A Farewell to France

by Noel Barber

Sonia Riccardi, impetuous and sensual, is a woman no man could resist. And Larry Astell, heir to a champagne fortune, knows their passion is the most important part of his life. Until war places in jeopardy all they held dear - love, family and country.

From the Left Bank of the 1930s to Nazi-occupied Paris, A FAREWELL TO FRANCE is a magnificent epic, played out against the tumultuous background of the time: a decadent French government, the life of a foreign correspondent, the grandeur of the champagne regions and the glory of the French Resistance.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Historical, France, War, World War II

735 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Noel Barber was a British novelist and journalist. Many of his novels, set in exotic countries, are about his experiences as leading foreign correspondent for the Daily Mail. He was the son of John Barber and his Danish wife, Musse, and had two brothers: Kenneth, a banker, and Anthony Barber, Baron Barber.
Most notably he reported from Morocco, where he was stabbed five times. In October 1956, Barber survived a gunshot wound to the head by a Soviet sentry in Hungary during the Hungarian revolution. A car crash ended his career as journalist. He then began writing novels: he became a best-selling novelist in his seventies with his first novel, Tanamera.

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written epic story of WWII in the champagne region of France. The characters are larger than life. The protagonist is the guy everyone wants to be (that's where the book gets a bit too much), and he has adventures as only a neutral rich American newspaper man can have. La Chatelaine is my favourite character - a dominant woman loved by all - strong, outspoken and runs a company. The backdrop of the champagne region is interesting and gives the reader another refreshing view of the war (after all the WWII books we've read). Looking forward to reading the next Barber book.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in my late teens and LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it...it's one of those books that has stayed with me.

[Rita Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful book! Noel Barber is an amazing author who draws you in to life in France during WW11 for a family of famous champagne makers. An enduring, but splintered, love story, evocative writing it covers over seven hundred pages but you still won't want it to end.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. The book is about an American, Chris, whose family are champagne producers in France. His grandmother is French, while his grandfather is American. Both parents are American.

Anyway, this book begins in the early 1930's, when Christopher falls in love with his sister's school roommate, Sonia. They are 19 and 17. They carry on an affair for a year before they are discovered, and Sonia then is returned to her parents in Italy.

Six years pass, and when Sonia returns to France, WWII is beginning, and she is engaged to an Italian diplomat. The engagement is obviously an arranged marriage - but why? The two lovers cannot stay apart.

WWII rages on all around them, and this book is largely an account of the family's experience in the war, and the war in the Champagne region of France.

This book has it all - romance, adventure, love, war, etc. The plot and background are absolutely superb. The romance is one of the best ever - the chemistry between the two is made very real by the author.

I loved this book.

[Gregory Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a testament to Noel Barber's writing ability that his few works continue to be so well read so many years after he left us. While my favorite remains 'Tanamera', largely because I lived for a number of years in Singapore, 'A Farewell to France' is a great read as well. Without ever having traveled to Douzy, France, I could still experience a good visual of the geography thanks to the clear description. The characters were entirely believable and could very well have been based on fact.
I won't groan on about the story itself - other reviews have done that - but will state that you won't be disappointed by this read. A history lesson, a wartime thriller and a tender love story all in one!

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

This passionate love story is set in the intoxicating days of the 1930's in Paris and the Champagne Chateau of Douzy during the years leading up to the outbreak of war, culminating in the German occupation of France in 1944. This epic novel is a vibrant account of a country at war, with tales of duty and devotion to both family and country, of heroic acts by the Resistance and above all the romantic story of lovers pulled apart by circumstances.

[Chrisl · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, the best of Barber's novels. Enjoyable, informative look at France in the years before and during WWII. I also recommend the author's 'Tanamera' and 'Woman of Cairo' novels.
The chalk mines, dug by Romans many centuries before, used by the champagne wine industry will be the part of the story I'll most remember.
http://www.historyguru.com.au/Blog/Au...

(Goodreads computer telling me that it currently has a capacity challenge. Maybe third 'post' will be accepted.)

