I know almost nothing about my ancestry, and to be honest, never had much interest (my parents were the first of either of their family to leave China, so I imagine my family history is pretty straightforward up until that point). But I see how emotional people get when they're presented with their long line of ancestors, all the lives lived, the suffering, the endurance, the creation, and it all leads up to you in the present day. The added layer of the uniquely female bond that extends from mother to daughter, passed down with each generation, is so awe inspiring - look up "mitochondrial Eve". That is what this book is about to me, the powerful female intuition that refuses to be ignored, an instinctual feeling that pushes you in the right direction, even though it doesn't make sense at the time.

The two Tournier women, although separated by centuries, lead parallel lives, both strangers in a strange land. Chevalier, who herself is of Swiss-French ancestry, spins a tale of a Huguenot family fleeing their provincial French village in search of religious refuge in the Swiss mountains during the Protestant Reformation, and also of their modern day American descendant, who moves upon her husband's job relocation to France. While her initial interest in tracing her ancestry is more of a distraction from her boredom and restlessness, it snowballs into a search for self, accelerated by a recurring nightmare of a striking, beautiful, foreboding shade of blue.

Chevalier's writing style is one that appreciates the beauty in simplicity. I hate flowery, overly descriptive language, how many degrees a head is turned, or each mote of dust swirling in the air. Chevalier tells it like it is, like how paint is put on a canvas. The end result is an artistic mirror of reality, but the more you gaze, the more subtleties you can pick up on. Although it's slow on action, what a beautiful journey. I'm docking a star only because I think the ending was a bit abrupt, in that a momentous revelation happened, but we didn't get to know the main character's reaction to it. Aside from shock, obviously, did she find closure? Was she angry, sad, relieved? The tone was a bit off. Overall though, an engrossing read.