LAKE OF WIDOWS by Liza Perrat #RBRT

 4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Emotional family drama.

Lake of Widows is set in France in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when not all attitudes had caught up with the Swinging Sixties and Women's Lib movement elsewhere in the West.  The main character is Adrienne, a timid woman lacking in confidence, who doesn't realise how much her whole personality has been subtly eroded by her manipulative husband, until an event when out shopping sends her head into rebellious overdrive, and she doesn't go home.

Then there is Blanche, who lives by a lake dear to Adrienne's heart; she is struggling with the reality that her husband is a treacherous conman.  Most of all I was interested in the story of Suzanne, a First World War wife whose life takes a turn for the worst when her husband returns from the Front.  All three women's lives intertwine in this beautiful setting, as they discover their own expectations for themselves, finding courage they did not know they possessed.

I found the part set in an insane asylum most interesting - I've read and watched a few books and documentaries that show how the treatment of the emotionally sick was, even in the 1970s, positively Dickensian.  I also loved Suzanne's story - I would have liked to read more about her and her husband.  As for the writing itself, it will make you want to visit L'Auberge de Léa, and stay there!

THE LOST BLACKBIRD by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In A Nutshell: fiction based on true life events, about the appalling mistreatment of children sent to Australia from English childrens' homes, in the 1960s.

This book is certainly an eye-opener.  In the 1950s and 60s (and as late as 1970), children were taken from English children's homes for a 'better life' in Australia.  Sometimes the children were orphans, other times they were in care because the parents were temporarily unable to look after them, and they were shipped off without parental consent.  A few were fortunate, and were adopted by families, but most were used as slave labour on farms, until they were sixteen, when they would be sent to cattle stations to serve an 'apprenticeship' - more slave labour.  Most suffered permanent separation from siblings and families in England.

This is the fictional story of Londoners Lucy and Charly Rivers who ended up in 'care' (a brutal, regimental establishment) after their mother was wrongly convicted of having killed their father.  When Charly was six and Lucy ten, they were put on a boat with many others, to sail to the other side of the world.

The story alternates between that of Lucy and Charly, who fare very differently.  I found Charly's story absolutely fascinating, and it was so well written by Ms Perrat; it involved a slow brainwashing until by the time she was sixteen she was not sure what was a memory and what a fantasy or dream; the way in which she tried to capture fleeting images was perfectly illustrated, as was the behaviour of the people who perpetrated this; the gradual unravelling was riveting stuff.  Lucy's story was so tragic and I was equally engrossed in the first two thirds or so, though I was less convinced by a couple of developments later on.

The book is certainly a page-turner, nicely structured, making me eager to know what would happen next, as hope twinkles in the distance for the characters, then disappears. The writing flows well, and I'd definitely recommend it to any readers who enjoy emotional dramas based on true life events - the fact that all this stuff actually happened gives a hugely compelling slant to the whole story.  At the end of the book, Ms Perrat writes about her research process, giving details of some of the books she used for reference, which has now added to my reading list, too!  I give her a round of applause for bringing these heinous crimes to light in this highly readable novel.

 

 

FRIENDS & OTHER STRANGERS by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
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On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I loved Liza Perrat's two novels set in 1970s Australia, so downloaded these when I noticed they were on offer.

In a nutshell: Short stories and essays on life, mostly set in small town Australia from the 1950s to the present day.

These were great; there aren't any weak ones.  Many of them were either submitted or shortlisted for various short story awards, or actually won.  They're not all stories in the sense of having a beginning middle and end; some are more snapshots of a life lived.  They're all beautifully atmospheric, though; a fine collection.

My favourites were Daughter of Atlas, about a Greek family who emigrated to Aus in the 1950s, Corner of Acacia and Beach Streets, a heartrending tale of loss (in more ways than one), and Santa Never Made It, about a Christmas time cyclone in Darwin.

THE SWOOPING MAGPIE by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

 
How I discovered this book: I loved Liza Perrat's other book set in 1970s Australia, The Silent Kookaburra, so I pounced on this as soon as it came out!  Also reviewing it for Rosie Amber's Review Team.

In a nutshell: Emotional drama about the plight of unmarried mothers in 1970s Australia, based on true life events.

This is a fictional story about the terrible injustices committed towards young, unmarried mothers in Australia until the 1980s, when they were forced into homes and made to sign papers to give their babies up for adoption, often without even seeing them.  It's hard to imagine such a crime now, but in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when this book is set, a teenage, out-of-wedlock pregnancy was seen as a disgrace to a family, with the girls made to feel like the lowest of the low.  No consideration was given to their feelings, or the resulting trauma they would experience throughout the rest of their lives.  Liza Perrat lists her research material at the back of the book.

Headstrong, pretty and popular Lindsay Townsend has an unhappy childhood with a weak mother and a bully for a father, when she begins an affair with Jon Halliwell, a teacher at her school.  The first half of the book describes not only the passage of the affair and her belief that Jon truly loved her (I loved this part of the book!), but also her time at the home, during which she is finally beaten down.  On a happier note, though, it is there that she made lifelong friends with the other girls who shared her plight.

Jon's treachery is worse than she knows, as the middle of the book shows us, with a truly shocking twist; I was gripped.  We then move to the immediate aftermath of Lindsay's loss, and then to the early 1990s and finally to 2013, as she and her friends aim to right the wrongs done to them.