[Abby Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads Win.
Not my usual book.
But all in all it was a good book!
As always I find myself getting involved and relationg each character to myself and falling in love. Quite a big book too if you like the longer novel.

[Farzeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬

𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙏𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚: A Farewell to France

𝘼𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧: Noel Barber

𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚: Historical Romance Fiction

𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.5)

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠.

“A Farewell to France” by Noel Barber is a historical romance fiction novel set before and during Nazi-occupied France and most of the part is set in the Douzy village. It covers the time period from 1931 to 1944 the time before and during World War II and how it affected the lives of people all over the world. The story revolves around the Astells, who are a half American half French family and the owners of the Champaign fortune, a highly reputable and influential family of Douzy. The story is told in the first-person through Larry Astell, the oldest son of the Astell family, a journalist, and the male protagonist of the story who is in love with Sonia, a family friend and a daughter of an Italian diplomat. Larry along with his family lives in the Douzy Chateau which is the possession of Astell’s for three generations. The family consists of Larry, his parents, twin brother and sister Guy and Anna, and their grandmother known as La Chatelaine in their circle.

The story is about the hardships they face due to the war and how their peace is shattered to the extent that the family is all torn apart and scattered while Larry and Sonia’s love is tested time and again due to the political situation of their countries.

The major theme of the novel apart from love is the horrors of war and how nothing good comes out of it. The atrocities done by the Germans to French people and the Astell family and their (Astells) revenge from those Germans show how the wars snatch the innocence of the characters in the story. From ordinary people minding their own business, they turn into killers and torturers to save themselves and their country from the cruel Nazis. It tells how the lives of the characters are affected due to the war and at one point they had to say Farewell to France, a place that was their home, and how the family has torn apart due to the war. While reading this book I realized war is such a horrible thing and even though the people do not want it and have nothing to do with it yet still they are swept into the whirlpool of this barbarity, inhumanity, and chaos because a few arrogant people in power decide the fate of thousands of people and ruin their lives just to satisfy their egos. Hence, war in this book is shown as an antagonist force that robbed these characters of their innocence and turned them into completely different persons. In addition to the war, the characters of Hitler, Hoess, and Abtez also belong to the antagonist forces and were a perfect example of “power corrupts.”

Moreover, a major symbol in this story is Douzy Chateau which itself is an important character as the book starts with the line, “For all our youth the Astell family had lived in and out of our Douzy, the small chateau named after the village, hidden by vineyards lining the gentle, sloping hills of Champagne.” From the beginning till the very end Douzy plays a significant role in the lives of these characters and their lives, throughout the book, revolves around it. It is a symbol of comfort and warmth of home and family life which is shattered as soon as Germans occupied France. For people like Anna, it became a prison at one point as she is not allowed to leave the house for the fear of being captured by the Gestapo but unfortunately, Douzy could not protect her forever.

It took me a long time to finish this book as it has 734 pages and I was so busy that I could not read more than twenty pages each day. I loved all the pre-war scenes, especially the time the characters spend at Douzy Chateau. In short, all the happy parts. I think more than the story, I was involved in the characters no matter how much twisted they are. And now that I have finished the book, I feel sad as if I have lost my friend friends 😂

It is very hard for me to rate this book because I like it but I also don’t like it. Initially, I fell in love with the story because it was beautifully narrated, I loved the descriptive details of France and specially Douzy. What I do not like in the story is the unsatisfactory end to Anna's story. She was the one who suffers the most and goes through the worst form of torture, separation from her family and husband, and yet there was no closure for the readers in her story. I guess all the torture she went through was not enough for Barber so he decided to make her husband Willie, the only nice German in the book, commit suicide. Also, though there weren’t any graphic details of the torture, yet still the nongraphic details were also quite disturbing for a person like me, and by disturbing I really mean I got disturbed and depressed by Anna’s story. Nonetheless, I loved the revenge part when Guy tortured Hoess. It was so satisfying to read that part because he deserved more than that.

