In keeping with one of my reading resolutions I ventured out into a new genre. This is my first foray into historical fiction. I have to say I liked it. This book made me more curious about the genre so I will check it out. If you have any recommendations leave them in the comments.
Freddie Waston walks into a bookshop to have a letter translated. While translating the letter the man tells the story of how the letter came to be. Which involved the mountains of France and Cather ghosts. The story was also a kind of a love story. Freddie goes to a celebration and meets a woman and she tells the story of how she and her community came to be entombed alive in the nearby caves. The woman turns out to be a ghost but the question remains. Can love at it most pure form bring closure to just about any event? For Freddie was also suffering from the death of his brother in World War 1. He had been in sanatoriums for mental breakdowns. But as he tells the story to the woman he finds a kind of redemption that allows him to move on.
It also brings to mind the need for people to know when wrong has been done. For it may be too late for justice but if people have knowledge of the wrongdoing then maybe the deaths would not have been completely in vain.It also highlights the cruelty of war. For Freddie had lost his brother and the woman had been entombed alive in a cave. It shows the aftermath of the war may be over but suffering remains. For the village where the cave is had lived under sadness for as long as anyone could remember. No one knew what the sadness was. This kind of unknowing could not allow the “winter ghosts” to rest in peace. The ghosts came back and chose Freddie to revel what had happened.
I have to admit I do not know much about the Cather's or the Mountains of France so I could go into this story believing whatever the story unfolded. I also was not sure what a historical Fiction entailed exactly. How much historical and how much fiction? I was pleased to see that there was a good blend of both. This book has made me even more curious about the Cathers..
Overall if you enjoy historical Fiction you will enjoy this book.
