I have put off reading this book for far too long. However, it was worth the wait. I have decided that Faulk's early books are far superior to his more recent fare.
Charlotte Gray leaves her home in Scotland, in 1942, as she wishes to contribute to the war effort. She has a position as a Doctor's receptionist but finds it far from satisfying and she isn't particularly good at it. A chance encounter on her train trip to London, provides her with a contact, which allows her to embark on a new career. She had mentioned she is fluent in French, a skill highly regarded in these times. She is recruited as a courier, accompanying those in the secret service with limited French on their missions in France. During her time in London she meets and falls in love with an English pilot Peter Gregory. When Peter is listed as missing, she decides to stay on in France to try and find him. She offers her assistance to various resistance groups and becomes embroiled in the local village affairs.
What really surprised me was how divided France was, the collaboration with the Germans and the level of animosity towards the Jewish community by so many. Once again the shocking ignorance of what was happening to the Jewish community is depicted in all its brutality.
I found this a very satisfying read. ( )

I enjoyed this book, it was a good story and quite well researched.

I don't really have too much to say about this book, it's similar to other WWII literature out there. Despite the title this book does switch between several different perspectives which I enjoyed and didn't "smooth over" the more painful parts of that era too much. It can however get a bit long-winded so be prepared to dedicate some time to finishing it, or in my case, put it down and pick it back up again at a later date. ( )

"For the first time he believed that his own life, however tarnished in his eyes, was what was necessary for the redemption of hers." - Sebastian Faulks, "Charlotte Gray"

That line near the end of "Charlotte Gray" (1998) helped bring into focus a Sebastian Faulks novel that had been a bit fuzzy to me from the beginning. Having seen the movie based on the novel I had expected a World War II thriller, as well as a different kind of love story. The novel does have its tense moments, but they don't last long and they always seem secondary. But what are they secondary to? So much of the story seems too much like real life with its apparently directionless plot.

Charlotte Gray is an attractive young woman from Scotland who goes to London in 1942 to help with the war effort. She is the daughter of an officer in "Birdsong," the bestselling World War I novel that was the second book in the Faulks trilogy that also includes "The Girl at the Lion d'Or." Because she speaks French so well, she is sent to France for what is supposed to be a short mission.

But her lover, an airman named Peter Gregory, has been shot down somewhere in France, and Charlotte decides to stay and try to find him. Meanwhile she becomes involved with a Frenchman who falls in love with her though he doesn't even know her real name and also in the plight of two Jewish boys whose mother has already been taken to a camp in Poland. In the end she can rescue neither Peter nor the boys, though she herself is saved and manages to return to England, as does Peter Gregory with the help of others.

So redemption seems to be what Faulks is writing about. Sometimes we can succeed in saving others. Often we can't. Still we must try. Reunited with Charlotte, Peter realizes his role in her redemption (those are his thoughts in the above quote). And then Charlotte helps her own father find redemption. Father and daughter have been estranged since her girlhood for reasons neither is clear about. Still traumatized by his war experiences, he had said something or did something to his young daughter that, while short of sexual abuse, had much the same impact. Charlotte returns home to see her mother, but it is her father whom she helps bring home to her. ( )

I love Sebastian Faulks and I loved this book set in France and Britain during WWII. Intrigue, espionage, romance... need I say more? I liked it even better than Birdsong because the latter was too sad - and very real. ( )

I loved it. ( )