Part detective story, part historical fiction with a touch of art history, The Virgin Blue follows two women: modern-day Ella Turner and 16th-century Isabelle du Moulin. As the novel alternates between their stories, a hidden history emerges, intertwining their lives.

I don't read much historical fiction, so I didn’t realize this book delves into the persecution of the Huguenots by the Catholics, including the St. Bartholomew’s Massacre. Reading about it was... wow. You can tell from my annotations that I really got into researching it. I love when books inspire me to dig deeper, which is part of why this became a 5-star read for me.

There’s also art history throughout the story, especially about ultramarine blue, which was made from lapis lazuli. One quote really stood out to me: 'Ah, the blue of the Renaissance. You know there is lapis lazuli in this blue. It was so expensive they could only use it for important things like the Virgin’s robe.” As someone who loves art and art history, but isn’t religious, I found this fascinating.

I really liked all the characters in this book, even though Ella made some questionable decisions. The writing was vivid and captivating, but never felt overdone. If you’re curious about trying out historical fiction, this is a perfect book to ease into the genre.

Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin are two women born centuries apart who share a mysterious legacy. Ella and her husband Rick move to France for his work and for desire to brush up on her French, qualify as a midwife and start a family. Almost from the beginning Ella found living in France less than she hoped for with coldness and suspicion instead of friendliness. Several strange events propel Ella to research her family history specifically the meaning of a recurring dream that features a startling blue tapestry along with a feeling of dread. Isabelle du Moulin's story provides a look at Huguenot France including the hatred of Catholics. Ella's research leads her on a quest that tests her marriage and her sense of reality but also provides her with an understanding of her heritage that is satisfying and most welcomed.

În principiu este o carte despre căutarea de sine în arborele genealogic al familiei. Ce a început ca o activitate desfășurată din plictiseală, devine pt Ella Turner “un raison d’être”.
Descoperind secretul morbid al familiei din epoca prigonirii hughenoților în Franța, Ella se redescoperă de fapt pe sine, cu dorințe și priorități noi.
Romanul a început puternic cu istoria Isabellei de Moulin, strămoașa Ellei, însă se termină vag cu Ella scriindu-și povestea. Parcă mi-aș fi dorit ceva mai mult de la final dincolo de vaga legătură dintre Ella și strămoașa ei.

4.5 stars

This book gets a pretty easy 4.5 stars from me. I'm a sucker for a good historical fiction with a female character researching her connection to her family's past, which is the basic sum of the plot. That said, this book had a lot going for it aside from my natural affinity for the plot line.

I will admit that a lot of my historical fiction reading has been by certain authors and set in certain areas, which may make the book more novel to me than to a more widely read historical fiction fan, but the setting and historical backdrops were both somewhat unfamiliar to me. I've read books set in or around Paris, but not in the French countryside, as this is. I thought she did a nice job of painting a picture of what life might be like for an American woman moving to a small town in France. Picturesque and lovely, but also judgmental and nosy. I guess the judgmental and nosy part is universal in small towns. The other main setting of the book is the mountains of Switzerland, which was also new to me.

I was wholly unfamiliar with the persecution of the Huguenots by the Catholics in that time and place, aside from having heard of St Bartholowmew's Massacre in passing. The book really fed my nerdy side with the historical references and explanations given on a subject I knew little about and took an immediate interest in.

Trying to put aside my bias towards these sorts of books, I still feel it was a very strong story. There was good pacing with new story lines developing through the whole book, leading up to what I found to be rather a surprise ending. I thought the writing was very good and was descriptive without being over the top.

My overall opinion of this book is that it would be a good choice for someone thinking of dipping a toe into the historical fiction genre. I feel like it has a faster pace and less background historical information than some I have read, which I take away .5 star for, but would make it a good foray into the genre for someone new to historical fiction.

I'm surprised at how much I liked this and how tragic it got. Very well written.

Questo è il libro d’esordio di Tracy Chevalier, nota scrittrice che ha avuto successo con i suoi romanzi storici.

Questo romanzo è la storia di due donne. Una nel presente, Ella che è alla ricerca delle sue origini in un paese straniero e una nel passato Isabelle, che cerca di vivere la sua vita e la sua religione in un mondo che per principio le è contro, già solo a partire dal colore dei suoi rossi capelli.
Già in questo primo romanzo si nota subito quale sia la dote della Chevalier.

La storia del presente è un po’ banalotta e superficiale. Più volte mi ha fatto alzare gli occhi al cielo e non vedevo l’ora finisse.

La parte al passato invece è molto affascinante ed evocativa.

Per quanto sia una lettura piuttosto scorrevole, non sono rimasta troppo convinta dal tutto. Mi rimane solo la consapevolezza che Chevalier ha fatto bene a continuare la sua esperienza sui romanzi storici dedicate alle figure femminili perché è proprio il suo.

