Ella Turner has moved to a small village in France for her husband Rick's work. Ella had been a midwife when they lived in California and she begins studying to pass the exams for certification in France. She is also very interested in researching her family history and begins a quest throughout the local countryside.

Isabelle du Moulin lived in this area 400 years before Ella arrived. Her story began fairly happily as she married Etienne Tournier, the son of a well-to-do farmer, and they immediately started a family. Religious unrest forced the family from their home during widespread slaughter of Catholics. They headed for Switzerland to join with other followers of Calvin. Although it was considered a sin, Isabelle continued to feel drawn to the Virgin Mary and the deep blue color associated with Mary. Isabelle's life did not continue to be a happy one as her husband began to beat her mercilessly and he treated their daughter Marie with undisguised hatred.

Ella follows the trail of the Tourniers through the years until she finds the story of Isabelle. She is unexplainably drawn to the woman and can almost feel her thoughts, fears and passions. What Ella ultimately learns uncovers a mystery from the 16th century.

The story is told in alternating chapters by Ella and Isabelle until the last few where their stories merge. It was an interesting way to tell the story. I found it fascinating and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure that Ella was always the most likable character as some of her decisions were rather questionable, but she is a determined woman.

Divna priča, za nas crvenokose, vještice.

Unija presjeka krvi, plavog, dnk-a spirale, borbe sa vukovima žene koja rodi ženu...

U biti je nepredaja tuđoj riječi, tuđem vjerovanju, svom tijelu. Sadašnji Lil protiv četiri vijeka ranijih utopija, a jedan ženski rodoslov.

Ako treba početi čitanje ovog pisca, treba početi od ove knjige.

Ho iniziato questo romanzo senza sapere davvero che cosa aspettarmi. Mi immaginavo un bel romanzo, perché comunque gli altri libri di quest’autrice che ho già letto mi erano piaciuti, ma temevo un qualcosa di un po’ lento da leggere e non ero nemmeno sicura fosse il libro giusto per questo periodo. Sicuramente, non mi fosse servito per una delle tante challenge a cui partecipo, probabilmente non l’avrei letto ora.
E invece... per fortuna l’ho fatto! Il libro, infatti, mi è piaciuto davvero molto, dalla prima all’ultima pagina, tant’è che mi è stato impossibile metterlo giù, ogni secondo che avevo a disposizione l’ho passato a leggere. Ho trovato la storia davvero molto interessante ed accattivante, piena di colpi di scena, seppur alcuni prevedibili.
La trama si snoda su due piani differenti, uno nel presente e uno nel 1500 e racconta la storia della famiglia Tournier e delle sue donne, in particolare la storia di Ella e di Isabella, antenata della prima. Entrambe le storie mi sono piaciute molto, anche se ho preferito quella di Isabella, principalmente perché ho adorato l’ambientazione e la ricostruzione storica fatta dall’autrice. E poi per il suo finale, tristissimo, che mi ha fatto piangere come una fontana.
Entrambe le protagoniste, poi, mi sono piaciute molto: le ho trovate due personaggi forti ed indipendenti, in grado di trovare un modo per andare avanti e non sottostare al volere di nessuno.
Se proprio devo trovare un punto negativo al romanzo, questo è sicuramente rappresentato dalla storia d’amore che si va ad instaurare tra Ella e Jean-Paul: l’ho trovata inutile e quasi fuori luogo, ne avrei fatto decisamente a meno; per fortuna non era troppo centrale nella storia…

More like 2.9 stars. The writing in and of itself was really good. But there were parts that just didn't work. First and foremost, not translating foreign words is a HUGE pet peeve of mine so by not doing that, a star was automatically knocked off. Secondly, the last chapter switching timelines in almost every other paragraph was really off putting. Thirdly, not really saying what happened to Marie and later Isabelle. It just felt unfinished.

Also as a side note, I hate when cheating is s part of the plot. I think it cheapens the book and it really didn't need to be here as I don't think it added ANYTHING to the story.

Having never read Chevalier’s work I was very pleased with this novel, which is her first. The interesting thing to me was that the story took place at two different times in history but in the same geographic area. The first chapter introduces us to Isabelle, a girl who lives in France in the 1600s during a religious upheaval. Isabelle is seen as odd by her town because of her red hair, which was uncommon at the time. In chapter two we meet Ella, an American who has moved to France with her husband. Over the course of the novel Ella searches out her family history and finds that her family originated near where she now lives. The story is historical fiction while also discussing changes in relationships, personal revelations, and major life changes for many of the characters. I especially found the story changes by chapter interesting, and the way that Chevalier integrates the two main characters’ stories toward the end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in historical fiction and world literature. I would suggest that someone who does not know European religious history well read the Historical Note at the end before beginning the story though.

