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    Wolfsangel: A French Resistance Novel
    Unavailable
    Wolfsangel: A French Resistance Novel
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    Wolfsangel: A French Resistance Novel
    Ebook432 pages6 hours

    Wolfsangel: A French Resistance Novel

    By Liza Perrat

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Seven decades after German troops march into her village, Céleste Roussel is still unable to assuage her guilt.
    1943. German soldiers occupy provincial Lucie-sur-Vionne, and as the villagers pursue treacherous schemes to deceive and swindle the enemy, Céleste embarks on her own perilous mission as her passion for a Reich officer flourishes.
    When her loved ones are deported to concentration camps, Céleste is drawn into the vortex of this monumental conflict, and the adventure and danger of French Resistance collaboration.
    As she confronts the harrowing truths of the Second World War’s darkest years, Céleste is forced to choose: pursue her love for the German officer, or answer General de Gaulle’s call to fight for France.
    Her fate suspended on the fraying thread of her will, Celeste gains strength from the angel talisman bequeathed to her through her lineage of healer kinswomen. But the decision she makes will shadow the remainder of her days.
    A woman’s unforgettable journey to help liberate Occupied France, Wolfsangel is a stirring portrayal of the courage and resilience of the human mind, body and spirit.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLiza Perrat
    Release dateOct 2, 2013
    ISBN9782954168142
    Unavailable
    Wolfsangel: A French Resistance Novel