The books is dialogue-led, with much of the story told in conversation.  The emotions are real, and well-portrayed, and there is no doubt that Liza Perrat has in no way exaggerated the effect on the women who were at the home with Lindsay; I admit to shedding a tear or two during the final ten per cent of the book.  Most of all, though, for anyone who might think, 'well, I wouldn't let that happen to me', Ms Perrat has depicted so well the hopelessness, the reality of being completely trapped and without options, that the girls experienced.  It was, indeed, a different world.  Well worth a read.

 

WOLFSANGEL by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
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How I discovered this book: It was submitted to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member, but I had downloaded it anyway because I love Liza Perrat's books.

This is the second of the Liza Perrat's Bone Angel trilogy to be written, but the latest in historical period; it takes place during the Nazi occupation of the village of Lucie-sur-Vionne in World War Two.  I think it's the best of the three.

The trilogy's theme of medicine woman and herbalist continues in the form of the mother of twenty-year-old Celeste, the main character.  At the outset of the book, Celeste is dealing with the occupation of Lucie with the same quiet fear and anger as the other villagers and her friends.  As time goes on, the demands of the Germans increase in their severity, and no one is sure who is collaborating.  Celeste goes to work with the Resistance in Lyons, but she has has her own dark secrets with which to contend, as she falls in love with someone she shouldn't.

The book is a real page-turner, and the sense of growing fear is so well done.  I was pleased that it was realistic; Celeste loses people she loves, and there are some truly gripping scenes, such as when she and other Resistance workers rescue two prisoners from a hospital.  The last twenty pages, when a truly shocking event takes place, took me by complete surprise; I was engrossed.  The 'afterwards' bit is written with great sensitivity, too, with a couple of surprising reuinions, but it avoids becoming schmaltzy; it's too respectful of those who really suffered such tragedy for any such cheap shot.

I found the hot-headed Celeste irritating at times, but that was fine, because she was meant to be like that; she worked.  The book is so well researched, and there is a section after the novel has finished that tells of the real life events that inspired some of this fascinating story.  Well done, Liza Perrat!

SPIRIT OF LOST ANGELS by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book:  It was a submission to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.  I've read two of the author's other books, Blood Rose Angel and my very favourite, The Silent Kookaburra.

Spirit of Lost Angels is Liza Perrat's debut novel, and revolves around Victoire Charpentier, a peasant living in the village of Lucie-sur-Vionne.  It is linked to the later book, Blood Rose Angel, by the bone angel talisman passed down through generations.  This first novel in the trilogy takes place in the years leading up to the French Revolution.

Victoire's life is one of tragic events indeed, as she loses those she loves to accident, illness, the danger and politics of the times, and at the careless hands of the nobility.  Cast into a brutal Parisian prison, she meets the notorious Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy who inspires within her the fire of revolution; I liked the inclusion of a real-life character in this work of fiction.  All the way through the book I appreciated the amount of research that has gone into writing this novel ~ such an entertaining way to fill in the gaps in my education.  I enjoyed reading about the lives of the rural peasants in the beginning of the book, and comparing this with the medieval life in Lucie, four hundred years earlier, in Blood Rose Angel. 

Throughout the book, the gaping chasm between the lives of the poor and those of the ludicrously self-indulgent aristocracy is always evident; it was most interesting to read the thoughts of the time about the general lot of women, and, as in the medieval story, the restrictions due to social mores and religious belief/superstition.  Victoire lives many lives in her short one, and I was pleased to see her return to Lucie, and reunite with the family she had longed for, for so many years, and to see wrongs overturned.  

Showing the history of a country via the changes in one village over a period of six hundred years is such a great idea, and I now look forward to reading the third book in the trilogy, Wolfsangel, which is set during World War Two.

BLOOD ROSE ANGEL by Liza Perrat @LizaPerrat

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book: I read another title by this author, The Silent Kookaburra, when it was submitted to Rosie Amber's Review Team, and liked it so much I downloaded another of her books.

The story is set in the 14th century, in the village of Lucie-sur-Vionne, and centres round midwife and herbal practitioner, Héloïse.  Her husband, Raoul Stonemason, has been working in Florence on the cathedral for two years, but when the plague hits Italy, work halts and he knows he must flee.  On the way home he accepts a lift from a merchant, who is to stay a while in Lucie.  Alas, he brings with him the plague, and dies of it the next day.  From then, it spreads rapidly.  As a midwife and herbalist, Héloïse feels duty bound to aid not only those about to give birth, but also the ill of the village, and this causes great friction between her and Raoul, who is terrified that she will bring the pestilence into their own house.

I was pleased to discover that Liza Perrat can write historical fiction as convincingly as the dark (yet humorous) contemporary drama I'd read before.  The research that must have gone in to this book is some feat; there is so much intricate detail about the herb lore of the period, the every-day lives of the peasants, and most interesting of all, the superstitions and religion.  The villagers' lives are ruled by their fear of a wrath-like god, and have faith in all manner of charms, talismans, portents of doom, etc; a minority dared to voice their derision of these far-fetched beliefs, but it was so sad that, of course, they had no idea of the cause of the pestilence; as I read with frustration, it made me wonder what generations far into the future will think of the beliefs that still exist today, that our lives are watched over by invisible, judgemental, parental style entities.  The parallels with our 21st century life are many, and it gave me much food for thought.

The story itself, of how Héloïse deals with the prejudice towards her, and how she climbed from her darkest hours back into the light, is well thought out and so well written, but aside from this, the novel is a fascinating exploration of the rural life of the time, of the societal structure and the way in which the pestilence affected the people and changed the way they thought and lived.  I hope to read another book in this trilogy soon; this is the third book, and a complete stand alone.