Moreover, There were pages filled with the details of winemaking. To some extent, I did enjoy those details, however, there was a point I got so bored with it that I wanted to skip those pages. Also, there was no closure for the readers. Barber keeps on separating Larry and Sonia a thousand times in the book but couldn’t show their wedding or at least after all the mess he could have written a single page of them together. Similarly, I still can’t get over Willi’s suicide. Anna and Willie were the only couple who got into the trouble of getting married and suffered beyond repair yet did not get anything by the end. I understand that Anna healed mentally and emotionally by the end which we did not get to read much about. In fact, we are not even told how she reacted or dealth with when she gets to know about her husband’s death. Lastly, from the beginning till the quarter half, the story was all about the Astell family and their life at the Chateau. This was the reason why I actually enjoyed reading the book because despite so much stupid stuff going around, it was a story of a family. But what happens as the story proceed: Mom goes to America, Grandma is in Douzy, Papa dies, Sonia and Anna are in Switzerland, Larry keeps switching between France, Switzerland, America, and Britain and Guy ends up somewhere in CIA or God knows where. Not a single scene of the family together at Douzy in the end. After all the trouble everyone went through, I guess, we the readers deserved to see a happy scene with the whole family in it and if not atleast the writer could have given us the satisfaction of Sonia and Larry’s wedding scene. There was no closure for the readers like me who suffered with the characters.

Lastly, I can’t help myself to mention the other countless stupid stuff in the book such as the mom having an affair with Chauffer who is the best friend of her son, while Larry having a fling with his brother’s girlfriend Olivia who ended up being the fiancé of the same guy mommy had an affair with. I loved the quarter half of the book but as the story progressed it turned more into a low-budget movie.

So, in my opinion, this book deserves a 3.5 stars.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is a chunky book of almost 800 pages, it's immensely readable and at times fascinating, with a great sense of place and time - the Champagne region of France in the years immediately before and during WWII.

The book is narrated by Larry Astell, whose French/American family own a chateau and vineyards in France where they produce champagne. Larry is in love with Sonia, the daughter of a family friend and an Italian diplomat, but circumstances always seem to intervene and keep them apart. Larry gets a job as the Paris news correspondent for an American newspaper, a job which introduces him to key political figures, but as war becomes imminent his future and that of his family becomes more and more uncertain.

Noel Barber is a talented storyteller and as a journalist himself he brilliantly evokes the life of a foreign correspondent as Europe slips into war. The scenes of the evacuation of Paris and of the tension of life in Occupied France were striking and memorable. Personally I was less interested in the romance of Larry and Sonia, although their personal development from spoiled rich kids to maturity as they passed through real hardships and danger was quite engaging. More compelling was the plot thread relating to Larry's sister Anna, married to a German, who finds herself trapped in a horrific and heartbreaking situation.

The book also shows aspects of WWII that are less commonly covered in novels about the period, particularly the impact of neutrality where life carries on as normal for Americans as France descends into chaos, and just across the border in Switzerland the people have plenty of food (and silk stockings!) while in France they struggle to survive. This book will appeal to those who enjoy well-written historical fiction with a dash of romance.

I received a free copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway.

[David Lowther · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Farewell to France is a fine adventure story mostly set in the Champagne country around Rheims.
The narrative stretches from 1931 to the close of the Second World War.
The main characters are mostly members of a French/US family who are mostly involved in the wine business.
There is much about the industry and it is very interesting. Fascinating characters and an engaging narrative combine to make this saga a gripping read. The action sequences are exciting.

David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families at War and The Summer of’39, all published by Sacristy Press.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

A miserable book and I have no idea why I finished it. I always think it will get better - didn't happen. This took place in pre-WWII France so it was a bit interesting how things were during the German occupation. But, there was such potential for this to be wicked exciting - a Jewish/French girl living with an American/French "champagne" family; a daughter that married a German who got stuck in Germany; the American son, in love with an Italian diplomat's daughter. Unfortunately all the potentially exciting rescue/escape moments all fell flat. Even at the end when the main character had joined up with the French resistance was VERY ho-hum.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer to 4 stars. This was a very long book. I liked the characters and, being a war story it has its own twist having taken place near Reims France. I learned a lot about champagne.
The story was just too rosy and perfect for wartime. Not nearly as much struggle as you’d expect. Perfect food, perfect sex, perfect surroundings. It needs some toughness and more struggle yet it was quite readable.

