Description: There were seconds, when I woke, when the world felt unshrouded. Then memory returned.
When Jessica regains consciousness in a French hospital on the day after the Paris attacks, all she can think of is fleeing the site of the horror she survived. But Patrick, the steadfast friend who hasn't left her side, urges her to reconsider her decision. Worn down by his insistence, she reluctantly agrees to follow through with the trip they'd planned before the tragedy.
"The pages found you," Patrick whispered.
"Now you need to figure out what they're trying to say."
During a stop at a country flea market, Jessica finds a faded document concealed in an antique. As new friends help her to translate the archaic French, they uncover the story of Adeline Baillard, a young woman who lived centuries before--her faith condemned, her life endangered, her community decimated by the Huguenot persecution.
"I write for our descendants, for those who will not understand the cost of our survival."
Determined to learn the Baillard family's fate, Jessica retraces their flight from France to England, spurred on by a need she doesn't understand.
Could this stranger who lived three hundred years before hold the key to Jessica's survival?
My Thoughts: When I first started reading this book, I was not sure that I would like it. The pace was slow and somewhat wordy, and I was not a fan of Jessica's roommate, Vonda. However, one the Paris attacks took place, the slower pace felt like the only speed in which the story could possibly unfold as it allowed me to feel as though I was going through the process of recovery with her.
Antiquing is not something that I have a lot of time for, however it is an activity that I appreciate. Envisioning other peoples' lives and histories through the items they left behind can be cathartic. I could picture the shop where Jessica found her journal and the air of history that would have soothed her after everything she had been through.
Other than the prologue, this book did not contain any long passages from the journal Jessica found, nor did it jump back in time in order to tell two stories that intertwined. I appreciated this, as I feel that a story should always stick to one timeline (unless it is a timetravel novel), because one timeline is always more interesting than the other. Michèle manages to tell the story of Adeline Baillard, without it taking away from the story of Jessica.
I have provided an honest review after having received a copy of the book from the publisher.
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