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    Reviews for Wolfsangel

    4.5/5

    9 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I was pleasantly surprised to find this was a semi-novelization of the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre in France. It's such an important historical event that I've never seen before in fiction. The author does a fantastic job in capturing the horror of that event, giving us an array of possible reasons for it, and just creating this world of oppression in Nazi-occupied France. My knuckles went white more than once while holding my Kindle and devouring this novel.I really enjoyed the main character's journey to maturity. Celeste grew from this whiny teenager only wanting to get out of dodge to a dedicated Resistance fighter, devoted to kicking the Nazis out of her home turf. She goes through some serious trauma as well and shows some real humanity in trying to process that trauma and overcome it. Her character felt very real to me, making mistakes like anyone in her situation would yet facing it all with a grit that I found very admirable. The romantic elements of this novel, however, I could take or leave. I didn't feel Martin's presence throughout most of the story. I think he only appears for, like, a third of the novel. The rest seems to be mostly about Celeste's growth as a character and her experiences in Nazi-occupied Lyon and her local village (not a bad thing, really, as this was a great story!). But when Martin was there, it felt like the author was really trying to push and elevate this romance in the narrative, and I just didn't feel it.The book was a pleasant surprise for me. It took awhile for me to get into it. Yet, once I did, I really enjoyed the fantastic world-building and Celeste's journey as a maturing character. While the romantic elements were pretty pale when compared to the rest of the story, it definitely wasn't a book-killer for me. Check out this book if you're looking for a incredible novel set during WWII that details the struggle for freedom and against tyranny.
    • 4/5
      Brown-nosing the Nazi (Book Review) Before I swiped the first page of Liza Perrat’s captivating novel of Occupied France, I already knew I would enjoy it. “Wolfsangel” is in my wheelhouse. I’m fascinated with World War II, familiar with the sordid story of French Marshal Petain and his puppet Vichy government’s collaboration with the Nazis, and lived two months in the Rhone-Alps region of France where Perrat sets her colorful roman-a-clef.In 1967, I was an American college student determined to push my schoolbook French beyond “bon jour,” and spent that summer in a tiny village in the Loire, working as a personal chauffeur and companion for Madame A_____, an imperious, 70-year old, aristocratic widow whose ancient and noble family owned most of the commune. Each June, she departed her elegant city apartment in Lyon and traveled 75 kilometers back to her 30-room ancestral chateau to pass the summer. She didn’t drive of course – that was my job, along with picking up her croissants at the patisserie, and formally dining with her each evening. We sat there three hours nightly, just the two of us, working our way through the soup to nuts repast, me dutifully filling my notebook with French expressions while Madame discoursed on Jacques Maritain and excoriated Danny the Red, the Marxist-anarchist student leader whose antics that summer filled the pages of the Paris newspapers. Madame was staunchly Catholic, socially conservative, and her late husband – a Supreme Court lawyer and Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur – had worked for the government. Her natural sympathies lay with law and order, and though she declined to talk about the recent war, I suspect they supported Petain and the Vichy government during the Occupation.Who did exactly what during the Occupation remains a touchy subject in France. French citizens faced three choices following the spectacular, sudden, and humiliating collapse in June 1940 of the French army: They could join the Resistance; collaborate with the Germans; or simply keep their heads down, shut up, stay out of the way, and survive. The list of heroes is short, and many prefer to forget, but French historians like Henry Rousso, author of “The Vichy Syndrome: History and Memory in France Since 1944,” have forced the country to look itself in the mirror. Celeste Roussel, the plucky, impatient narrator of “Wolfsangel “ knows what she wants to do – join the Resistance. Her brother Patrick and his male friends are blowing up Bouche trains; her saintly, older sister, a nun, is hiding Jews and guns in the local convent. Celeste’s sour maman, hiding a secret of her own, is determined to wait it out on the sidelines until the Allied army, pushing up through Italy, can arrive and liberate the village. The Vichy government has dragooned her husband to work in Germany, leaving her to support Celeste and the family. She’s an herbalist (legal) dispensing omelets of oats and sawdust to cure snake bites; but also an abortionist (illegal), a “maker of angels,” as the unique French expression goes, using soapy water and a brew of mugwort and rue to terminate pregnancies. If she’s caught, she’s done for. Performing an abortion was a capital crime under the harsh natal laws enacted by the Vichy government – in 1943, convicted abortionist Marie-Louise Giraud famously lost her head to the guillotine. Petain and Hitler shared the belief that the primary duty of patriotic women was to produce cannon fodder for their country. Some of maman’s clients are getting pregnant by village boys; others by the occupying German soldiers. Human nature. They’re lonely perhaps – plus, fraternizing with the enemy earns you chocolate, lipstick and nylons.When the local Resistance assigns Celeste to chat up German officer Martin Diehl to collect intelligence, she also finds herself falling for the handsome, seemingly honorable soldier who only wants to get back home to Germany, and the novel takes off. Celeste and Martin surreptitiously hide notes for each other behind the cistern in the toilet of the Au Cochon Tue bar, and secretly rendezvous in the woods. They have sex, but she’s troubled. Is he simply using her? Will she slip and betray information that will compromise lives? Can she ever truly love a man who serves, even reluctantly and indirectly, a Nazi evil which imprisons and tortures her brother? And what if she’s seen by someone in the village who mistakes her for a collaborator? Perrat lets Celeste explore her increasingly confused feelings with the reader as she deepens her involvement in the Resistance, Martin turns jealous and suspicious, and General Eisenhower successfully executes his monumental gamble at Normandy. Everyone in the village of Lucie-sur-Vionne now knows that the Germans will pull out. At this critical moment, with victory in sight, Celeste Roussel commits the mistake of her life. Perrat’s final chapters sing – taut, tense writing, clocked down by the minute, until the story reaches its horrific conclusion. Oddly enough, the