[Muziwandile Mahlangu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book full of life and colour. An deal read for Francophiles and those who love the nostalgic pre-WW2 days,all that sparkle and gaiety and vivacity!
I thought I'd seen it all in the Great Gatsby. A Farewell To France is like an extended Gatsby, with all the heightened passion and colour natural to France.
Wonderful read!!!

[Karim Lalani · Rating 5 out of 5]

An all encompassing epic read!!

Noel Barber's second novel which I have been considering reading for years, but decided to start it in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of VE Day was well worth waiting for. A big well researched love story which doubtless drew on the author's many years as a Foreign Correspondent was written with deep affection for a country that he knew well, and through many twists and turns saw good triumph over tyranny. Written as it was by someone who had first had experience of those dark years when victory for the Allies was by no means certain, but was achieved by the courage and sacrifice of so many. A Farewell to France is now an historical novel of a time that will soon pass from living memory, and for that it should be read as an accurate chronicle of one of humanity's darkest periods and how good eventually triumphed over evil. Read it and be absorbed in a love story that against trimuphed over the ravages of war. Yet most of because it's the work of a accomplished novelist who was at the top of his game.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A historic fiction family saga, a romance, even some espionage. A Farewell to France tells the tale of an American French family that produces champagne through WWII.
The plot is interesting but has holes large enough to run trains through. The story is told by the oldest son, Larry Astell, so his character is pretty fully realized and it makes sense that the other characters are seen through his eyes but you would think that Larry would have a better idea about the love of his life and close family members.
Barber has no idea how to write realistic dialogue. Many of the conversations are very stilted and he uses conversations that would just never have happened under the circumstances to move the plot forward.
But for all its faults, I did enjoy the book.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up.
All in all a good story and very well written but overly long with a bit too much attention to detail, which is probably ok if you are interested in how champagne is produced, for example.
I think I would have enjoyed it even more if it had been written in the third person. Try as I might, I couldn‘t warm to the narrator and main character, Larry, who was immature and often selfish. His character did develop near the end but by then I had become somewhat indifferent towards him.

[Mr Ian R Ridley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellant tale of a Champagne producing families struggles up to and through WW2

Noel Barber writes wonderous life stories so detailed and encompassing. A true pleasure to read over many weeks
Well recommended

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A war story and a romance - neither of which I would choose. But it was Noel Barber and his descriptions of people and places are exceptional. It was hard at first but the last third was much easier to read. A history of the war in France.

[Paul Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent story with a lot of detail once it got going… but it took forever to get going with an unnecessary amount of ‘detailed romance’ for the first third of the book.
Well written but not his best novel and as ever quite a long read.

[Carrick Maile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and brilliant novel. Fully recommend.

[Khali Ridings]

Couldn’t even finish this one. Boring!

[Chris Austen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely great book; superb story lines, twists and turns and..........a happy ending for the main character

[Elhara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!!

[Mthulisi Ncube · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read both this book in 2005 and enjoyed reading it. A friend borrowed and lost it. I went back to buy it again so I could have a copy.
It's a beautiful book. I love it.

[Pattie]

Unfinished

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite authors of all time, and a beautiful story. If you enjoy historical fiction you’ll love this book.

[Linda Ives · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!
Its not the type of story I would normally read, but once I got into it, I couldn't
put it down! Its a long story.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book via Goodreads First Reads.

We really enjoyed this massive saga! The story focuses on Sonia and Larry from teenagers to late twenties/early thirties. From childhood friends to lovers.

We also follow their, and their families struggles through WWII to a satisfying conclusion.

We would be interested in reading more of Noel Barber's books.

[Tim Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite books of all time. I first read it years ago and thankfully that was not a problem as clearly advanced age had made me totally forget the plot.
This is a beautifully written, complex and involving story which take place almost exclusively in France - with the odd trip to Switzerland. It might be a weighty tome at over 750 pages, but dont let that put you off as it fair zips along and you really learn about every character