Inicia se manera lenta, me aburro en un principio y me cuesta continuar leyéndolo, digamos que una parte de mi se resiste y otra percibe que viene material interesante. En general considero que escribir una novela histórica es un reto para que funcione y no se lea como un libro de historia. Hay partes en las que funciona la manera de describir la rutina cotidiana y hay otras en que me parece plana la historia, hasta cierto punto forzada. Al inicio me intereso por Ella quien vive en la actualidad, una mujer americana casada que se muda a París y describe su vida en un nuevo continente, comienza a indagar sobre su pasado y se remonta a los ancestros, al mismo tiempo se desarrolla la historia de Isabella en época de los protestantes. Es un libro que desde mi punto de vista tiene una idea buena pero que no se desarrolla de manera adecuada provocando cambios de ritmos que provocan tedio e interés tan sólo pasando de un capítulo a otro. En ambas mujeres era posible desde el punto de vista femenino comprender por que se sentían de esa manera o sus motivaciones pero aún así en mi caso no senti conexión con ninguna de las dos por lo cual cuando acontecían eventos que normalmente en otras historias podrían conmoverme en este caso no sucedia y me sentía externa a lo que sucedía, a diferencia de otras ocasiones donde conecto con los personajes y el autor consigue ese efecto de inmersión. Ha sido un libro entretenido, enriquecedor porque aprendí sobre Francia,Suiza , sobre sus costumbres y sobre historia, lo cual me agrada. Este libro lo recomiendo para personas que quieran leer un libro que no es extenso, y que quieran aprender sobre historia. Pase un buen rato leyéndolo, en lo personal me habría gustado que el planteamiento despegara, sin embargo tono en cuenta que fue la primer novela que publico y para ser la primera me agradó, no he leído más libros de ella pero me daré la oportunidad, y quien sabe tal vez me sorprenda en esa ocasión.

Even though not stellar, this was a nice read about a contemporary woman and a story about her ancestor from long long (400yrs) ago.

I found the 15th century Isabelle's story stronger of the two - much less typical - and I wanted "more". On the other hand, I could have heard "less" about Ella and her love life - giving her psoriasis made her more interesting for some reason. The magical realism didn't quite work but it was not so annoying that I would discount the read which was engaging.

Shuffling narratives is very popular with authors, but I have to admit to once again sticking to one character's storyline at a time instead of reading the chapters in the order provided. Sorry authors!

I recommend this book to Chevalier fans in that it was her first published novel. Her ability to draw a sense of place and lay out a plot is already evident. Be prepared for an abrupt ending that is not tied up nicely in a bow.

btw - once again, Catholics don't come out looking too good. In this case, they persecuted and massacred the Huguenots in France.

This was a very interesting book about two women, centuries apart, linked through blood and circumstances.
Ella Turner moves to France with her husband Rick for his job. She has nothing to do with her days (she was a midwife in the U.S., but cannot yet practice in France) and begins researching her family history.
In nearly every other chapter we read of Isabella, who lived 400 years earlier. She is beginning her adult life with a marriage and child on the way. Forced to give up her beliefs in the Catholic church and the Virgin Mary as well as her skill in midwifery, she lives with her husband's family, the Tourniers.

This book is full of beautifully-written parallels with the two main characters. It is sad and rich. There were parts I didn't love and it dragged a bit in the middle, but by about page 200 or so I couldn't put it down. It had some heart-breaking moments and everything came together so well at the end.

This is a really impressive first novel by the same author as The Girl with the Pearl Earring (a favorite of mine). I'm definitely putting her other book Falling Angels on my to-read shelf.

Ce livre est absolument incroyable ! J'ai bu chaque mot avec une soif inextinguible. Je ne sais pas si la bonne écriture de ce livre est dûe à l'auteure elle même, à la traductrice ou bien aux deux mais je peux assurer qu'il vaut la peine d'être lu !
On y trouve de tout les genres... policier, romance, histoire..Sans pour autant que ça soit un mélange grotesque !!!
Il s'agit du tout premier roman de Tracy Chevalier et à ce qu'il paraît ce n'est pas le meilleur. Je l'ai adoré. Je vais très certainement lire d'autres romans de cette auteure ( dont le plus connu : La jeune fille à la perle )

I regret reading this book, it is disturbing and depressing and I really don't recommend it.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Virgin Blue. It's not as good as Girl with a Pearl Earring, but still good enough to recommend. The story alternates between the 16th and 20th centuries and the lives of two women who are distantly related. I thought the story of Isabelle living in the 16th century was actually more believable than Ella in the 20th. As always, stories that showcase devotion to the Virgin intrigue me.