I kind of fell into reading Chevalier books because I started listening to them on tape when I drive. They have descriptive language that superimposes well on top of hours and hours of interstate. I also like having fictional stories superimposed on top of real works of art.
Which is where I get hung up on The Virgin Blue. As far as I can tell, there is no actual work of art that it is based on. It's more like Chevalier went, "Wouldn't it be great if there were this faded painting of The Virgin in an old church in the right geographic location? THen I couldn write this story I have in my head!" WHich is fine, but not what I was expecting, and hoestly, I was let down without it it. I can read romantic claptrap a variety of other places; I don't want to get suckered into it under the guise of Art or Learning and then find out it wasn't there at all.
But I will be reading more Chevalier. Only, I'll check to be sure it's based on an actual painting. I want to be sure our relationship has a mutual understanding next time. ( )

Apparently her first book, which I didnt realise.[return][return]Think I preferred the modern day story line, possibly because my 16th century French/Swiss Religious history is a little lacking, and I didnt get all the references to "The Truth" and didnt appreciate how different this religion was from being a Catholic.[return][return]There is some french written here, mainly in speech. Rarely translated word-for-word, people with basic French (me: "C" grade O-level, 1986!) dont suffer too much as there's plenty of context around - I have read reviews where the level of french is complained at, probably written by people who've never bothered to learn any french ever. ( )

Chevalier's writing is amateurish, plodding, awkward; I'm amazed this book got published. ( )

Tracy Chevalier is a wonderful writeer. She kept me turning pages despite the fact that this is not a period that really interests me. Believable characters, though the circumstances got quite mystical. I wasn't sure how Ella learned all the specifics of Isabella"s story (unless through her dreams). ( )

This is the fourth Chevalier book I've read. Because it's her first novel it was interesting to see how her style and formula started and all the trademarks are there, if somewhat muddled. I have to say that I never managed to get into the book. I couldnt get past all those coincidences, the main one being that Tournier is a rather common surname in France and tracking ancestors might have taken a bit more work than what is described in the story. I must confess that as a rule I should keep away from anglo-saxon novels describing 'life in France', because they largely get it wrong and the cliches they carry irritate me! I also found Ella a flimsy character and the modern story of the book is really what lets it down. The 16th century story was a bit more together but didn't really go with enough depth in the huguenot history and situation to my taste. All in all not the best Chevalier but it hasn't put me off reading her books and I'll be tracking the 2-3 I haven't read. ( )