Ugh this book! The audiobook narrator was amazing, probably a good part of the reason I listened to this brick (14 discs!!) but at this juncture in my life it probably wasn't the wisest choice to listen to this tale of two French sisters who find their strength tested during WWII.

I overall enjoyed the story but often found myself frustrated with the characters' choices. Isabel annoyed me at first especially in regards to her first love interest Gaiton, but I grew to really enjoy her chapters. Vienne's made me cry because as a mother myself I could understand her choices but also hated them at the same time.

I also took a bit of an issue with the "Forrest Gump" syndrome imbuing this novel in that the characters often seemed to be at the exact right place at the right time for "important historical events" and used terminology that I don't exactly think they would have had access to at the time of the war. I could be wrong, but I'm not sure.

I detested the "kindly handsome German" character and I'm glad about his fate. Fuck Nazis.

That said, I can understand why I cannot keep this book on the shelf at my library. It is beautifully written and definitely pulls at the heart strings. And heck, I'll take anything that will remind people that Nazis are terrible.