author of this novel of Occupied France is Australian.Perrat, a nurse and midwife, met her husband on a bus in Bangkok, Thailand, but she’s lived in France for twenty years now. Her assimilation is complete. She tosses singularly French cuisine references into her tale – “tripe gratin, lamb’s foot salad and clafoutis moist with cherries.” She evokes south France in a simple phrase, describing “the scent of lavender, peppermint and thyme” that clings perpetually to maman’s apron. She uses all five senses in her writing. Early in the novel, Celeste goes skinny-dipping in the river, then dries herself on the bank in the summer sunshine. “It was so quiet I could hear the flutter of feathers in nests, the sound of pecking on bark, the fidgeting of insects in the grass.” For the lover of history, there’s ersatz café Petain; brushes with the Milice, the infamous French SS equivalent; and French Jews filling railroad cars bound for concentration camp. For the student of the French language there’s some choice slang. Madame A_____ taught me a lot of French that summer, but she didn’t deign to share vulgarisms. Perrat taught me a winner. Celeste’s brother Patrick confronts a village girl, cozy with a German soldier, who defends grandpa Petain and the Vichy collaborationists.“You’re nothing but a Nazi leche-cul,” he spits back. Love it! Just don’t tell Madame I’ve added it to my vocabulary
    • 5/5
      Wolfsangel by Liza Perrat is the second in the L'Auberge Des Anges historical series but can be read as a stand alone novel. The novel starts off with nineteen year old Céleste Roussel living in Lucie-sur-Vionne during the German occupation in the 1940's. Céleste lives with her mother and her brother. Her sister is a nun who lives in a convent and her father has been taken to work for the Germans.The writing is rich and descriptive and I felt transported as I read. Liza Perrat does a fantastic job at giving these characters a story. The plot kept taking twist and turns that I did not expect and I found myself not wanting to put this one down.Céleste is living in turbulent times, her mother is what they call an angel maker and a healer. She provides services, such as abortions, illegally to women in order to make ends meet and is in danger of being put to death if caught doing so. Céleste's brother is part of a group of rebels who are working against the Germans.In the midst of all of this drama, Céleste is in a relationship with a German officer, Martin Diehl. She does not know whether she can truly trust him or if he is just after information.As the story flows you see Céleste grow up, the war and love change her. She is a stronger person, she becomes a rebel and she is brave. She struggles with her feelings for Martin. Céleste feels like a traitor, falling in love with a German soldier, a Nazi in fact. She hears her friends, neighbors and family all talk about how they hate the Germans, she hates them too. The French women who date German officers are seen as traitors and loose women even. These German officers are everywhere, taking what they want from people and homes, disturbing lives and not caring.My single qualm about this one was that I would have liked to have seen Céleste and Martin's relationship develop just a bit more. Maybe it's because I was seeing it through Céleste's eyes that I really didn't get a feel for Martin and his actions. He does have a back story, but I wanted to know why he loved Céleste.There were some good scenes between the two, but the getting to that point is what I wanted to see.As noted by the author, Wolfsangel is based on real life events. The latter half of the story is a sad and shocking one, and I found myself teary eyed. Very moving and emotional. There is one sentence that made me misty eyed, "Our Good Friday angel ."Overall, this was a great read and one I'd recommend to fans of reading about this time period as well as to those looking to get swept up in a good historical.Many thanks to author Liza Perrat for providing me with a copy of her great novel. This will be making my favorite reads for 2014.disclaimer:This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any type of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers and authors, such as this one, I am under no obligation to write a positive review.
    • 5/5
      I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.A story about a woman’s journey to self discovery during a time of war, Wolfsangel by Liza Perrat, is a gripping tale based on real events. Showcasing both the highs and lows of human character, Ms. Perrat’s book is filled with well developed characters, plenty of action and heartfelt emotions. Set mostly in a small town in the French countryside, Wolfsangel is a book I won’t soon forget.Twenty years old during the summer of 1943, Céleste Roussel lives on her family’s farm in the outskirts of Lucie-sur-Vionne as the Germans begin their occupation of her city. While no one wants the Germans there, tolerating their presence, and occasionally getting the better of them in a financial transaction, is their only choice. When Céleste’s brother, and his childhood friends, become members of the resistance, Céleste realizes no one will be able to avoid choosing sides in the war. She just never planned on getting torn between her love for her friends and family and a young German officer. Ms. Perrat does an excellent job developing Céleste’s character throughout her story. Naïve and only trained to be a farmer’s wife, the war both gives, and at times forces, Céleste to learn a different way of life. Becoming involved in the resistance, due to the rest of her family’s involvement, Céleste also develops an attraction to a young German officer stationed in their town. While her head knows it’s wrong to be attracted to one of the invaders, this is the first adult relationship in her life and she also hopes to use it to gain information from the enemy.As the war continues around them, and Céleste becomes more deeply involved in the resistance, she’s exposed to the modern thoughts of a women being educated, treated as an equal to men, and is exposed to their willingness to put themselves in the line of danger to free their country from an enemy destroying everything they believe in. The secondary characters, of which there are quite a few, all play a part in Céleste’s education about both the war and about what it means to be a part of a changing society. As the Allied army begins its invasion and liberation of France, Céleste is exposed to even more of the war’s ugliness as the German’s are suddenly facing a new and determined enemy. Her escalating anger and actions, along with those of the other members of the local resistance, will have some lasting effects on her town. She’ll also have to make a final choice in regards to her forbidden love.Will Céleste and her family survive the war? Will Lucie-sur-Vionne manage to survive the German occupation? You’ll have to read Wolfsangel to find out, I really enjoyed it and consider this one of the best books I’ve read this year. In fact, I can quite easily see this book turned into a movie.