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This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Firstly, I was expecting a historical fiction that jumped back and forth between present day and days-gone-by - my mistake, there’s nothing about that in the blurb and I’m not sure why I assumed it would be like that. Secondly, I was expecting the story to be set amidst lavender fields, at least in part, and while it was partly set in the lavender fields of Provence, that was only a tiny fraction of the story, with most of it being set in Paris and some
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An epic historical saga that follows the life of Simone Fleurier from her days as a poor girl on a lavender farm in Provence to the heights of fame as a singer on the Parisian stage and then through to her involvement with the French Resistance during the dark horror of Nazi Occupation. I enjoyed every moment of this rags-to-riches-to-rags story – the characters and the historical period were all so real and I really enjoyed every aspect of it.
At fourteen, Simone is forced to leave her beloved family and their Provençal lavender farm to live with her rather mean aunt in Marseilles. It is here that Simone discovers music halls and that she has a rare talent. She dreams of becoming a famous singer and dancer.
Her talent soon leads her to Paris, where she meets Andre, the son of an influential French family and under his guidance, she becomes one of France’s biggest stars. Slowly life begins to change though, as Nazi troops move in to occ ...more
Her talent soon leads her to Paris, where she meets Andre, the son of an influential French family and under his guidance, she becomes one of France’s biggest stars. Slowly life begins to change though, as Nazi troops move in to occ ...more
I finished this book with mixed feelings, hence 3.5 stars.
Firstly, I think it was a mistake that I read this book just a couple of days after I finished Sarah’s Key however I thought it would be a different sort of setting. This is because the 2 other books of Belinda Alexandra (namely White Gardenia & Silver Wattle) were mainly set in Australia. Oh, they did start elsewhere but the main protagonists migrated to Australia so I had the same sort of assumptions for this one. I was just the tiniest ...more
Firstly, I think it was a mistake that I read this book just a couple of days after I finished Sarah’s Key however I thought it would be a different sort of setting. This is because the 2 other books of Belinda Alexandra (namely White Gardenia & Silver Wattle) were mainly set in Australia. Oh, they did start elsewhere but the main protagonists migrated to Australia so I had the same sort of assumptions for this one. I was just the tiniest ...more
Slightly unbelievable with a strange subliminal religious message - or was it? Read the full review at OurBookClub.
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Dec 26, 2010
Pam
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Jan 13, 2012
Blue Eyed Vixen
marked it as to-read
Feb 17, 2012
Amira
marked it as to-read
Mar 24, 2019
Chris
marked it as to-read
Sep 27, 2025
Cathy
marked it as to-read
