Apparently, this was Tracy Chevalier's first novel, quite different from most of her other ones. I have read two other novels by this author, "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and "The Lady and the Unicorn", and have enjoyed both very much. This author has a style that appeals to me, simple and straightfoward but with a beauty of its own in the way she captures the characters that compose her stories.

Although I liked "The Virgin Blue", reading it in two days, I ended up fairly confused as to what had happened and why in some particular occasions. I couldn't understand the character's motivations, perhaps because I did not fully compreend the historical background in which part of it took place and what beliefs the people held. I was lost, at times, not understanding why some people reacted or acted the way they did and though some things are explained, many other questions were left unanswered in my mind. In fact, the ending was somewhat abrupt, at least where the past is concerned, as well as some of the relationships portrayed, which I thought moved too fast.

Este é mais um daqueles livros que tenta (e falha) ligar o passado com o presente. Previsivelmente, porque há centenas de histórias do mesmo género, esta conta como duas mulheres, separadas por mais de 3 séculos, têm uma ligação tão profunda entre elas e com a Virgem Maria (!!! nem vou por aqui, a sério) que atravessa e sobrevive ao tempo e ao espaço.

É literalmente a coisa mais ridícula que li nos últimos tempos. E não, nem sequer é pelo tema religioso que, no final, acaba por ser o mais interessante. Eu, pessoalmente, não sabia o que eram Huguenots (Protestantes, basicamente) e fiquei a conhecer um pouco mais dessa parte da história de França. Mas mesmo dentro do âmbito histórico, este livro é mau. Não aprofunda nada, só menciona e passa ao de leve por cima dos temas, fica sempre a saber a pouco.

E o plot? Num momento é um romance, com direito a triângulo amoroso básico e mal amanhado, noutro momento é magic realism, com sonhos premonitórios, um tom de azul inexplicável, feelings tipo sexto sentido, e recitações de orações em francês do século dezoito enquanto se está inconsciente. Quando não estamos perante isto, esperam-nos eternas descrições dos Alpes ou de pequenas vilas francesas, e uma narrativa esquizofrénica, em que há uma tentativa de criar um fio condutor que não é minimamente bem concretizada. Nada faz grande sentido, parece que estamos perante um enorme puzzle que temos de completar mas, para isso, só nos deram peças de outros puzzles. O final é abismal e não vale a pena falarmos mais sobre o assunto.

Em suma, The Virgin Blue é o último livro que recomendaria a alguém - incluindo os meus inimigos.

Like many books the ending was better then the beginning.

I would say this book was good, not great. This was Chevalier’s debut book which was extremely good for a first book. I thought the dual timelines were a bit unconnected in a way and thought the ending could have been better. But I would recommend reading if you are a fan of this author.

Surprisingly, this was somewhat a book about a mystery, but it did get me thinking quite a bit, particularly about memories and how they are stored in the brain. Because one of the two main characters "develops" memories from her distant relative (distant being 400ish years ago), I started to wonder about memories and if we will ever figure out a way to "harvest" and save memories to be viewed when "host" is no longer with us. It seems crazy, but maybe at one time, it seemed crazy to think we could hear a voice or see a picture of someone long after they were gone. The story itself was very good, and I enjoyed the language the author used, her use of imagery and the way she described Ella's and Isabelle's feelings. What I did not appreciate was the way the book ended. I understand the agenda of an author to leave the reader to make up some bit of their own when tying up loose ends, but I think this author left too much to the imagination. I wanted to know more about what happens to Ella and what happened to Isabelle. But, I loved the history behind this story, I loved the use of the French language (which was awesome since I was listening to it in my car on the way to my class in Gorham), and I really loved this author's style of writing.

I have to admit to enjoying the modern side of the story more, even with Ella's adultery.