Definitely not as good as Girl with a Pearl Earring. I was really enjoying the first two-thirds of the book, but I didn't like the direction it took after that. There are two parallel stories happening and the modern one is less believable than the one that takes places four hundred years ago. I liked the character Isabelle from the 1500's much better than Ella from modern day. I'll still read more by Chevalier. She has a nice style of writing that totally sucks me in.

Ending was very rushed and unsatisfactory but the rest of the book had me hooked

This book, which I believe Tracy Chevalier wrote before Girl With a Pearl Earring, reminded me an awful lot of The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve. It uses the same concept of alternating a historical plot with present day events, and both modern heroines are facing similar issues.

The modern story follows Ella, a woman with French ancestry who moves to France because of her husband's work. They decide to live in a small French town and Ella gets involved with a local librarian while researching her geneology. The "flashback" sequences follow Isabelle, who has married into a Calvinist family who does not completely accept her because of her red hair, profession as a midwife (Ella is also a midwife), and her loyalty to the virgin Mary (Calvinists were strictly opposed to any vestiges of Catholic "intermediary" saints, especially Mary).

The Virgin Blue starts out with fairly long chapters clearly separated into medieval and current time periods, but at the denoument the events are blended together in a rapid succession that was a little disorienting, but suited the narrative, since the events themselves were confused.

There were some hints at the supernatural in the form of mysterious connections between Ella and other female descendents of Isabelle that were never fully explored. I would have liked either more of this, making it a true ghost story, or more ambiguity, with more plausible "rational" explanations.

This book is beautiful and haunting, managing to convey both the profound sense of isolation when someone is shunned from society or grows apart from a spouse, but also a deep sense of connection between generations of a family.

Told with a minimum amount of melodrama, and bestselling with limited amounts of hype, Tracy Chevalier's debut novel is quite a nice and tidy effort. The whole split level (the main story in the present intersects with a related story set in the past) storytelling device is executed pretty well, and I definitely cared where the stories and the characters in both eras went.

Interesting the whole 'write what you know' approach has Chevalier taking a young American to France, and has strong themes around her/the character's love of history and art; it could be argued that the historical context of this story is the pull that makes this book a good read? A well deserved solid Three Star, 7.5 out of 12.

2007 read

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.

Am început această carte cu aşteptări ridicate, însă am rămas cu mai multe întrebări decât la începutul romanului...
Acţiunea are loc în două planuri paralele: unul în secolul XVI şi unul în secolul XX.
Primul plan prezintă viața lui Isabelle Turnier şi a familiei sale, pe fundalul unor evenimente cutremurătoare din istoria Franței: Noaptea Sfântului Bartolomeu (1572), care a fost unul dintre cele mai mari masacre religioase comise asupra protestanților din Franța.
Al doilea o urmăreşte pe Ella Turner (descendentă a familiei Tournier) recent sosită din SUA în Franţa, însoţindu-şi soţul arhitect într-o nouă provocare profesională. Ajunsă în sudul Franței, decide că trebuie să facă cercetări asupra istoriei familiei sale şi să descopere cine au fost cu adevărat Tournierii.
Investigația se dovedeşte a fi foarte interesantă din punctul meu de vedere, mai ales pentru ca Elle începe să aibă diverse vise care o vor ajuta să descopere secretele întunecate ale strămoşilor săi.
Mi-au plăcut în mod deosebit capitolele dedicate lui Isabelle şi datorită acestui fapt plănuiesc să citesc "Fata cu cercel de perlă", o altă ficțiune istorică scrisă de Tracy Chevalier.
Din păcate, multe aspecte din romanul "Albastru pur" au rămas neelucidate, unele au fost chiar bizare, iar deznodământul a fost dezamăgitor comparativ cu incipitul.
În plus, traducerea nu a fost cea mai potrivită din punctul meu de vedere şi cred că acest lucru a ştirbit din farmecul cărţii.
Totuşi, subiectul în sine este fascinant şi recomand această carte cititorilor pasionați de ficțiune istorică, deoarece vor afla foarte multe detalii interesante despre istoria Europei.