A village under siege.
A love under fire.
(from back cover)
The Great War
Book One
by
Maureen Lang
Look to the east, where up the lucid sky
The morning climbs! The day shall yet be fair.
Anonymous
We're brothers all, whate'er the place,
Brothers whether in rags or lace,
Brothers all, by the good Lord's grace
(from "BROTHERS ALL" by Edgar A Guest)
SUMMARY
- At the dawn of the First World War, the French provincial village of
Briecourt is isolated from the battles, but the century-old feud between
the Toussaints and the de Colvilles still rages in the streets. When
the German army sweeps in to occupy the town, families on both sides of
the feud must work together to protect stragglers caught behind enemy
lines.
- Julitte Toussaint may have been adopted from a faraway island, but she feels the scorn of the de Colvilles as much as anyone born a Toussaint. So when she falls in love with one of the stragglers—a wealthy and handsome Belgian entrepreneur—she knows she’s playing with fire. Charles Lassone hides in the cellar of the Briecourt church,.....
- (from first page)
- "It is not, however, the origin but rather the result that matters. One hundred years later, even the purest flour made into the flakiest pastry would leave a bitter taste if made by one clan and sampled by the other.
- Except for one brief moment in history, the feud rages to this day......
- Series: The Great War (Book 1)
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (June 28, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1414338953
- ISBN-13: 978-1414338958
AUTHOR
Biography
Maureen Lang has been writing stories since the age of ten,
when she figured out a way to write the stories she feels like reading.
Since then she's become the award-winning author of over a dozen
published novels. In the last ten years her faith has directed her to
write stories that reflect Christian hope and traditional values. She's
also been an active member of the disability community since her oldest
son was diagnosed with Fragile X Syndrome, a genetic form of mental
retardation. Maureen loves going on research trips to get a feel for the
settings of her novels, and lives in the Chicago area with her husband,
children, and lovable Labrador Retriever.
REVIEW
Setting: World War I.The Toussaints and de Colvilles have been feuding forever. The setting is a little village of Briecourt France. As the enemy enters the village they take homes, food, clothing and practically everything they could grab. The town was completely alone from the rest of France. Being a village that is alone, the townspeople begin to look into how to defend themselves as they depend on each other.They find people that have been detained behind the enemy lines and they hide them. They even helped them to escape to different places in order to save themselves. Will this work? Have they done this in time?
The Church has a stranger in hiding, Charles Lassone, a Belgian entrepreneur. Juliette Toussaint is an outcast in the village but is adopted. She begins to help Charles and discovers she in falling in love. She helps him to escape to France to warn the people. This is where the Germans are camped. As she does this she is filled with hate and hunger. Will it be too late or will the village survive?
The author has given the reader a lovely picture of France's country. You visualize the villagers who live a simple life. If you love history, a little romance, knights in shining armor and war, then you will go on an adventure that you won't forget for some time.
The reader will be taken in by Charles and Juliett from starting the first page. The reader will find that the story isn't one you can figure out from the start. True this is fiction and usually you can figure fiction out by at least half way through, but not this one. The author has woven a web that keeps the reader turning the pages needing to know what is next. The one thing that really stayed with me through the book was 'fighting for your freedom'. To me that's not just the freedom of the land, but your own personal freedom. The author went right to the core of the reader's heart with this book. You can't help but become totally into this book.
I received this book from Tyndale House Awards.
I would give this book 4 STARS.
LINKS
www.maureenlang.com
bemiown@yahoo.com
http://bemiown.blogspot.com
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1049289556
http://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R3FW8TQZBDTY4F/ref=cm_cr_pr_rvw_ttl?ASIN=1414338953
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