≡ Descargar Free The Virgin Blue A Novel Tracy Chevalier 9780452284449 Books

The Virgin Blue A Novel Tracy Chevalier 9780452284449 Books

Download As PDF : The Virgin Blue A Novel Tracy Chevalier 9780452284449 Books

The Virgin Blue A Novel Tracy Chevalier 9780452284449 Books

I started The Virgin Blue yesterday evening. I finished it this afternoon.
In her very kind e-mail, Ms. Chevalier warned me to "keep in mind that it was my first novel and I had a lot to learn about novel-writing!" Would that my first novel could be of this quality!
In it, she introduces readers to those same facets that are found in her other two books: disquieting themes beautifully and truthfully dealt with, complex protagonists dealing with situations like real live women and a story line so haunting that it lives on after the book is finished.
I have no intention of attempting to tell any about the plot, except that it is intricate and still believable, with surreal aspects involving linked past and future. You'll just need to read it for yourself!
I highly recommend all three of Tracy Chevalier's publishied novels. This one might not have been as polished and beautiful as Girl With A Pearl Earring, but it was still a wonderful and well-written book.


Tags : The Virgin Blue: A Novel [Tracy Chevalier] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Meet Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin—two women born centuries apart, yet bound by a fateful family legacy. When Ella and her husband move to a small town in France,Tracy Chevalier,The Virgin Blue: A Novel,Penguin Books,0452284449,924839,Historical - General,Americans - France,Americans;France;Fiction.,Caevennes Mountains (France),Cevennes Mountains (France),Childlessness,Câevennes Mountains (France);Fiction.,Domestic fiction,France, Southwest,Married women,Midwives,Persecution,Psychological fiction,Women - France, Southwest,Women;France, Southwest;Fiction.,16th century; ancestry; geneology; historical fiction; romance; france; art; midwifery; huguenots; pregnancy; religion; witchcraft; catholicism; family history; persecution; blue; village life; switzerland; human sacrifice; peasant; isolation; librarian; mountains; american; love; relationship; superstition; gossip; historical; literary fiction; historical fiction books; historical fiction novels; fiction; fiction books; literature; alternate history; travel; car; novels; transit; historical novels; car books; realistic fiction books,16th century;ancestry;geneology;historical fiction;romance;france;art;midwifery;huguenots;pregnancy;religion;witchcraft;catholicism;family history;persecution;blue;village life;switzerland;human sacrifice;peasant;isolation;librarian;mountains;american;love;relationship;superstition;gossip;historical;historical fiction books;historical fiction novels;literary fiction;alternate history;travel;car;transit;fiction;novels;fiction books;historical novels;literature;car books;books fiction,Americans,Americans - France,Americans;France;Fiction.,Caevennes Mountains (France),Cevennes Mountains (France),Childlessness,Câevennes Mountains (France);Fiction.,Domestic fiction,FICTION General,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Literary,FICTION Visionary & Metaphysical,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Historical,France,France, Southwest,GENERAL,General Adult,Historical - General,Married women,Midwives,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Persecution,Psychological fiction,Women,Women - France, Southwest,Women;France, Southwest;Fiction.,FICTION General,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Literary,FICTION Visionary & Metaphysical,General,Fiction - General,Americans,France,Women,Fiction,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

The Virgin Blue A Novel Tracy Chevalier 9780452284449 Books Reviews

This is a beautifully written debut novel. Exquisite in its imagery and clarity of language, the author tells two parallel tales. One takes place in sixteenth century France, during the Protestant reformation and religious persecution of the Huguenots (Protestants). The other takes place in present day France. There are historical ties that bind these two stories, as well as a haunting familial legacy that reaches out across time to makes itself felt in the present.

The sixteenth century tale is based around a young woman, Isabelle du Moulin, who marries a boorish lout named Etienne Tournier, the oldest son of one of the more prominent families in their provincial town in France. She is a young woman upon whom the Virgin Mary made a great impression, when she was but a girl. The Tourniers, however, are believers of the new, harsh, Calvinist faith, and so Isabelle must also fully subscribe to it, if she is to survive in her husbands family and in the town in which she lives. When the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre occurs, in which Huguenots are slain without mercy throughout all of France, Isabelle is forced to flee to safety with what remains of her husband's family. Unhappy in her marriage, she goes on to have an event occur in her life that is so tragic that her pain and sorrow is made palpable in the present, touching one of her ancestors, Ella Turner.

Of course, the parallel tale focuses around Ella Turner, a young, married American woman, who moves to France with her husband Rick, in order to advance his career. Ella agrees to the move, because it will take her to the region in France from which she knows her family originated. Once in France, Emma has some difficulty acclimating to life in the small provincial town to which they have moved, as well as to its denizens. Ella also finds herself having inexplicable nightmares and begins to feel herself somewhat alienated from her husband. To occupy her time, she begins a quest to discover more about her French ancestry. As Ella's story unfolds, alternating with the parallel story of Isabelle, commonalities between the past and present begin to emerge. These parallel stories then converge in a stunning denouement to resolve a tragedy of the past in the present.

I absolutely loved this book, as it covered many of the genres that I enjoy. The author combines historical fiction, suspense, romance, and touch of the supernatural all in one beautifully realized novel. The author writes with the heart of a poet and the soul of a great storyteller, one whose prose is delicately nuanced as she weaves gossamer threads of a tale well told. This is simply a superlative and stunning debut novel that will keep the reader turning its pages until the very last. Bravo!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book which I read for book club. I was one of the few people who liked the writing, but all liked the story. The voice of the two main narrators alternates in chapters - at the end it's more complexly woven. There is good foreshadowing and symbolism, but it doesn't knock you over the head and give away the plot. There is sufficient conflict and mystery to hold a reader's interest. There are contradictions in the characters - just like the human condition. There is a good amount of French, but most of it is easily figured out.
This novel is told in alternating timelines. One is in the 16th century in France and revolves around Catholics and emergening Protestants in rural France. The other storyline involves an American woman Elle whose husband was transferred to Toulouse, France. They moved to a small town where she feels unwelcome. Her French was weak which didn’t help.

In the beginning, I enjoyed the contemporary story a lot more than the historical one, but later I enjoyed the historical story more. The stories were tied together through Elle’s research on her family tree in France and Switzerland.

I could understand Elle’s loneliness, especially since her French was weak and there were apparently no other Americans in the small town. However I could not understand why she would get involved with a male chauvinist and not share her thoughts with her American husband. I thought she treated him shabbily.

There were some events that seemed to be paranormal and were not explained to my satisfaction, such as the blue dreams during pregnancy or following sex. The ending of the contemporary story seemed very ambiguous. The ending of the historical story seemed clearer.

On the plus side, I enjoyed the writing and it seemed to have been proofread.
I started The Virgin Blue yesterday evening. I finished it this afternoon.
In her very kind e-mail, Ms. Chevalier warned me to "keep in mind that it was my first novel and I had a lot to learn about novel-writing!" Would that my first novel could be of this quality!
In it, she introduces readers to those same facets that are found in her other two books disquieting themes beautifully and truthfully dealt with, complex protagonists dealing with situations like real live women and a story line so haunting that it lives on after the book is finished.
I have no intention of attempting to tell any about the plot, except that it is intricate and still believable, with surreal aspects involving linked past and future. You'll just need to read it for yourself!
I highly recommend all three of Tracy Chevalier's publishied novels. This one might not have been as polished and beautiful as Girl With A Pearl Earring, but it was still a wonderful and well-written book.