Charlotte Gray
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
While carrying out under cover activities for British intelligence in occupied France, Charlotte Gray goes in search of her lover - an RAF pilot who has gone missing in France. But don't be deceived, this is no straight forwrd love story. Her journey takes her through a country riven by anti-English sentiment and anti-semitism. Through the Jewish characters she encounters in the resistance movement and their tragic fate, Charlotte is able to see her own life in a new and more complete perspective. This is a wonderful novel that perfectly captures time and place. The characters and sentiments all feel true to the period. And the passages towards the end of the book concerning the treatment of innocent young children in the concentration camp in Poland are heart-rending and harrowing in the extreme. The politics and oppressiveness of the Vichy regime are very well conveyed. This haunting book will stay with you for a long time.
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I seem to be alone in not finding Birdsong the most marvellous book ever - possibly because I read it just after Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, which I found much more involving.
The problem I had with Birdsong was that, when reading about an event in which millions of people died, I find it hard to care about a single love affair. It is very difficult to write about such tragic and all-consuming world events without reducing the love lives of two single people to triviality.
Charlotte Grey somehow transcended this, making the love plot both moving, involving and seemingly symbolic of all the hope and suffering that participants in the war must have experienced. The beautiful writing and marvellously realised, convincing and sympathetic characters give the affair a sense of universality. Even against the grim and traumatic backdrop of the Vichy government's collaberation with the Germans and their seemingly enthusiastic participation in the persecution of the Jews, Charlotte's love affair and her struggle for personal happiness seem both engrossing and important.
On top of that, I found it a real page-turner - couldn't stop reading it. Great, great book.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having only ever read (and enjoyed) Faulks' "Birdsong" before I looked forward to meeting Charlotte Gray. I was not disappointed.
This is a moving and disturbing story of one young woman's experiences as an undercover courier in France during the 1940's. Charlotte comes over almost as an anti-hero, she is at once sophisticated yet naive, caring yet callous, brave yet timid (or foolhardy?). Although the main plot revolves around her attempts to track down her English lover, reported as missing in action after being shot down over France, this is NOT a love story. The imagery created by the narrative puts you deep in the heart of war-torn France, with all the personal conflicts and emotions of the people involved on all sides. The sub-plot around the two Jewish boys, tragically separated from their parents ... is the most moving part of the book. Told through their eyes, we feel their innocence and the way they instinctively trust and follow any adult they come into contact with, secure in the mistaken belief that they will one day be reunited with their parents. WE know what is happening to them - THEY don't. Their final scene ... almost made me cry. We should all be ashamed of man's inhumanity to man at times of war. Charlotte too, in tracing the boys to a "work camp", herself naively believes that the boys will only to put to work. We never know if she realises at the end exactly how far from the truth she was ...
The book's only flaw is the half-hearted attempt to examine Charlotte's relationship with her father. I felt it had no real bearing on the development of her character ...
All in all, a great read. But prepare to be traumatised, and have some misconceptions about the French Resistance movement shattered.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Charlotte Gray Author: EL James
Brilliant book. First few pages appear a bit grim, but once you get into it, you can't put it down!
Definitely worth a read, you certainly won't be disappointed
Definitely worth a read, you certainly won't be disappointed
Published 5 days ago by Lindy
charlotte gray by sebastian faulks
A brilliant romance taking place during world war 2.Extremely exciting and difficult to put down.The tension caused by acting as a courier in France is very realisticly described.
Published 6 days ago by Harry
Great read
Nice romance with wartime setting. Made me really want to know what happens to the characters. Found the concentration camp descriptions quite harrowing, but undoubtedly... Read more
Published 25 days ago by JaneL
That bird stopped singing
Like most other reviewers, I thoroughly enjoyed Birdsong and couldn't wait to start this book. From the very start I found it difficult to emotionally engage with the central... Read more
Published 2 months ago by allegro
High expectations
I read Charlotte Gray after reading Birdsong which was recommended by a friend who said it was the best book he had ever read! Read more
Published 2 months ago by Rebecca J. Peters
Unforgettable
I never read Birdsong as although it was recommended to me, I felt it might be too harrowing with its descriptions of the trenches etc. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Rosie34
French Cooperation
I really enjoyed this novel not only for its enthralling narrative but also because I found it very informative when considering the French Resistance. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Peter Jones
Not a patch on Birdsong
Through this esteemed website, I learn that some people think that Charlotte Gray is better than the second part of Sebastian Faulks's trilogy Birdsong. Read more
Published 7 months ago by A. Warmington
Good book but not as good as Birdsong
This is a good book about the second world war. However, as with all Sebastian Faulks books, it needs a good edit. Read more
Published 9 months ago by JoMcFlurry
Review Number 102
What can one say? I recommend it and the book. Both good examples of Sebastian Faulks. He manages to bring that period alive convincingly, with people in whom I was interested.
Published 9 months ago by RR Waller
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