Ella Tournier mengikuti suaminya pindah dari Amerika ke Perancis, dan menemukan rumah di sebuah kota kecil dekat Toulouse. sejak itu, Ella yang sebenarnya mempunyai leluhur berasal dari Perancis, bermimpi tentang warna biru yang benar-benar "biru" - suatu gabungan antara kesedihan dan ketenangan - dan juga suara-suara aneh dalam bahasa asing serta suara batu berdebam. karena merasa "asing" di kota tersebut (alias belum biasa diterima oleh orang-orang di sana), plus tidak punya kesibukan, akhirnya Ella mulai menelusuri jejak leluhurnya - Tournier. dia menemukan kebetulan-kebetulan yang aneh yang membawanya sampai ke Swiss, dimana leluhurnya dulu pindah ke sana karena terjadi perang agama (abad ke-16).
di kota kecil ini Ella bertemua dengan seorang pustakawan yang juga seorang peneliti - Jean Paul - yang membantunya menyelidiki usaha Ella tentang leluhurnya.
dari sini perkawinan Ella menjadi terancam.
lalu apa hubungan Ella dengan mimpi tersebut dan juga dengan La Rousse - wanita berambut merah dan kaitannya dengan Sang Perawan?
bersetting di kota-kota kecil Perancis dan Swiss, dari abad 16 sampai abad modern.

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After got moved to a small old city in France with her husband, Ella Tournier has same successive dreams of blue color – the very beautiful blue color, could not be described, but just felt such a combination of sorrow and tranquility. It was accompanied by strange voices in strange old language, with the sound of heavy stone falling with resonant thud.
Since that, Ella got interested in tracking back her family trees, her ancestors. She met many coincident findings, where ultimately lead to her dark family history in 16th century, a period of religion wars in France and Europe. Her connection with an ancient woman named La Rousse – red haired woman – and The Virgin.
The story in this novel occurred in several places in France and Swiss.

Really enjoyed this story but I was SO confused by the last couple of pages. Had to go back and re-read them a few times before I figured it out...and it really wasn't that complicated; it's late...that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

I have read one previous book by Tracy Chevalier which was Burning Bright and I definitely enjoyed it. This book I would probably give 2.5 stars to if I was being more accurate about my feelings. It wasn't as in depth as I would have liked and some parts were a bit vague like what happened to the little girl. In general though I did enjoy it. I liked all the French bits but I found the central character a bit unsympathetic for my liking. After all her husband didn't actually do anything wrong. Anyway without giving any spoilers I could tell this was a first novel but this author can write. It was just a few pacing and depth issues but nothing wrong with the writing at all. I will read more from her.

This kinda of has a stereotypical romance novel feel to it- married women meets French man, and they have an affair and that sort of thing. But there is another story besides this one that is really interesting, about her ancestor during medieval times. It follows her as she gets married and raises a family, and the issues she must deal with in her community and home during a time where social rules were changing under religious turmoil. I enjoyed it.

Questo romanzo, a mio parere, rientra senza dubbio tra i migliori usciti nel corso degli ultimi vent'anni. Mi sono imbattuta in questa lettura quasi per caso, non ne avevo mai sentito parlare, ma ho deciso di leggerlo perché mi ricordavo di aver molto apprezzato "la ragazza con l'orecchino di perla" della stessa autrice.

Devo essere sincera, non mi sono avvicinata a questa lettura con particolari aspettative, ma con mia sorpresa tra queste pagine ho trovato tutto: un romanzo storico, una bellissima e travagliata storia d'amore, un'attenta e approfondita analisi psicologica di tutti i personaggi (anche i più marginali), tantissima introspezione, una coinvolgente alternanza tra passato e presente, sempre più fortemente interconnessi l'uno all'altro. Era da tempo che non mi capitava di approcciarmi ad una lettura tanto emozionante, mi sono trovata ad amare, piangere, soffrire, sperare ed arrabbiarmi, insieme a tutti i protagonisti della storia, e credo che ogni libro dovrebbe portare il lettore a provare questo tipo di empatia così profonda. L'intera narrazione è pervasa da un senso profondo di "speranzosa malinconia", che mi ha portata ad appassionarmi alla lettura al punto da non voler abbandonare il libro neanche per un secondo.

