Busily involved as we are in moving house, moving countries (France to UK), this book, billed as a 'perfect holiday read' seemed a nice, non-demanding choice. A father's will reveals to his children that they have a previously unknown half-sister in France. The half-sister, Solange is equally shocked by this knowledge. So far so good. But soon we get to hear the father's history and that of his friends, all Resistance workers, as the book switches between 1970s Ireland and France and war-torn France. German-occupied Paris, and the effects on the survivors of their concentration camp experiences are all brought vividly to life, and all at once the story became a gripping one. The characters themselves are not so rounded and believable: it was easy to guess very early on for instance, how the story would end for Solange: but I knew neither her nor her Irish half-sister at all by the time the book ended. It's worth reading though, as an account of the dismal events of the Second World War as far as Paris was concerned. It added to my understanding of the period. ( )

Wat een prachtig verhaal over liefde, trouw, ontrouw, lijden en verdriet en alles wat daar tussen in zit. Het verhaal speelt zich af in 1970 in Parijs, Dublin, Genève en de Languedoc en in de Tweede wereldoorlog, op ongeveer de zelfde plekken. Het laat zien hoe ingewikkeld relaties in elkaar kunnen zetten en dat mensen op de meest aparte manieren toch verbonden kunnen zijn. Verder kan ik er niet veel over zeggen zonder te spoileren. ( )

To My Daughter In France. With these words added to his will, Richard Kirwan revealed to his both his family in Ireland and to a young woman in France that there had been a huge secret in his life, one that he waited until his death to expose. I admit I didn’t have very high expectations for this book and perhaps that is why I did enjoy it so much. Crammed with characters who revolve around each other, jumping back and forth in time from the 1940’s to 1970, the reader is soon caught up in this tragic love story, with all it’s implications.

The parts of the book that depicted Paris during the German occupation and the resistance movement, made for some tense and exciting reading. When the book moved ahead to 1970, there were various settings from Dublin to Paris, as well as my favorite setting in the southern French wine country of Languedoc-Roussillon.

To My Daughter in France by Barbara and Stephanie Keating was a sprawling family epic full of secrets and sacrifice, there were parts that I admit were a little overdone, but for me, at this time, the book worked. This is the type of book that is often described as a ’beach read’, one that is big, full of passion and intrigue, has a gripping story and is overall a thumping good read. ( )

Een aanrader: een man komt te overlijden en uit zijn testament blijkt dat hij nog een dochter heeft waarvan niemand op de hoogte is. Dit brengt natuurlijk heel wat te weeg binnen de familie. ( )

aardig boek, ik houd van boeken die ik Frankrijk/Spanje spelen (sfeer) ( )