El azul de la virgen

2.5 stars. I don't know whether to round up or down, but I chose down because I had problems with this book from the start. I could write a pretty long review with all the things disappointed me, but the biggest was the train wreck that happened near the end of the book. There's having to suspend belief and there's outright absolutely unbelievable. I am shocked to say that this book ends up in the latter, something I did not expect from Chevalier. This book had a lot of potential, but the contemporary story was bland and the historical one confusing. Plus, the big secret became obvious pretty early on (the train wreck was out of left field, so I guess there's that). I'd suggest a pass on this one.

Trigger Warnings - Possible SPOILERS
Domestic violence, martial rape, sexual assault/ near rape, murder

An enjoyable historical travelling experience with some family issues, romance and religion

È un giorno della seconda metà del Cinquecento nella Francia meridionale. Etienne Tournier fissa i suoi occhi celesti in quelli di Isabelle du Moulin, la Rossa, lo stesso nome che la gente aveva dato alla Vergine. Isabelle afferra il rastrello dalle mani di Etienne e colpisce con tutte le sue forze la statuetta! Così si annuncia la fine della fanciullezza di Isabelle, infranta come la statuetta della Vergine, e l'inizio del suo destino di donna. Un destino che resterebbe nascosto per sempre, se secoli dopo non arrivasse nel sud della Francia Ella Turner, l'americana che è perseguitata da uno strano sogno in cui le appare una veste azzurra, e per risolvere il mistero si ritrova tra le isolate montagne dove ebbero origine i Tournier-Turner.

Un'eterna ricerca contraddistingue la vita di ogni lettore, ed è quella per individuare i propri scrittori preferiti; se possibile, autori con delle bibliografie corpose, che forniscano un buon numero di volumi da poter recuperare. Per me, Tracy Chevalier rappresentava proprio la candidata ideale per questo ruolo: una scrittrice parecchio apprezzata, impegnata in uno dei miei generi preferiti (il romanzo storico), con una decina di volumi pubblicati, e tutti già tradotti in italiano! Cosa mai poteva andare storto? Vediamolo partendo dalla trama de "La Vergine azzurra", il suo romanzo d'esordio, nonché il titolo con cui ho scelto di cominciare la valutazione della sua prosa.

La narrazione si ambienta principalmente in Francia e Svizzera ed alterna due linee temporali: nella prima seguiamo la popolana Isabelle "la Rossa" du Moulin alla metà del Cinquecento, nella seconda arriviamo ai giorni nostri ed all'ostetrica Ella Turner; quest'ultima si è da poco trasferita nella Patria della quiche e della tour Eiffel per seguire il marito, un architetto di successo. Le due storie hanno moltissimi punti in comune, a cominciare dalle ricorrenze nei nomi dei personaggi per arrivare alle svolte più significative negli intrecci, inoltre si intuisce da subito che le donne sono imparentate ed hanno un aspetto fisico molto simile.

E già da qui si potrà indovinare come la trama prenda una piega surreale che personalmente non sono riuscita ad apprezzare, soprattutto per la poca coerenza e la totale assenza di chiarimenti. In parole povere bisogna accettare che tra Isabelle ed Ella (ma non solo?) esista un legame mistico grazie al quale la seconda riesce a ricostruire fuori scena la vita della prima, o almeno alcuni elementi. Tutto questo risulta a mio avviso forzato ed inutilmente contorto, tanto da rendere a più riprese incomprensibile una narrazione per il resto lineare.

Per quanto riguarda la prosa della cara Tracy in senso lato, l'ho trovata a tratti decisamente bizzarra, e penso in particolare ad alcuni dialoghi ed alla dinamica di certe scene, quasi incomprensibili per quanto i personaggi agiscono in modo caotico, senza tenere in minimo conto le conseguenze delle proprie azioni. Personaggi che risultano poi problematici anche per la mancanza di una vera caratterizzazione: la maggior parte di loro vive soltanto in funzione del ruolo che sono destinati a svolgere nell'intreccio; una volta raggiunto quell'obiettivo, l'autrice non esista a farli praticamente scomparire tra un pagina e l'altra.

