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Lisette and her husband Andre go to live with his grandfather Pascal in the French countryside in 1938. Pascal has paintings from Picasso, Pissaro and Cezanne. He tells Lisette the story of how he obtained all the paintings. With the start of World War Two Andre hides the paintings before enlisting in the French army. There was a lot of lengthy discussions about art and it's value which I found pretty boring. I read The Nightingale earlier this year and it does a much better job of depicting the
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While I've enjoyed Vreeland's work in the past, I had a hard time getting into this one and it just never gelled. She's trying to do something interesting here by having Lisette's primary loves be places rather than people, but there's a hollowness to all her stated passions that makes it feel somewhat empty emotionally. Vreeland's scholarship remains intriguing, but I wish the story she was trying to tell measured up.
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3.5 stars

One of the best, most realistic works of historical fiction I've ever read. This one tells the story of the everyday lives of the the common citizen living in France before, during, and after World War II.
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Jan 10, 2015
Juliana Philippa
marked it as to-read

Aug 11, 2015
Wanda
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Apr 23, 2016
Renate
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Jul 05, 2016
Betty
marked it as to-read

Aug 10, 2017
Curlysue
marked it as to-read

Jun 08, 2018
Kaley
marked it as to-read
