The Bottom Line: Any book that encourages you to think after you have finished reading it is worthwhile. This book tugs at the heartstrings and questions, love, life and of course war.
The Girl At The Lion D'Or is the first part to what became a trilogy and was followed by the more popular Birdsong and then Charlotte Gray. All the stories are concerned with war but Lion D'or is primarily concerned with a love story of a poor orphan, Anne and the man she meets and falls in love with, Hartmann.
Faulk's brings to life the hotel and all it's characters, transporting you to another time and place. As Anne slowly reveals to us and Hartmann her childhood we are drawn a picture of this young girl who has endured more than any human should have to. Your sense of empathy for Anne is similar to how Hartmann feels and you wish there was a way you could erase it all or at least make sure her future is more promising.
The way in which all of the characters are important makes it difficult for you to decide how things should turn out. Christine, Hartmann's wife, has her own issues that make it impossible for you not to feel sympathy for her and realise that sometimes life simply isn't fair.
It is unusual to find a book that gives such strength to a female character and that aspect I find especially powerful. I have a sense that whatever a person goes through in life, if they really have the determination, somehow there will be a just reward. This is shown perfectly in the character of Anne. The book, though it's base lies in love, highlights how complex life can be and how we must make the most of the time we have here.
Recommended:
