It was definitely hard to put this book down. The story jumps back and forth between two women. Ella Turner is a recent transplant in a small town in France. She decides to research her family's French ancestry. Isabelle du Moulin Tournier lived 400 years earlier, and yet they have a common thread.
I enjoyed Isabelle's story more than Ella's story. But the ending left me unsure as to what happened to Isabelle.

A book that could've been good, if the main character hadn't been so damn unlikeable. She is like a child, more like a teenager. Everything is about her, she doesn't communicate at all yet accuses people of not listening to her.
The fantasy aspect was a bit meh, apparently being in Europe was close enough to jump start her dreams.. where she had never had any connection to any of it at all (she wasn't even in the right area and all the major events she was supposedly connected to had happened in another country all together).

And last but not least: who lets a random woman travel across borders with a skeleton of archeological and anthropological value. After bloody well breaking into a place that she had no right being in, and almost bringing down the entire building (there goes any structural integrity. Try explainingthat to the society), and stealing someone's remains. All this without any consequence.
She is basically a Mary Sue.. countered by Isabelle, an interesting and likeable character who just has no luck at all. I felt sorry for her and the good children, the rest of them could go and shove a pike up their ...

Attention to historic detail is always so evident in Chevalier's books and it always pays dividends. Fascinating mix of contemporary and past lives. This was not an area of history I was familiar with (French Huguenots, Catholics, Calvinists) and I was intrigued but also horrified by the violence of the era.

A book that could've been good, if the main character hadn't been so damn unlikeable. She is like a child, more like a teenager. Everything is about her, she doesn't communicate at all yet accuses people of not listening to her.
The fantasy aspect was a bit meh, apparently being in Europe was close enough to jump start her dreams.. where she had never had any connection to any of it at all (she wasn't even in the right area and all the major events she was supposedly connected to had happened in another country all together).

And last but not least: who lets a random woman travel across borders with a skeleton of archeological and anthropological value. After bloody well breaking into a place that she had no right being in, and almost bringing down the entire building (there goes any structural integrity. Try explainingthat to the society), and stealing someone's remains. All this without any consequence.
She is basically a Mary Sue.. countered by Isabelle, an interesting and likeable character who just has no luck at all. I felt sorry for her and the good children, the rest of them could go and shove a pike up their ...

I didn't like this book as much some of her other books.

Liked this book. The historical storyline was the better of the two by far.

This book follows the stories of two women, relatives who lived 500 years apart. I loved the story of Isabelle, who lived in the 16th century, and I thought her character was well drawn and compelling. Ella, the modern character, on the other hand, failed to inspire much sympathy after the first part of the story.