Analizzando invece le due vicende in modo individuale, la maggior problematica nella storia di Ella è il comportamento infantile della protagonista stessa, nonché la presenza di un certo trope romance che trovo molto discutibile. Per quanto riguarda Isabelle, la narrazione dei capitoli che la riguardano mi è sembrata troppo frammentaria, con salti di anni ed anni tra un paragrafo e l'altro; il lettore è così costretto ad indovinare come i personaggi reagiscano dopo determinate rivelazioni. Un esempio su tutti è il momento in cui Isabelle ed Etienne annunciano alla famiglia di lui che si sposeranno; purtroppo non sapremo mai cos'aveva intenzione di fare il padre uscendo con un'ascia in mano perché la scena successiva ci porta direttamente alla terza gravidanza della donna, ormai sposata da anni.

Devo ammettere però che in questa lettura non ho individuato solo difetti. In primo luogo mi sono piaciuti molto i collegamenti tra le storie di Isabelle ed Ella, specialmente quando vengono affrontate le difficoltà dell'essere madri e del sentirsi accettate da una nuova comunità. Ho trovato inoltre solida l'ambientazione storica, il che rende più credibile la parte dedicata ad Isabelle. Nel complesso, la prosa di Chevalier presenta diversi elementi interessanti che magari, con la maggior esperienza acquisita in anni di pubblicazioni, mi permetteranno di apprezzare la lettura de "La ragazza con l'orecchino di perla", aka il romanzo con cui progetto di darle una seconda possibilità.

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.

I found this an unpleasant book, which left me with the feeling it had been written to fulfill an obligation. It had a thin and nasty plot, and little in the way of depth of character. I did wonder, cynically, whether it had been written to provide a way to fund a trip to France.

I was even a little sceptical about the research, but not enough to revisit my texts.

I have had medium enjoyment from some other works by this author, so was disappointed by this effort. It felt as if it had been thrown together, with a few common themes muddled into the one book, so as to tick a few selling points. We have a failing marriage and the necessary seductive frenchman and charming french village, some unconvincing psychic moments and a nod to brutal religious practice. It seemed a mishmash, which wandered for the minimum number of pages, then ended withut much purpose.

I would not have even finished if I had had other reading matter to hand. I would tell others not to waste their valuable time and mind.

I really liked this novel. The overlapping stories are fascinating, exciting, and propel a sense of reality that sometimes other fiction can not accomplish. I believe that Tracy Chevalier is a talented writer (story teller) because of her characters, subjects, and environments, in which she places those characters. After watching a short video with her being interviewed about her newest book, "Remarkable Creatures," I realize how her creative mind works and what inspires her. She is very attentive to details and lets them fester before initiating her whole story. She may have lots of ideas for a story, but then they all meld together to make something wonderful, like this book. I wanted to go to Poland after reading this book and research/search about my Polish family history - like Ella does in France, in this story. The results of Ella's search seem very lucky and satisfying, which I like in stories of this nature. I'm starting to realize that Chevalier is possibly one of my favorites writers. This is the second book of hers that I've read; I've got more to read. The first of course was "Girl with a Pearl Earring" which I also gave four stars. I can never put her books down and feel so anxious to continue reading them through out the day.

This was an amazing book, and the ending was not disappointing at all- except for those I can imagine have little imagination and did not really pay attention to the plot. Tracy Chevalier has completely astonished and moved me with her writing once again.

For those of you who appreciated/liked the ending and would like to read my take on it- please read below. Didn't understand the ending? I think my analysis has some interesting points.

JUST KNOW THAT THIS ANALYSIS OF THE ENDING HAS SPOILERS.


SPOILERS- DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE BOOK!

