From the Bookshelf of The Write Stuff…

Evensong

M.L. St. Sure

Why we're reading this: "M. L. St. Sure has created a haunting melody in the new novel EVENSONG, as it takes its readers back in …more
[close] "M. L. St. Sure has created a haunting melody in the new novel EVENSONG, as it takes its readers back in time to the terrifying era when Hitler and his cruel army threatened to change the world forever.

Veteran Joseph Cross is simply trying to make a life for his family in the unforgiving farm land of Missouri. Wanting more for his children than he could provide, he trains his daughter Christina to sing the beautiful arias of the opera he himself could no longer sing. When tragedy strikes, young Christina falls back on her training and through the guidance of her benefactor Senator Liam Caradine, sets out to raise her family out of the poverty in which they lived.

Christina soon takes to the stage where her voice will soon be recognized around the world. With her young sister Nicolette, Christina moves to Paris, France to live with her uncle Phillippe Petain. When Hitler's army invades, her uncle becomes the Premier of France and orders Christina to sing and entertain Hitler and his high-ranking Nazi officers. Having already been recruited by the resistance leader Laurent de Gauvion Saint Cyr, Christina refuses to sing, earning the wrath of Hitler.

Christina, with Nicolette by her side, aids the resistance until young Nicolette is kidnapped. It is discovered to everyone's horror that Nicolette has been taken to the dreaded kinder camp, also known as the "Devil's Palace." Laurent risks all, including the very lives of those under his command in a suicidal mission to rescue Nicolette and return her to the sister he has fallen deeply in love with.

Meanwhile during her own attempt to rescue Nicolette, Christina is apprehended and given to an angry Nazi officer known for his cruelty. Realizing who is captive is and her relationship to Laurent, whom he despises, the officer takes great delight in his torture and humiliation of Christina.

Forced to sing for her captors, Christina faces a grave and pivotal decision: sing the Deutchland-Lied, or "Song of Germany," or take a final stand in her allegiance to the resistance.

EVENSONG brings to mind a great tragedy. Not only are the cruelties of the Nazi's unveiled and laid bare, but so to the cruelty of a deep love in a tie when love cannot be afforded. This is a moving story, one worthy of the attention of any interested in historical fiction." Written by: Kristin Pace - - BOOKPLEASURES

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Dec 20, 2008 Grady rated it it was amazing

Fine Writing!

M.L. St. Sure's novel EVENSONG is a sturdy, fast paced novel that ties a binding thread between the American isolation and the European commitment during World War II in a way that offers an informed, historically accurate, dramatic tale of personal involvement in the threat that eventually shook the entire world. The is novel is condensed (214 pages) and moves so quickly that even though the characters are well drawn and the highlighted encounters are painted vividly, this reader Fine Writing!

M.L. St. Sure's novel EVENSONG is a sturdy, fast paced novel that ties a binding thread between the American isolation and the European commitment during World War II in a way that offers an informed, historically accurate, dramatic tale of personal involvement in the threat that eventually shook the entire world. The is novel is condensed (214 pages) and moves so quickly that even though the characters are well drawn and the highlighted encounters are painted vividly, this reader feels as though this novel is an abridged version of a much larger book - that being the reason for awarding four stars instead of five.

The story of the Cross family living in Missouri after escaping the tragedies of WW I and the manner in which some members of that family carry on the father's tradition of bravery by becoming involved with the French Resistance during WW II is the outline of the book. The father had been an opera singer in Europe but fled when an injury all but destroyed his vocal cords. In Missouri the family of five struggles to stay alive: the mother becomes an alcoholic after the father's death, the sole son Marcel remains loyal to the mother's way of life, and the two daughters - Christine and Nicolette - seek to escape their plight on the farm. Christine inherited her father's singing talent, a factor that plays heavily in her rising above her humble beginnings to become a heroine. Due to some touching and soulful investments by a US Senator (Liam) Christine is given the opportunity to live well and study voice, finding her special niche while falling in love with her older benefactor. When the Cross family collapses, Christine concentrates of saving Nicolette and through the kindness of Liam the two girls flee to France. Once in France Christine meets the handsome Laurent who will protect her from the perils of the Nazis and eventually be the loved on who salvages the vestiges of the Cross family from the horrors of the death camps of Hitler's creation.

The story moves so quickly that we miss certain pieces of information, such as why the dramatic difference in the hayseed language of Nicolette and the sophisticated language of Christine, the details along the way of the various explosions of action and emotion that would make us better understand the motivation of the sequences of events, and so on. And if anything this is a remark that can be made because the core of the novel is so excellent that it leaves the reader (at least this one!) wanting more. St. Sure is a fine writer and we can only hope there is another novel on its way! Highly recommended for a wide audience. Grady Harp, December 08

...more

1 like · Like · see review

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls