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Something Old, Something New
Historical fiction novel, set in France depicting the conflict that still exists amongst families since the Nazi occupation of WWII. Two young sisters discover war memorabilia hidden in their grandmother's trunk in an attic. They set out to trace their family history, an exploit that triggers devastating consequences.
- GenresFrance
246 pages, Paperback
First published February 17, 2014
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
James R. Vance
8 books9 followersJames R. Vance, author of the historical fiction novel, Les Ruines, involving
the French resistance, lives in southwest
France. His second novel in this genre, Risk focusses on the escape lines from occupied countries across the Pyrenees during WWII. His latest novel, Something Old, Something New explores the effects and traumatic legacy of the Nazi occupation of France during WWII on three generations of a French family in the southwest area of the country.
His previously published books include the mystery thriller novels :
Animal Instinct, Killer Butterfly, The Courier and Eight.
http://writerscrampfr.blogspot.fr/
the French resistance, lives in southwest
France. His second novel in this genre, Risk focusses on the escape lines from occupied countries across the Pyrenees during WWII. His latest novel, Something Old, Something New explores the effects and traumatic legacy of the Nazi occupation of France during WWII on three generations of a French family in the southwest area of the country.
His previously published books include the mystery thriller novels :
Animal Instinct, Killer Butterfly, The Courier and Eight.
http://writerscrampfr.blogspot.fr/
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 27, 2014
The novel starts much like the opening scenes of a movie. The script at the bottom of the screen reads: 2013 Limoges, southwest France. We see a gentleman walking along the banks of the picturesque Vienne River, towards the stone archways of Bridge Saint-Martial. He notices a middle-aged woman, dressed in a black hooded cape, sitting on a wooden bench staring vacantly into the water, “as though the world around her no longer existed.” The gentleman sits down beside her and after saying hello asks if she is okay. Without turning towards him, she nods and responds, “I’m fine monsieur, I’m watching the re-run of an old film.” She informs him that the film is about the story of her life. The gentleman introduces himself as Julian Flaubert, and although no relation to the famous author, he is a WW-II French Resistance researcher, and a writer as well. He offers to ghost-write her story for free.
Elodie and Julian meet often and she narrates her story that begins a few years earlier, when Elodie was helping her sister, Monique, find ‘something old’ to wear at her wedding. While rummaging in their deceased grand-mama’s trunk in the attic, they come across some photographs, letters, and a most intriguing item: a German Iron Cross. It was a mystery the sisters became adamant to resolve.
James Vance has done a remarkable job in writing about a difficult subject: the Nazi’s occupation of France during WW-II. The plot unfolds, delicately and skilfully through the use of several characters, to the monstrous event: the massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane. On June 10th 1944, at that French village, German soldiers rounded up the entire population and after killing them all, set fire to the buildings. The incident was so horrific that the ruins of the village are preserved as a memorial.
The novel is not only a historical fiction of that period of WW-II, with vibrant descriptions of southern French villages and countryside, people and cuisine, but also several love stories intertwined into the family saga, including that of the writer who spotted the woman sitting on the bench by the river. The book is both informative and entertaining that will keep readers engrossed up to the ending.
Waheed Rabbani is a historical fiction author whose books are available on Amazon and elsewhere.
Elodie and Julian meet often and she narrates her story that begins a few years earlier, when Elodie was helping her sister, Monique, find ‘something old’ to wear at her wedding. While rummaging in their deceased grand-mama’s trunk in the attic, they come across some photographs, letters, and a most intriguing item: a German Iron Cross. It was a mystery the sisters became adamant to resolve.
James Vance has done a remarkable job in writing about a difficult subject: the Nazi’s occupation of France during WW-II. The plot unfolds, delicately and skilfully through the use of several characters, to the monstrous event: the massacre at Oradour-sur-Glane. On June 10th 1944, at that French village, German soldiers rounded up the entire population and after killing them all, set fire to the buildings. The incident was so horrific that the ruins of the village are preserved as a memorial.
The novel is not only a historical fiction of that period of WW-II, with vibrant descriptions of southern French villages and countryside, people and cuisine, but also several love stories intertwined into the family saga, including that of the writer who spotted the woman sitting on the bench by the river. The book is both informative and entertaining that will keep readers engrossed up to the ending.
Waheed Rabbani is a historical fiction author whose books are available on Amazon and elsewhere.
March 13, 2014
Compelling reading.
Our path through life, right from the beginning is composed of a series of small events. These, sometimes imperceptibly, cause change and each of these seemingly insignificant junctions cause a ripple effect, the results of which shape our lives. Sometimes, these junctions are hidden innocently, impossible for foresee and with no apparent ability to affect our future.