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My take on the ending:
I do not know what happens to Isabella- the last time we as readers "see" her is through Jacob's eyes ("Jacob reaches the crossroads and finds his mother on her knees, bathed in blue.") and he is watching her crouch somewhere far from the crossroads that he has just reached himself- meaning that if he is coming from the direction of the Tournier farm (we can assume he has just left after such a traumatic experience because he like Isabelle was the only other that truly loved Marie) then Isabelle has chosen another direction (both away from the Tournier farm Jacob just came from and away from the west road that Jacob takes in the end). Jacob turns away from both directions (the way he just came from/the Tournier farm AND his mother) to go WEST ("She does not see him and he watched her for a moment, the blue reflected in his eyes. Then he looks around and takes the road leading west"). I think Tracy Chevalier makes this distinction implicit (the only real detail she gives us in the end) because she wants us to know that Jacob DID go away and make it on his own.
Because why else, then, would the well constructed plot include this Nicolas Tournier that might have just been a dead end and a way to slip us up before Ella finds her "real" ancestors. But no, Tracy Chevalier very openly brings back Nicolas Tournier in the very last lines of the ending- making him a very important detail, and re-instating him as a possible ancestor, and a very important one at that, because Ella (who's intuition has not failed so far when it comes to her ancestors) also can not give up on the coincidences of the character and feels he is important. What is my conclusion of this- that he IS very important and very much an ancestor of Ella, and that he is not Jacob, but Jacob's SON.

You see, look at the dates:
Jean was born in 1563
Jacob was born in 1565
& Marie in 1567

Now, one must put together the clues the book has given us:

1. That right around the time this all happens with the dress and Marie's murder, Isabelle very explicitly notes how much "Petit Jean" has come to resemble his father and the Tourniers, and how much he acts like a grown man -- even though he is barely ten years old.

2. That when Jean-Paul finds out more about the painter Nicolas Tournier he finds concrete evidence: the painter's baptism year was 1590 and the painter's father Andre Tournier came to Montbeliard in 1572 (where Nicolas was born) from Besancon. (see page 97: "His father Andre Tournier, who was a painter from Besancon - that is not far from Montbeliard. [...] The father, Andre Tournier, came to Montbeliard in 1572 because of religious troubles ...").

I did the math, and if Jacob was born in 1565 and would have arrived at Montbeliard in 1572, that would have made him 7 years old at arrival. If the year Jacob left and arrived at Montbeliard was 1572 (making 1572 the year all this happened with the dress and the murder of Marie), then that would make Petit Jean 10 years old (born 1563) just as it had been mentioned in the book by Isabelle, and Marie 5 years old (born 1567) just as she should have been because Ella found child bones.

My assumption is solidified by these years and then the ending, because I think that Jacob DID leave and managed to survive and arrive at Montbeliard, where he ended up settling for the rest of his life. Now think: Jacob was very very smart, he would have managed and he also would have been smart enough and angry enough at his family to change his name to Andre. Also, Andre was a painter, and Jacob had all the qualities and skills that would have made him one too. He was particular about colors and their contrasting qualities (remember his love for the stones) and even his own love for the Virgin's color blue that he came to adore because of his mother, would have allowed him to pass that on to his son Nicolas, who also becomes a painter (I am unsure about who paints the painting Ella comes across though, because I feel like it could have been either Andre/Jacob in memory of his mother and Marie, or Nicolas who would have become an impressive painter after his father and made the painting after being influenced from his trips to Italy). Either way, that is my conclusion. Jacob left, arrived in Montbeliard in 1572 at seven years old, changed his name and made a new home, life and family for himself, becoming a painter and passing that on to his son Nicolas. Also, note that Nicolas' baptism was in 1590, and if he was baptized the year of his birth (as customary), then by the year 1590 Andre/Jacob would be 25 years old, making him old enough to not only have been married but a reasonable age to have had a child as well.

Why does all this evidence make me so sure about all my "assumptions" about the ending: well because Tracy Chevalier was very careful and strategic in providing us with all these specific dates and information. As a writer, I can not imagine she would have included or bothered to put this into the story and the plot without real purpose. Writers, at least good ones, will not include something in their stories without purpose or meaning.

