Category Archives: France

March 21, 2015 · 12:00 am

Review and Giveaway: Mademoiselle Chanel by C.W. Gortner

Today I welcome France Book Tours back to my blog with an interesting historical fiction novel about the iconic figure Coco Chanel. I invite you to read my review and enter to win your own copy of the book.

My Review:

There are certain names in the fashion industry that are synonymous with high end, quality and timeless clothing. Chanel is one such name. This historical fiction novel captures the struggle that this fierce women went through at a time when it was unheard of for any woman to work for a living and own her own business.

Coco Chanel grows up as an orphan after her mother dies and her father abandons their family. Forced to live in a convent that cares for and educates orphans, Coco is always striving to make her own place in the world and not depend on anyone.

Much of the book takes places in early 20th century Paris, where Coco works tirelessly to make a name for herself amongst men who dominate the fashion industry. What I found fascinating about this book is that it is not only a personal history of Chanel, but also a history of fashion and the dramatic changes in women’s clothing between the 19th and 20th centuries. No more are women required to wear tight-fitting corsets and their hair tied back in buns. Coco is heavily influenced by men’s fashions and oftentimes raids the closets of her male lovers for fabrics and old clothes to rework and make suitable for women.

Coco Chanel is a person for whom we wish the greatest success. Despite many setbacks throughout her career, she always picks herself back up and reinvents herself. C.W. Gortner has done a spectacular job of bringing to life the fashion icon that is Coco Chanel.

About The Author:
C.W. Gortner is the international bestselling author of six historical novels, translated in over twenty-five languages to date. His new novel, “Mademoiselle Chanel”, traces the tumultuous rise to fame of iconic fashion designer, Coco Chanel. In 2016, Random House will publish his eighth novel, “Vatican Princess”, about Lucrezia Borgia. Raised in Spain and a long-time resident of the Bay Area, C.W. is also dedicated to companion animal rescue from overcrowded shelters.

Visit his website. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter

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Giveaway:

You can enter the giveaway here or on the book blogs participating in this tour. Be sure to follow each participant on Twitter/Facebook, they are listed in the entry form below.

Entry -Form

Visit each blogger on the tour. Tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time! (Just follow the directions on the entry-form.)

There will be a total of 6 winners. Five printed copies will be given away as well as one beautiful handcrafted beaded bracelet which is inspired by Coco’s black and white signature colors and camellia design (pictured below). This giveaway is open to US residents only.

CLICK ON THE TOUR BANNER TO READ OTHER REVIEWS, EXCERPTS, GUEST-POSTS AND INTERVIEWS

12 Comments

Filed under France, Historical Fiction

Tagged as Coco Chanel, Fashion, France, Historical Fiction

March 10, 2015 · 12:00 am

Review: Guys Like Me by Dominique Fabre

I received an advanced review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

My Review:
What surprised me most about this brief novel is how emotionally invested I became in the unnamed narrator. Fabre creates a man who describes for us his everyday existence as a fifty-four year old man, living in Paris, divorced for 15 years, with a grown son. He works a lot to pass the time and spends most nights alone in his small apartment. He has two close friends he sees on a regular basis and has had a few casual relationships with women he has met on dating websites. He continually and sadly says to himself throughout the first part of the narrative, “There are no second acts.”

He likes to reminisce about his past life and speaks about the anger he had for his ex-wife after she divorces him; their separation is so nasty that they haven’t stepped foot in the same room or spoken for 5 years. But now that so much time has passed, he begins to wonder why he was ever so angry. The best thing in his life that has come out of his marriage is his son Benjamin with whom he has a close, supportive and touching relationship.

The narrator’s two close friends serve as an interesting contrast to his own life. His friend Jean, with whom he has just reconnected after many years, has been out of work and on welfare for years and he suffers from long bouts of depression. Although the narrator is oftentimes lonely, his life is never as sad or miserable as Jean’s. Marc Andre is the narrator’s other friend who is also divorced, but is happily remarried and has a large blended family. The narrator’s relationship with Marco proves that as we get older, it is not the number of friends that becomes so important to us, but the depth of the relationships with the few people we keep close.

About halfway through the book, the narrator meets a woman online named Marie and it is hard to tell if he really cares about her or if she just fills up some of his lonely hours. But as the story goes on, he subtly stops saying “There is no second act.” He seems to really turn a corner in his life and be able to declare that good things still can happen to “guys like me.”

GUYS LIKE ME is a fast and emotional must-read; it will keep you wondering if F. Scott Fitzgerald was wrong and that second acts are possible for all of us.

About The Author:
Dominique Fabre, born in 1960, writes about people living on society’s margins. He is a lifelong resident of Paris. His previous novel, The Waitress Was New, has also been translated into English.

I love to support small presses that provide us with wonderful books like Guys Like Me. Please support New Vessel Press and visit their website for more titles: newvesselpress.com.

1 Comment

Filed under France, Literary Fiction, Literature in Translation

Tagged as France, Literary Fiction, Literature in Translation

February 1, 2015 · 12:00 am

Review and Giveaway: The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour by David Ebsworth

Today I welcome France Book Tours back to the blog with a historical fiction novel set during the last campaign of Napoleon at Waterloo. I invite you to read my review, learn a bit about the author, and enter to win your own copy (open internationally).

My Review:
The historical novels that I seem to enjoy the most are the ones that provide the most rich detail about the period in which they are set. David Ebsworth’s novel about The Battle of Waterloo is one such novel. It is the story of Marianne Tambour who is the canteen mistress to Napoleon and his troops. She rides around camp with a barrel on her hip, doling out brandy to the Emperor and his men. The camp is a dangerous place and an especially harsh environment for a woman. Marianne must stay alive, carry out her duties as canteen mistress, and also try to keep her daughter safe.

Ebsworth makes the camp and the battlefield come alive for the reader. The scenes are bloody, and raw and realistic; we feel the awful circumstances of soldiers marching, living in camp and dying in battle. This period in French history is also very complex and the author is able to sort out the various sides of this conflict for us. Napoleon has been in exile after being deposed and the Bourbon king, whom the characters in the book call “Fat Louis” has been on the throne for about a year. But when Napoleon manages to call up a few hundred thousand troops, Louis immediately flees and the country is once again divided along various political alliances.

It is also worth mentioning that the author includes several detailed maps of the battlefield and troop movements at the end of the book. Once again, this is a detail that is not only impressive, but will be very much appreciated by readers who like a visual outline of the routes that are mentioned in the narrative. Ebsworth also gives us a glossary of French terms which I found most helpful in deciphering some of the vocabulary that he uses throughout the text.

Ebsworth provides us with strong female characters that we want to see survive amid a horrible and futile battle. If you are in search of a historical fiction novel that brings to life Napoleon’s last battle and the volatile political scene of 19th century France, then I highly recommend THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF MARIANNE TAMBOUR.

About The Author:
David Ebsworth is the pen name of writer, Dave McCall, a former negotiator and Regional Secretary for Britain’s Transport & General Workers’ Union. He was born in Liverpool (UK) but has lived for the past thirty years in Wrexham, North Wales, with his wife, Ann. Since their retirement in 2008, the couple have spent about six months of each year in southern Spain. Dave began to write seriously in the following year, 2009, and The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour is his fourth novel.

Visit his website. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter

Giveaway:
The author is generously giving away 5 copies of the book. Winners will be able to choose print or kindle versions. The giveaway is open internationally. Please click on this Entry -Form to participate in the giveaway.

Click on the France Book Tour banner below to see the full list of blogs participating in the tour!