#BlogTour: Arlette’s Story by Angela Barton @angebarton @RubyFiction @rararesources #ArlettesStory

Book Synopsis:

An emotional and beautifully written debut you will not want to put down.

One woman’s struggle to fight back against the enemy in order to protect the ones she loves.
When Arlette Blaise sees a German plane fly over the family farm in 1940, she’s comforted by the fact that the occupying forces are far away in the north of the country. Surely the war will not reach her family in the idyllic French countryside near to the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane?

But then Saul Epstein, a young Jewish man driven from his home by the Nazis, arrives at the farm and Arlette begins to realise that her peaceful existence might be gone for good …

Arlette’s War is available now in book at the bargain price of £1.99.  You can purchase your copy at http://www.amazon.co.uk 

My Review:

Arlette’s Story is an incredibly emotional historic read that I really enjoyed but cried buckets over.

The author descriptions of rural France are wonderfully vivid, transporting the reader to occupied France.  I felt that I could really imagine the beautiful countryside and the farm in my mind.  The fear, hunger and desperation of the villages was almost palpable at times as life under the German occupation takes it toll.

As the story goes on the tension increases, especially when the Saul arrives and we discover he is Jewish on the run from the Nazis.  Anyone with any knowledge of the second world war is aware of how the Jews were murdered and persecuted.  My heart was in my mouth for that moment on and I had a feeling that anything was going to happen.  I kept reading turning the pages faster and faster hoping that what I thought was going to happen didn’t.

Despite reading a lot of historical fiction I wasn’t aware of the horrendous tragedy that occured at Oradour-Sur-Glane and my heart absolutely broke reading about what happened.  How anyone can be that uncaring and brutal to other people is just beyond me! I started crying from the moment I realised what was happening and didn’t let up until I finished.

This is Angela Barton’s debut novel and I can’t wait to read more from this fantastic writer.  If you like beautiful written, emotional historical fiction based on real events you’ll love this book.  This is one I will be thinking about for a long time!

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

Angela Barton was born in London and grew up in Nottingham. She is married with three grown up children. Passionate about writing both contemporary and historical fiction, Angela loves researching for her books and is an avid reader. Having signed publishing contracts for three of her completed novels with Ruby Fiction, Angela is excited to be working alongside such a friendly and supportive publishing team. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and Nottingham Writers’ Studio.

Having recently moved to France, Angela (alongside her husband, Paul) is now a lavender farmer, creating products from the oil that’s distilled. Angela says she’s looking forward to spending more time writing in the company of her two spaniels while sitting on her veranda overlooking the breath-taking countryside of Charente.

Follow The Blog Tour:

If you liked the sound of this book from my review please follow the blog tour and find out what these other fabulous bloggers are saying.