Review: The Witch of the Breton Woods by Jennifer Ivy Walker
Today, I'm delighted to welcome author Jennifer Ivy Walker to Ruins & Reading. I'm reviewing her evocative novel, The Witch of the Breton Woods. It's well worth checking out. Read on!
The Witch of the Breton Woods is currently on blog tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club. Find fascinating posts about resistance in WWII Brittany, enticing excerpts, and more HERE!
The Witch of the Breton Woods
Jennifer Ivy Walker
I've been excited about this story ever since it garnered a 5* Editorial Book Review over at The Coffee Pot Book Club (HERE), so I was delighted when Jennifer Ivy Walker decided to take her novel on blog tour.
And I was not to be disappointed! The Witch of the Breton Woods begins with Yvette, a young woman living in a cottage in the forest of Brittany all by herself. Brittany is under German occupation, but the news of Allied movements through Normandy soon makes its way into the remote areas too.
Yvette secretly gathers shellfish, to swap with other villagers for grain, bread, and fleece. This activity is banned, as locals are meant to just use their rations, and she's fully aware of the risk. As is her brother, Jules, the charismatic leader of the local Resistance group, les Loups.
Yvette must tread carefully not to attract the undue attention of Étienne Boucher, the 'Butcher', the senior Nazi collaborator in the area, who has his eye on her already.
When, on her way back, she comes across an injured US airforce soldier, hanging by a broken leg on a tree, she rushes to enlist the help of her brother and his close friends to bring the 'enemy' into her cottage, and to treat his wounds.
With a head wound in addition to a broken leg, the young man can't remember his name, so she calls the handsome stranger Beau. Over the coming weeks, she manages to nurse his wounds, and they become closer. But dangers lurk from the Butcher, and from local SS officers stationed in her old home, a farm that was taken over by the Obersturmführer, who had her father and brothers shot. Only Jules and Yvette had escaped...
With fighting coming to Brittany, will Beau remember his life, and will he survive? And will Yvette evade the clutches of the collaborators in her village, and the Nazis? Well, find out in the book!
The Witch of the Breton Woods is an evocative love story set against the dangerous backdrop of life under occupation, and told vividly in the author's unique, descriptive prose. With collaborators and spies everywhere, Yvette has to lead an unassuming life, to protect not only herself, but also her brother and his Resistance friends. The setting of her cottage, hidden away from prying eyes of villagers, is ideal, though it also means that no one is close enough to come to her aid.
Beau and Yvette grow close very quickly, and she opens up to him about herself, her family, and her brother. I thought this was a little dangerous, as he could have easily been a plant. For one aware of the threat all around her, Yvette's openness was somewhat surprising. But it fits in with her character – gentle, kind, and trusting – and apart from her wariness towards the collaborators, she is a friendly, selfless, helpful soul.
Beau's amnesia propelled their romance forwards, but I was surprised he remembered to speak French, even though he couldn't remember his name or past life. But I think studies have been undertaken that show this can happen, so it's not unusual.
Jules is a great character. Sensible, daring, and fiercely protective of his sister. He's very likeable, and I think he'd make a great hero in another novel (with Lola, his beloved, of course).
The narrative was in an unusual storytelling style, and there were plenty of close emotional references in terms of the main characters' thoughts. However, because of this, we have repetitions, which slow down the pace. Also, I found Yvette's thoughts at times unnecessary and 'telling', rather than 'showing'. They explained situations readers could easily understand by themselves, through her actions. At times, those thoughts were unnecessary.
Some characters are also quite clichéd, which seems to be the norm in many novels set during WWII. As an author, it's easy to follow this trend, as characters are easily recognisable within their own setting. But at times, it can be distracting.
Some of the dialogue was in French, with translations, which I thought added a warm, authentic touch. Ms Walker clearly knows the French language very well, and it shows. It helped beautifully in setting the scene.
The Witch of the Breton Woods is an evocative and moving romantic adventure, with a brave, feisty heroine and a cool, level-headed hero. Beau was loosely based on the author's late brother, which I thought added a beautiful layer of depth to his character. I'm sure Ms Walker's brother would have approved.
Readers of romantic WWII fiction, with some added action and suspense, will enjoy this memorable tale. I enjoyed reading it very much.
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Blurb:
Traumatized by horrors witnessed during the Nazi invasion of France, a young woman retreats to the dense Breton woods where she becomes a member of the clandestine French Resistance. When she finds a critically injured American paratrooper whose plane was shot down, she shelters the wounded soldier in her secluded cottage, determined to heal him despite the enormous risk.
Ostracized by villagers who have labeled her a witch, she is betrayed by an informant who reports to the Butcher—the monstrous leader of the local paramilitary organization that collaborates with the Germans. As the enemy closes in, she must elude the Gestapo while helping the Resistance reunite the American with his regiment and join the Allied Forces in the Battle of Brittany.
Can true love triumph against all odds under the oppressive Third Reich?
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About the Author:
Jennifer Ivy Walker
Jennifer Ivy Walker has an MA in French literature and is a former high school teacher and professor of French at a state college in Florida. Her novels encompass a love for French language, literature, history, and culture, incorporating her lifelong study, summers abroad, and many trips to France.
The Witch of the Breton Woods is heart-pounding suspense set during WWII in Nazi-occupied France, where a young woman in the French Resistance shelters and heals a wounded American soldier, hiding him from the Gestapo and the monstrous Butcher who are relentlessly hunting him.
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