The story, which Elodie Arnaud recounts, starts innocently enough with her sister Monique’s fascination with the quaint English bridal tradition of something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Soon to be married to Gerard Thiebaud, the determined Monique convinces her sister Elodie to go with her into the attic and find their grandmother’s trunk. Monique reasoned that surely, there must be something, which she could use; however, nothing could have prepared them for the repercussions that simple action caused.
Their grandmother, Marie Lafond had lived in Montauban, a large town in the Tarn-et-Garonne region of France during WW2, and during the war, she had been only a teenager, with a teenager’s perspective on life. The decisions she made and events in Oradour-sur-Glane, a village in the department of Haute-Vienne, are the substance of this book.
The Oradour-sur-Glane lived in today, is new, and built on the orders of Charles de Gaulle after WW2. The original village, which Marie would have known, stands as a permanent memorial and museum to the 642 men, women and children, slaughtered by the 2nd Panzer Division of the German SS on the 10th June 1944.
If you live in a rural community anywhere in the world, you accept that they are very close knit, with memories which are carried down through the generations. I live in rural France where the war is still so apparent both in monuments and remembrance days in every village; the horror of their lives through occupation and the work of the resistance, are very plain to see, even now.
This book is a beautifully written chronicle of the life of one family through three generations. The author, through meticulous research has given the reader a wonderful insight into what it would have been like to grow up and live in France under occupation.
Through Elodie and Monique’s discoveries and reflections, we learn how the outlook of modern generations has changed, on the surface, but then memories for some people, run deep.
Lest We Forget...
Our path through life, right from the beginning is composed of a series of small events. These, sometimes imperceptibly, cause change and each of these seemingly insignificant junctions cause a ripple effect, the results of which shape our lives. Sometimes, these junctions are hidden innocently, impossible for foresee and with no apparent ability to affect our future.
The story, which Elodie Arnaud recounts, starts innocently enough with her sister Monique’s fascination with the quaint English bridal tradition of something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Soon to be married to Gerard Thiebaud, the determined Monique convinces her sister Elodie to go with her into the attic and find their grandmother’s trunk. Monique reasoned that surely, there must be something, which she could use; however, nothing could have prepared them for the repercussions that simple action caused.
Their grandmother, Marie Lafond had lived in Montauban, a large town in the Tarn-et-Garonne region of France during WW2, and during the war, she had been only a teenager, with a teenager’s perspective on life. The decisions she made and events in Oradour-sur-Glane, a village in the department of Haute-Vienne, are the substance of this book.
The Oradour-sur-Glane lived in today, is new, and built on the orders of Charles de Gaulle after WW2. The original village, which Marie would have known, stands as a permanent memorial and museum to the 642 men, women and children, slaughtered by the 2nd Panzer Division of the German SS on the 10th June 1944.
If you live in a rural community anywhere in the world, you accept that they are very close knit, with memories which are carried down through the generations. I live in rural France where the war is still so apparent both in monuments and remembrance days in every village; the horror of their lives through occupation and the work of the resistance, are very plain to see, even now.
This book is a beautifully written chronicle of the life of one family through three generations. The author, through meticulous research has given the reader a wonderful insight into what it would have been like to grow up and live in France under occupation.
Through Elodie and Monique’s discoveries and reflections, we learn how the outlook of modern generations has changed, on the surface, but then memories for some people, run deep.
Lest We Forget...
May 29, 2014
This book is partially set in Oradour-sur-Glane in the Limousin, where on 10th June 1944 the German soldiers of the SS Panzer Division Das Reich rounded up the men, women and children and massacred them all before ransacking and burning the village. No explanation was ever given as to why. The ruins have been left as a memorial that I have visited and is a very emotional place. Despite this horrific event I was quite excited to find a book using local history as its backdrop.
In the 1990’s sisters Elodie and Monique open an old trunk in their parent's attic in an attempt to find ‘something old’ from their Grandmother's belongings for Monique’s wedding. Their family, like many others, was touched by events during the war, but a very deep secret lies buried in the mementos and they have no idea of the pain they will eventually cause when they start the rummage that leads them to investigate more about their family’s unknown history.
The German Occupation of France is not an easy topic to read about, but James’ careful story telling and the use of different voices from different generations meant a fascinating tale that twisted and turned and added flesh to history. I’m no expert, but have read a few books on the subject and this book seemed to be very well researched. The many voices to this story all had their own motives for their actions, but together they became a pot ready to boil over and when it did things would never be the same again.
This book is also part love story; it has characters that see people for who they are inside and others who are prejudiced by what is represented outside, some are able to forgive, some are not. It certainly made me think as I was reading it and was a real page turner, with every chapter adding a little bit to the intriguing plot but always leaving me wanting more.
