxiety and their frustration with a world not only occupied but dominated by men.  Perrat allows her characters to make mistakes, to fall and often to rise again demonstrating once again the resilience of the human spirit.  Honestly, I think I needed to be reminded of that and I appreciate Wolfsangel for reminding me that it isn't the horror of war one should remember but the beauty that the oppressed created in the midst of it.     

Wolfsangel is a wonderful work of historical fiction, capturing all the elements that make it a truly exceptional novel.  Rich and interesting, but human characters, wonderful detail of the setting, all wrapped in a factual historical framework.  I would recommend this book without hesitation to all readers; it is truly as near perfect as it gets.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Historical Fiction Giveaway Hop

The Historical Fiction Giveaway Hop

I'm not really big on rules so let's not have very many!  To participate you must offer a historical fiction book (all formats are fine as long as they are clearly described) or a Amazon or Book Depository gift card so that your winner can choose the historical fiction book of their choice.  If you are an author, offer your own novels, if you are an avid reader offer something from your bookshelf...   You get the idea - as long as the giveaway is clearly described anything goes (other than it MUST be historical fiction).  If you would like to use my badge above please feel free to copy and paste it.  If you are feeling creative feel free to make one of your own.

The hop runs from 9/27/13 to 10/11/13, please feel free to participate at any time within that time frame.

So, since it's a blog hop let's get that linky going!  Make sure to link to your giveaway and not to your blog's home page. Also grab the code below and add it to your blog so that readers can hop from one to another!

VBT and Review: Wolf Wood by Mike Dixon

France Book Tours presents...

Wolf Wood

Part One:  The Gathering Storm

by Mike Dixon

SYNOPSIS:

(Some violence, family and political intrigue, quite a lot of romance, some sex but never explicit.)

In 1436 a dispute arose between the people of Sherborne and their abbot over the ownership of a baptismal font.  Before it was settled, the abbey was burnt down and a bishop murdered.  Some saw the hand of evil at work and blamed a newcomer to the town, accusing her of being a witch.  Others saw her as a saint.  Wolf Wood is set in the turbulent years of the late middle ages.  The old feudal aristocracy is losing control, a new middle class is flexing its muscles, the authority of the church is being questioned, law and order have broken down and England is facing defeat in France.  Wolf Wood is a work of fiction based on actual events.

Release date: June 14, 2013

Self published

Part One, IBSN 978-0-9875989-0-5  

Part Two, IBSN 978-0-9875989-1-2

PURCHASING INFORMATION

On the author's website: http://mikejkdixon.com

Amazon pages:

Part One URL: http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Wood-Part-One-ebook/dp/B00DF556C4/ref=sr_sp-atf_image_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1373069551&sr=1-1&keywords=mike+dixon+wolf+wood

Part Two URL: http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Wood-Part-Two-ebook/dp/B00DF5HEX8/ref=sr_sp-atf_image_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1373069605&sr=1-2&keywords=mike+dixon+wolf+wood

Author's bio:

I was born in Sherborne (Dorset) and attended school there and (as an exchange student) in the Medoc region of France.  I studied physics at Oxford and received a PhD degree in astrophysics from the University of Cambridge.  Following teaching and research appointments in South Africa, Scotland and Australia, I joined the Australian Government Service and worked, for a while, as a ministerial assistant.  I entered the tourist industry through public relations and scuba diving and established one of Australia's first backpacker resorts.  I have a keen interest in medieval history and I am a frequent visitor to Britain and France.

As a boy, growing up in Sherborne, I heard about the famous fire of Sherborne Abbey and was told that a priest shot a flaming arrow into the tower and set the building on fire.  The marks of the fire are visible today, over five hundred years later.  And there is a lot more to tell us what happened.

There was an inquiry into the dispute that led to the fire and the surviving documents tell of a bitter feud between the abbot and the townspeople.  It's highly dramatic stuff and it inspired me to write my Wolf Wood novels.

My books are fiction.  Some of the characters are based on real people; others are entirely imaginary.  I have done my best to be faithful to the main course of historical events and fill in the gaps with the sort of things that could have happened to my characters.

My thoughts:

I truly enjoyed reading Wolf Wood purely for the love of reading itself.  I know, a strange statement from an avid reader and a devoted historical fiction fan, but honestly, as an Historian, I often loose myself in the details, which I love, but it was wonderful to read historical fiction for the sake of reading an engaging, interesting story alone.  I am grateful for the reminder!

When I began Wolf Wood I selected it from my pile without any real where my read would take me.  I honestly believed that I needed to read the novel for an imminent review deadline and not for pure pleasure.  However this, like much of life of late, was completely backwards and it was the not the novel with the looming deadline.  I didn’t realize and honestly didn’t care; Wolf Wood was a pleasure, cover to cover!

While I will admit that this novel didn’t stop my world from spinning and make me question my knowledge of history nor did it prod me into further research.  Quite simply Wolf Wood gave me something that I had not realized I was missing in historical fiction which was it was simply a good read – an interesting story with rich characters that were interesting in their own right and not because they actually existed within the historical context into which they are placed.  Wolf Wood is an entertaining, engaging read and I would say a wonderful way to introduce historical fiction to new readers and I eagerly await Part Two...

Join Wolf Wood on tour...

Monday, Aug 26

Review at The Most Happy Reader

Tuesday, Aug 27

Review + interview at

at Musings of a Writer And Unabashed Francophile

Wednesday, Aug 28

Review at I Am, Indeed

Thursday, Aug 29

Review by author Paulita Kincer

at An Accidental Blog

Friday, Aug 30

Review at Valli’s Book Den

In full compliance with FTC Guidelines, I received a free ebook edition of this book from the author and France Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review.  I was in no way compensated for this post, and the thoughts are my own.

This review qualifies for the following challenges:

Historical Fiction Book Review #30

Tudor Book Blog Reading Challenge #25