Credo che sia il libro perfetto per chi, come me, desidera lentamente avvicinarsi al genere storico senza approcciarsi immediatamente a qualcosa di troppo pesante.

The book juxtaposes the story of two women who lived 400 years apart but bound together by family ties, a common vocation of midwifery, and alienation from the communities in which they lived. Isabelle Tournier (nee du Moulin) is a woman who lived in the late 1560’s in an area of France in which the populace had converted to Calvinism. Although a Protestant and married to one, she was the object of suspicion because of her red hair—thought to be the hair color of the Virgin Mary—as well as the color blue also associated with the virgin. She flees to Switzerland with her husband, children and mother-in-law to escape Catholic persecution, but she and her daughter, who also develops red hair, remain apart even from their own family members and suffer as a result of the latter’s superstitions.

Interwoven is the story of a modern American woman, Ella, who moves with her husband to France for his work. She is a descendant from the Tourniers who came from the same area and, like Isabelle, is a midwife who is unable to practice because she is not certified in France. She is self-conscious and feels she is not accepted by the locals. She decides to have a baby but this causes her stress in the form of dreams that are visions of blue and an outbreak of psoriasis. She grows apart from her hapless husband, Rick, who can say or do nothing right in her view. She decides to do research on her Tournier ancestors, and meets and fall for a local librarian, Jean Paul. She eventually goes to Switzerland and meets her Tournier relatives there, and divines the fate of Isabelle and her daughter Marie. She decides to stay with Jean Paul while Rick goes off to work in Germany.

While Isabelle’s storyline was interesting, sad, and moving, I cannot rate the book that highly because of the Ella sections. Yes, I know in the end she found a place where she felt at home so there was a connection between the stories. But I found Ella self-absorbed and whiney, and I became impatient when her story interrupted Isabelle’s. It also seemed the Ella solved the mystery of Isabelle’s fate by luck and some mystic feelings. There was also her weird blue visions thing. She had these nightmares after having sex with Rick. (No nightmares with Jean-Paul) The cousin she meets in Switzerland also had a “blue” dream after having unprotected sex with her boyfriend and became pregnant. The cousin has a miscarriage when they visit the Tournier farm where the family tragedy took place. Ella tells the cousin to dump the boyfriend—he must be the wrong man for her because she had the blue dream with him—just like Ella’s blue dreams with Rick. A little too much for me to take. 3.5⭐️

No-no-no.

Ma che è ‘sta roba?

Dove è la mia Chevalier?

Stavolta è tutto bocciato.

- L’Alternarsi di passato e presente mi ha infastidito: appena mi interessavo a quello che stava accadendo cambiavano i soggetti.
- Capitoli lunghissimi pieni di tizie incinte, con i capelli rossi ed i vestiti azzurri.
- Una sorta di indagine fatta alla cavolo con fortunate scoperte di Bibbie mezze bruciate recanti alberi genealogici della protagonista.
- Personaggi scialbi, poco interessanti, poco socievoli con il lettore.
- Collegamenti tra passato e presente veramente fatui.
- Scene inutili di protagoniste americane poco accattivanti che bighellonano per cittadine francesi e attirano la maldicenza della gente perché Americans.
- Parti di frasi in francese perché fa chic.
- Storie di corna a gogo.
- Cenni storici buttati a caso.
- Violenza gratuità nei confronti di donne e bambini - nei capitoli del “passato”. Di solito non mi danno fastidio così tanto, ma qui la narrazione è così veloce che l’iterazione di determinati temi è urticante. Violenza gratuita, proprio.
- Mancanza di pathos e intrattenimento nella narrazione (? Dove sei, Chevalier? ).


Spero solo che questo sia l’unico libro brutto scritto da questa autrice che non mi ha mai deluso - fino ad adesso.


Libro letto per la All-Over-The-World BookChallenge ✈️, paese: Francia