Charlotte Gray (Sebastian Faulks)

Charlotte is a British spy sent into France in 1942, trained by the government to liaise with the resistance and pass messages. Secretly she is hoping to make contact with her lover, who has gone missing during a routine flight to France. She uses the resistance to try to establish his location and make contact. This love story is contrasted with the backdrop of war - the brutal treatment of Jews by the Vichy government and many of the French characters. The destruction of property and human life is captured in text that fully portrays the grim reality. Focussing on two Jewish children brings home the awful consequences of genocide, and regularly brought tears to my eyes. The descriptions were so real that I could see my own children following those footsteps. Maybe my slight criticism is that Charlotte's story and the Jewish stories don't seem to stick together. There is too much comment on French wartime behaviour for the novel to completely gel. But still a fine and moving read.

Rates 4 stars, better than The Girl at the Lion d'Or but nowehere near as good as Birdsong.