This, overall, makes me happy because of all the Tourniers that survived (poor Marie) and would have had the chance to have made a respectable family (certainly not poor Isabelle and definitely not Petit Jean who becomes as evil as his father's family- having incest and illegitimate children), it would be Jacob. Kind, thoughtful Jacob, who also would have been thoughtful enough to never call any of his children after his father's family- breaking the Jean/Hannah/Susanne/Etienne cycle, and also breaking any link to that family, which is why it is so difficult for Ella to ever really confirm that his family are also her ancestors, even though she feels it in her gut.

Also, I'd like to make another go at Isabelle's ending, because assuming that Jacob left and that Isabelle's only choices were to either go back to the Tourniers, the Shepherd, Susanne's family or die in the streets, I feel that Tracy Chevalier gives us a little hope in leaving her at least some distance away from the crossroads where Jacob finds her and watched her from. MAYBE she somehow survived and made it back to the Shepherd, MAYBE even she made her way to Susanne's husband and children, but I do not think she went back to the Tournier farm, because she was not facing or on that path as Jacob walked up to the crossroads. I know that the other alternative would be that she died one the streets, "a baby in her womb, forgotten, her grave unmarked." But this, as the ending so states, would not be the worst fate, it would have been going back to the Tourniers. Also, Isabelle - despite all the sad things that happen to her in her life - would be the kind of woman to survive with the help of her faith in the Virgin and the "magic" protection she received again and again from her mother/the wolf. I feel also, that Jacob knows this, though he leaves her, Jacob knows that his mother will be fine because he finds her "on her knees, bathed in blue," and I can not help think that his seeing her this way (protected by the Virgin) would be the only way he'd turn away from her and leave.

Finally, I'd also like to point out and finish by saying something about Marie's fate, because looking back now I can not help but recognize all the clues we were given throughout the story that her life was in danger and that the Tourniers were an awful family. For one, despite what happened with Pascal and Jacob making the blue dress for Marie, it becomes clear that Etienne and Hannah had been planning to sacrifice Marie all along. If one reads Page 192 again, before the granite even arrives, Etienne already knew he would sacrifice Marie and burry her under the hearth.

"How big will the hearth be, Papa? Petit Jean asked. As big as the one at the old farm? Etienne glances around before his eyes rested on Marie. - Yes, he said, it will be a big hearth. You think so, Marie?"

After this, Isabelle could SENSE the danger that surrounded her daughter. Not only this, but the clues kept coming, from Etienne counting the stones outline of Marie when Jacob was trying to do the same to know the size of the dress and Isabelle (sensing the danger again) kicked at the stones, to the way Hannah fed her (maybe to make her bigger or something like an animal sacrifice? Idk, but it was still a strange thing because Isabelle pointed it out and was worried about it), and - finally - to Etienne's and Hannah's worry when the granite arrived and they refused to let the delivery man help them set the stone because Marie was obviously still very much alive and they couldn't kill her and put her under the stone right in front of a stranger they knew would tell everyone. Also, it became clear that they had been planning this all along and had been willing to make a human sacrifice because they had done it before- as Ella realized when Jean-Paul unburied the teeth under the chimney at the old Turnier house.

One last thing- some may argue that there would be no way for Jacob to survive by leaving his family at seven years old ... or any age in fact before he was big enough to marry. But consider that back then children were only treated as such up to a certain age. They were expected to work young and - specially the boys were expected to behave and grow up like the men from their family from an early age. Petit Jean was well enough on that path only at ten, he could work the fields and use a knife, etc. Jacob had different kinds of skills, and he wasn't as cunning as Petit Jean, but I think he would have still made it ... even at 7 years old. He could have wandered around, gotten strange jobs along the way, and settle in a town where someone could have helped him, as they had the Tourniers when they'd arrived poor after fleeing France. Even at 7, I think Jacob was very smart from the beginning, really mature and had all the potential to make a life for himself away from his family.

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.