Romance

I enjoy this authors work typically, she is heartfelt and writes with such emotion.
This book Camille was developed well and gave me all the feels.
Lizette, during WWII, however for me was hard for me to read. It was painful and anguishing.
Many people love all the emotions in a book and if this is you, you need to read this one! ( )

Never having read Susan Wiggs' books before, I only found this one when I was looking for recommendations. I went in with no expectations and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Even though it's not a thriller, the writing and story is so beautiful and emotional that I finished it in a single sitting.

The book starts with Camille and her daughter Julie who are dealing with the loss of their husband/father Jace five years ago. The once carefree and wild Camille has shut herself away from the world and Julie is being bullied in school but like a typical teenager, cannot share her anger and frustration with her mother. They still have a good support system in Camille's parents and her siblings and a quiet life in the community of Bethany Bay. When Camille's father Henry receives a box of old artifacts belonging to his mother, three of them decide to travel to France - Henry finally wants to visit his family home again and Julie just wants to escape from her school and classmates. Once there, Camille enlists the help of Professor Finnemore aka Finn to piece together the true story of her father's parents. At the same time, she is also struggling not to fall for Finn who is essentially in the same boat. The other timeline follows Lisette in WWII era France, struggling in a loveless marriage to a Nazi collaborator. She tries to live another life, using her passion in photography to help the resistance as a silent defiance of her husband. In this journey, a chance encounter leads to true love in spite of the dangers involved.

When these two timelines converge at the end, what we get is a beautiful tale of love, loss, courage and ultimately the longing to find the truth. The book ends on a happy note for everyone but it still teared me up because it was so beautiful and poignant till the end. I especially loved the tracks of Henry and Julie - Henry finding his true parentage and coming to terms with his reality is very heartwarming; Julie finding new friends and finally confidence in herself in a little coastal town of France is endearing and a testament to her resilience. This is a must read for anyone who likes beautiful writing, emotional stories and possibly a tear jerker. ( )

A truly beautiful book with great characters and detail. Highly recommend for those that love historial fiction. ( )

Map of the Heart by Susan Wiggs is a 2017 William Morrow Publication.

A pleasant family saga and romance-

This dual timeline story features Camille Adams, a woman scarred by a tragic loss, her daughter, Julie, who is suffocated by Camille’s over-protectiveness, and Camille’s father, Henry, who is recovering from cancer.
When Camille meets Malcolm ‘Finn’ Finnegan, a historian, they get off on the wrong foot, but soon find themselves thrown together when Henry insists Camille and Julie accompany him to France.

From there the story shifts back to world war two, revealing incredible family secrets directly affecting Henry.

Meanwhile, Camille helps Finn recover an old roll of film that could explain what happened to his father in Cambodia.

While Susan Wiggs has an impressive back catalog of novels, for some reason, despite enjoying her work, I’ve only gotten around to reading a handful of them. In fact, this one has been sitting on my TBR list for several years. I’m not sure if this is one of her best efforts, to be honest, but I did enjoy the historical mysteries, and I really liked the characters in this one.

Camille’s personal growth, which eventually allows her to consider falling in love again, takes a bit longer to develop, but everything works out nicely in the end. The backdrop is an added bonus, giving the story a very romantic atmosphere.

Overall, this is an enjoyable story with a fresh WWII plot-line, and a sweet, contemporary story that brings everything together quite nicely.

3.5 stars ( )