Off the Wild Coast of Brittany, Juliet Blackwell
Off the Wild Coast of Brittany, Juliet Blackwell
2 Rating(s)
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Off the Wild Coast of Brittany

Author: Juliet Blackwell

Narrator: Hope Newhouse, Xe Sands

Unabridged: 12 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 03/09/2021


Synopsis

An unforgettable story of resilience and resistance set during WWII and present-day France on a secluded island off the coast of Brittany

Natalie Morgen made a name for herself with a memoir about overcoming her harsh childhood after finding a new life in Paris. After falling in love with a classically trained chef, they moved together to his ancestral home, a tiny fishing village off the coast of Brittany.

But then Francois-Xavier breaks things off with her without warning, leaving her flat broke and in the middle of renovating the guesthouse they planned to open for business. Natalie's already struggling when her sister, Alex, shows up unannounced. The sisters form an unlikely partnership to save the guesthouse, reluctantly admitting their secrets to each other as they begin to heal the scars of their shared past.

But the property harbors hidden stories of its own. During World War II, every man of fighting age on the island fled to England to join the Free French forces. The women and children were left on their own...until three hundred German troops took up residence, living side-by-side with the French women on the tiny island for the next several years.

When Natalie and Alex unearth an old cookbook in a hidden cupboard, they find handwritten recipes that reveal old secrets. With the help of locals, the Morgen sisters begin to unravel the relationship between Violette, a young islander whose family ran the guesthouse during WWII, and Rainier, a German military customs official with a devastating secret of his own.

About The Author

Juliet Blackwell is the pseudonym for the New York Times bestselling author of Letters from Paris and The Paris Key. In addition to writing the beloved Witchcraft Mystery series and the Haunted Home Renovation series, she also coauthored the Agatha Award-nominated Art Lover's Mystery series with her sister.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews on January 20, 2022

Sisters meeting on an isolated island off the coast of Brittany after not seeing each other for ten years is where we meet Alex and Natalie. Alex arrived unannounced and didn't tell her sister why. Natalie was restoring a beautiful home but had to stop because her boyfriend returned to France and wasn......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca on February 12, 2021

Oh my heavens, this book is going to leave you spinning, but wanting more! It was fabulously written, and you become invested in the characters, each unique personality bringing something to the story. I absolutely loved this one, and will be recommending this one out to read!......more

Goodreads review by Reads & on February 27, 2021

Off the Wild Coast of Brittany, by Juliet Blackwell, takes readers to a fictional island off the coast of Brittany, Ile de Feme, both in present day and during the occupation of France during World War 2. Told with three narrators, the book tells the story of three women, Natalie, Alex, and Violette......more

Goodreads review by Sue on May 19, 2021

Honestly, this book should've been about a hundred pages shorter. I was totally bored by the end. Also, the author kind of went off the rails in the end with the whole Nazi homosexual cross dresser plot twist and all the harping on global warming. Just didn't fit very well with the historical fictio......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on June 07, 2021

Natalie Morgen has written a book about overcoming her hard childhood growing up in a survivalist family and overcoming all of that. And it looks like she has the perfect life with her Prince Charming in Paris, who is a famous chef. Natalie and her fiance decide to move to his home growing up, and r......more


Quotes

Praise for The Vineyards of Champagne

"A beautifully captivating story of wartime tenacity and tenderness that celebrates the sweetest bonds of human relationships and the courage to love again after loss. So exquisitely rich in detail, you'll feel bubbles on your tongue."--Susan Meissner, bestselling author of The Last Year of the War

"Blackwell moves effortlessly between present-day France and the battlefields of WWI... The allure of the decades-old mystery of missing letters juxtaposed against the history of the caves of Champagne makes for a satisfying page-turner."--Publishers Weekly

"Blackwell's exquisite talent at interweaving the past with the present is on full display in her latest...telling the universal story of grief, loss, and human resilience."--Booklist

Praise for Juliet Blackwell


"Plan your trip to Provence now. In this meticulously researched novel, Juliet Blackwell deftly navigates three time periods, taking us from contemporary California to both the Belle Époque and Nazi-occupied France, as she spins a story as charming as an antique carousel."--Sally Koslow, author of Another Side of Paradise

"With crystalline imagery, vivid characters, and lively prose, Juliet Blackwell redefines what family means in a way that will touch readers long after they've read the last page....This novel should come with a warning: will cause enormous desire to travel to France."--Stephen P. Kiernan, author of The Baker's Secret

"Blackwell seamlessly incorporates details about art, cast making, and the City of Light...[and] especially stuns in the aftermath of the main story by unleashing a twist that is both a complete surprise and a point that expertly ties everything together."--Publishers Weekly

"Bestselling author Blackwell brings us another captivating tale from the City of Light."--Booklist

"A charming protagonist and a deep well of family secrets, all gorgeously set in the City of Light."--Michelle Gable, international bestselling author of I'll See You in Paris