Won this courtesy of a Goodreads giveaway. Took a flier because I like birds. Unfortunately that was the only flight involved. These poems while pleasant never soar. Like watching birds walk in the yard when they seem capable of so much more. Will admit I started to rush through hoping for more meat on the bone so maybe I didn’t give it as much chance as I might. However, pretty sure this just wasn’t for me.

Hope is a whisper. The louder the world gets, the harder it is to hear. That is the miracle of Agnes Humbert’s life as presented in RESISTANCE. Despite all that she goes through, she still hears that whisper. Her story had me from the start when she was an art historian. Every step more intriguing than the last—breathless reading the French Resistance passage, terrified reading the Nazi Prisoner passage, horrified reading the slave labor portion, and fascinated reading it all through to the liberation portion. More surprising than the hope she holds onto is the sense of humor she retains. Granted it is often dark and cuts to the bone but it leavens the weight of her life and even sharpens the focus of her observations.

This book was like a diamond ring in a paper bag. It’s full of fascinating history and incredible lives but they are delivered in frustrating fashion. I was drawn in because Alexandre Dumas’ exciting literary adventures were largely based upon his father’s real life derring-do—that his father was the product of a French Nobleman and an African slave added spice to the mix. Toss in a slave rebellion, the rise of Napoleon, the French revolution, invading Italy and North Africa and there is a lot to fascinate. However repeated author intrusions detailing his research breaks the spell. While many of his research stories were interesting—they were unwelcome intrusions best left to an introduction or addendum. Significant portions of the bio are based on conjecture by the author or confabulation by the subject’s adoring son so the sharpness of focus fades in and out. The result was an inconsistent narrative and when I doubted the veracity of what I was reading I struggled as a reader. Perhaps this subject would have been better served as narrative non-fiction where there is more forgiveness for creative details. I wanted to give this five stars because of the fascinating subject and research but also one star for the squandered opportunities—so I settled on three.

I can’t think of another book where I had just about made up my mind that I wasn’t going to like it—only to swerve half way thru. The main character is immensely unlikeable. Every one around her unpleasant. The action stifled and smothered. Very slowly going nowhere. But then I fell under it’s spell. I had been lulled to sleep along with the character. The commentary on grief, pop culture, drug culture, medical culture, consumer culture, even culture culture began floating to the front like a dream coming into focus. The main character who has chosen to sleep for a year to reset her life suggests there is a lot about this world that could use a reset. Sometimes resets come whether you like them or not as happens at the end of the novel. I admire the author for pulling this off—that she could push, push, push me away, all the while setting the hook that would pull, pull, pull me back in. I found the ending perfection.