I just finished a very good book: Searching for Eternity by Elizabeth Musser. (You may have read her other books, both set in Atlanta: The Swan House and The Dwelling Place.) This one is set both in France as well as Atlanta, and it begins in the mid 1960's. A French boy, Emile, is swept from his beloved home in Lyon to Atlanta under very mysterious reasons. He doesn't know where his father is, and his mother is very protective but not very talkative.
Of course, by the end of the book, you know exactly why Emile was taken to America so abruptly, and although you get the feeling that maybe he should have been given a little more detail, the vagueness certainly makes for a great story.
There are so many threads running through the book, and they all eventually weave together quite nicely. In France, we get to know Emile's family who were French resistant fighters; and some have become Nazi hunters. In Atlanta, we see Emile learn a new culture and face bullies and racists. But there are many nice people he meets too! One family, in particular, becomes very special to Emile, but the children in the family are dealing with child abuse, rape and an alcoholic mother. Since the book spans over twenty years, we get to see the effects of rape and child abuse, and it's distressing. So there's a lot of sadness in the story, but a lot of redemption too. I liked the mixture of history and family relationships. And the ending definitely brought everything full circle.
Of course, by the end of the book, you know exactly why Emile was taken to America so abruptly, and although you get the feeling that maybe he should have been given a little more detail, the vagueness certainly makes for a great story.
There are so many threads running through the book, and they all eventually weave together quite nicely. In France, we get to know Emile's family who were French resistant fighters; and some have become Nazi hunters. In Atlanta, we see Emile learn a new culture and face bullies and racists. But there are many nice people he meets too! One family, in particular, becomes very special to Emile, but the children in the family are dealing with child abuse, rape and an alcoholic mother. Since the book spans over twenty years, we get to see the effects of rape and child abuse, and it's distressing. So there's a lot of sadness in the story, but a lot of redemption too. I liked the mixture of history and family relationships. And the ending definitely brought everything full circle.