Citadel

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Source: Free advanced reader copy from William Morrow, and France Book Tours, in exchange for a review. Revelation 1:1 announces both the book's title (it is a 'revelation') and its divine author ('Jesus Christ'). The book is an 'unveiling of unseen spiritual forces operating behind the scenes in history and controlling its events and outcome. This disclosure is conveyed in a series of symbolic visions that exhibit the influence of OT prophecies, especially those received by Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. The book is also 'prophecy' (Rev. 1:3; 22:7), not only as divine prediction of future events but also as divine diagnosis of the present state of affairs." During the highest tides of the season, the village struggles to fight the rising waters. Connie tries to uncover the truth behind the murder but she finds herself under suspicion. Is Constantia who she seems to be? What is the secret behind Gifford house? I've been putting off posting this for weeks. I gave up. Citadel just didn't hold my interest and I kept diving into other books instead. It's not that Kate Mosse does anything badly in this book, she just doesn't do anything well enough to keep me involved. It's a pity because I loved the first two books of the trilogy and it was reading the first many years ago that tempted me to the South of France for the first time. I've been in love with the place ever since.

Citadel is a deeply satisfying literary adventure, brimming with all the romance, treachery and cliffhangers you would expect from the genre. It is also steeped in a passion for the region, its history and legends, and that magical shadow world where the two meet. . . “ As in the previous books it's told in 2 time lines the 4th century and 1942-1944 when the Germans occupied the Midi (France) Kate Mosse grew up in Chichester and attended Chichester High School and New College, Oxford. She graduated in 1981 with a BA in English and spent the next 7 years publishing in London. In 1992, she left publishing and started working on her writing career. In 2001, she began working on the first book of her series, Labyrinth which has sold millions of copies in more than 40 countries.Because I haven't read Sepulchre, I can't comment on how that book fits into the trilogy, but there are references to the two previous books that lead up to Citadel. The time frame of Citadel is the 1940's while France was in the midst of Nazi occupation. This story is one of bravery as a group of women partake in the French resistance. The characters are well developed and pull the reader into their worlds easily. Towards the end of the book when it's building to a crescendo I found it odd that there was a change in the emotion of the plot. After the protagonist is tortured, there is repeated reference to how she'll never have children as a result. It's a small point but it was jarringly emotional, a different style to the rest of the book. Also, Lucie's style of calling Sandrine 'kid' was irritating.

In short, making it to the end, felt like a Herculanean struggle and one which I would not inflict on anyone. Moreover, I have no intention to attempt another Mosse novel again - my Year 11 narrative writings were more interesting and original! In her own life, Kate has cared for her father and mother, and for her 90-year-old mother-in-law, Granny Rosie. Through this, she has experienced the joys, challenges and frustrations shared by an invisible army of carers. Constantia Gifford stands alone and doesn’t believe in such superstitions. She is 17 and lives with her father, the taxidermist, in the remains of what was once Gifford’s world famous museum of taxidermy. A breathtaking tale of daring and sacrifice that makes a triumphant finale to Mosse's Languedoc trilogy.

This is the first time I have written in a review on this blog reference to Scripture, but I do not apologize, it would be wrong of me as a reviewer to not state something in a book I see as incorrect, even if the book is fiction. I absolutely love Kate Mosse! I wish she'd write more often, but I suppose her books are SO good because she does such GREAT research into her subject. Aroinius bleef nog even staan en keek zuidwaarts, naar de bergen, en vroeg zich af wat voor hem in het verschiet lag - Alas, it’s fair to say that Citadel and I did not hit it off. Ours was a date best described by words like “tepid” and “mediocre”. Citadel likes to talk about itself, and boy, it had certainly had its share of adventure sto relate. But I kept wondering when the real story would start and when I would actually learn something about what kind of book this was. Instead, it kept referencing new people and events in its life. And the worst, by far, was Arinius.