In the 1990’s sisters Elodie and Monique open an old trunk in their parent's attic in an attempt to find ‘something old’ from their Grandmother's belongings for Monique’s wedding. Their family, like many others, was touched by events during the war, but a very deep secret lies buried in the mementos and they have no idea of the pain they will eventually cause when they start the rummage that leads them to investigate more about their family’s unknown history.
The German Occupation of France is not an easy topic to read about, but James’ careful story telling and the use of different voices from different generations meant a fascinating tale that twisted and turned and added flesh to history. I’m no expert, but have read a few books on the subject and this book seemed to be very well researched. The many voices to this story all had their own motives for their actions, but together they became a pot ready to boil over and when it did things would never be the same again.
This book is also part love story; it has characters that see people for who they are inside and others who are prejudiced by what is represented outside, some are able to forgive, some are not. It certainly made me think as I was reading it and was a real page turner, with every chapter adding a little bit to the intriguing plot but always leaving me wanting more.
August 23, 2014
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
Love, loss, betrayal -- all in the time of Nazis
Elodie and Monique are rummaging through their family attic one day when they come across an old trunk full of letters and memorabilia. They find it all extremely interesting, so they start to peruse the trinkets. Little do they know this will set them on a whirlwind adventure through their family history, bringing to light that which has been hidden for decades.
I absolutely loved this story. It has so much information regarding World War II, and it really gets to the heart of what it was like for families during that time, especially those living in occupied France, such as the one featured. There are many issues expressed during the course of the novel, and not just those stemming for the occupation. It made for a very interesting read that I couldn't put down, and I love the format in which it's written: the story being told to an author in order to help Elodie write the book on her family.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good romp through history, especially the WWII era, as well as those who like intrigue, love stories, and just great stories.
5 stars
Love, loss, betrayal -- all in the time of Nazis
Elodie and Monique are rummaging through their family attic one day when they come across an old trunk full of letters and memorabilia. They find it all extremely interesting, so they start to peruse the trinkets. Little do they know this will set them on a whirlwind adventure through their family history, bringing to light that which has been hidden for decades.
I absolutely loved this story. It has so much information regarding World War II, and it really gets to the heart of what it was like for families during that time, especially those living in occupied France, such as the one featured. There are many issues expressed during the course of the novel, and not just those stemming for the occupation. It made for a very interesting read that I couldn't put down, and I love the format in which it's written: the story being told to an author in order to help Elodie write the book on her family.
I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good romp through history, especially the WWII era, as well as those who like intrigue, love stories, and just great stories.
5 stars
March 31, 2014
A truly superb tale for fans of history and family drama.
Since the Second World War (in particular the SS Nazi regime) has always fascinated me, I was drawn into Vance’s vivid world of occupied France with ease and really enjoyed his depictions of life under the Nazi threat. I found all his characters to be relatable, but light and dark in their own ways, realistic portraits of people who could easily have stepped right out of the pages of history to tell their tale.
The way the narrative shifts from different time periods is masterfully done, with varying perspectives that are well-voiced and give the reader the chance to step into different heads and see different views of the events as they unfold. I enjoyed this technique as it perfectly matches the secrets, lies and confusion that unfold in the complex family history of the Arnaud sisters.
The book is incredibly enjoyable, easy to read and impossible to leave once you start. I would definitely read other books by this author; Vance is a craftsman who knows how to tell a heart-warming story that keeps you on your toes and leaves you wanting more.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Since the Second World War (in particular the SS Nazi regime) has always fascinated me, I was drawn into Vance’s vivid world of occupied France with ease and really enjoyed his depictions of life under the Nazi threat. I found all his characters to be relatable, but light and dark in their own ways, realistic portraits of people who could easily have stepped right out of the pages of history to tell their tale.
The way the narrative shifts from different time periods is masterfully done, with varying perspectives that are well-voiced and give the reader the chance to step into different heads and see different views of the events as they unfold. I enjoyed this technique as it perfectly matches the secrets, lies and confusion that unfold in the complex family history of the Arnaud sisters.
The book is incredibly enjoyable, easy to read and impossible to leave once you start. I would definitely read other books by this author; Vance is a craftsman who knows how to tell a heart-warming story that keeps you on your toes and leaves you wanting more.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
May 2, 2014
Something Old Something New is story based around real life events that happened, during the Nazi occupation in France. The research of places and events are based on facts. This book gives a good insight into the French experience of the occupation and its dramatic effects. However, the author has added another important dimension with a generation element, in that the happenings of that period continue to this very day. It is claimed by many that this animosity still exist in families and communes. I recommend this book as an historical novel of factual events enhanced by a fictional plot and page-turning story telling.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews