James W. Nichol

This is the best book you've never heard of. In 1941, in German occupied France, sixteen-year-old Adele Georges meets Manfred Halder. Halder, a nineteen-year-old German working as a clerk, offers to help Adele find information about her missing father, a doctor who served in the French medical corps. The attraction between the two is palpable. They fall in love and begin a desperate affair that causes joy and grief to both.
In 1946, in Canada, a young girl finds a finger in the woods. The police chief suspects there is a entire body to be found as well, and begins an investigation for the corpse and the murder that created it.
The murder investigation progresses slowly, hour by hour, alternating with the story of Adele and Manfred and the war in Europe. When the war ends and Adele moves to Canada, the plots merge. The ending is fast-paced and gripping. Which character is the corpse and which is the murderer?
This is a brilliantly constructed novel of good people trying to do good things, surrounded by war, hatred and bigotry. Nichol perfectly captures the sense of hope and hopelessness of those in the midst of war, as well as the pain and terror that continue after the war has ended. It is a heart-wrenching, haunting, beautiful book.… (más)

Oh this book... I'll admit that for half of this novel, I skimmed most of it. The Jack and crime-solving portion of the book just seemed boring to me. I don't know if it's because I didn't become emotionally involved with this portion or what. Even the actual crime-solving stuff just made me sigh and try to move along to the Adele portions faster.

The Adele parts, however, were packed with emotion. Seeing what this woman went through because of her choice of love just made my eyes tear up and my heart go out to her. It was an interesting perspective for a story, from the eyes of what some would call a "collaborator" and "traitor". And not only seeing Adele go through these trials but her fellow German soldier women and seeing their fates... Just heart-breaking. I'm glad Adele was able to build something for herself and find some sort of a peace in a different land.

I enjoyed the romance-y stuff with both Manfred and Alex for Adele. Both relationships felt very real and down to Earth. I don't know if it was the times and surroundings or what, but each had a unique feel to them. The threads of the romances were interwoven with the narrative to create two very different men, relationships, and circumstances.

Overall, this was a very middle of the road novel. I enjoyed the characters, emotions, and relationships in the Adele portion. Yet, the Jack portion left me cold. And when half the book does that, let's just say the book doesn't shoot to the top of the pile of awesome. So a solid 3. Would I recommend it? Eh... Maybe to see the trials of a French woman in love with a German soldier but to enjoy a novel in its entirety? No.… (más)