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The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
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The Virgin Blue (original 1997; edition 2003)

by Tracy Chevalier

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3,546913,561 (3.51)126
Meet Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin-two women born centuries apart, yet tied together by a haunting family legacy. When Ella and her husband move to a small town in France, Ella hopes to brush up on her French, qualify to practice as a midwife, and start working on a family of her own. Village life turns out to be less idyllic than she expected, however, and a strange series of events propels her on a quest to uncover her family's French ancestry. As the novel unfolds-alternating between Ella's story and that of Isabelle du Moulin four hundred years earlier-a common thread emerges that pulls the lives of the two women together in a most mysterious way. Part detective story, part historical fiction, The Virgin Blue is a novel of passion and intrigue that compels readers to the very last page.… (more)
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Title:The Virgin Blue
Authors:Tracy Chevalier
Info:Plume (2003), Paperback, 320 pages
Collections:Your library
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The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier (1997)

  1. 11
    The Zahir by Paulo Coelho (clairecc)
  2. 01
    The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis (KayCliff)
    KayCliff: Both books feature the problems of late sixteenth-century Protestantism.
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» See also 126 mentions

English (85)  French (3)  Spanish (2)  Italian (1)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  All languages (92)
Showing 1-5 of 85 (next | show all)
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. ( )
  deliriumshelves | Jan 14, 2024 |
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. ( )
  nordie | Oct 14, 2023 |
Chevalier's writing is amateurish, plodding, awkward; I'm amazed this book got published. ( )
  lschiff | Sep 24, 2023 |
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). ( )
  njcur | Jun 20, 2023 |
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. ( )
  jean-sol | Mar 2, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 85 (next | show all)
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Tracy Chevalierprimary authorall editionscalculated
Ortelio, MassimoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
As yellow is always accompanied with light, so it may be said that blue still brings a principle of darkness with it. This colour has a peculiar and almost indescribable effect on the eye. As a hue it is powerful, but it is on the negative side, and in its highest purity is, as it were, a stimulating negation. Its appearance, then, is a kind of contradiction between excitement and repose.

Goethe, Theory of Colours
Translated by Charles Lock Eastlake
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For Jonathan
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She was called Isabelle, and when she was a small girl her hair changed colour in the time it takes a bird to call to its mate.
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He had to gather the materials secretly: the feather from a kestrel, its point cut and sharpened; the fragment of parchment stolen from a corner of one of the pages of the Bible; a dried mushroom that dissolved into black when mixed with water on a piece of slate.... Miraculously, he drew six marks to form ET.
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Meet Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin-two women born centuries apart, yet tied together by a haunting family legacy. When Ella and her husband move to a small town in France, Ella hopes to brush up on her French, qualify to practice as a midwife, and start working on a family of her own. Village life turns out to be less idyllic than she expected, however, and a strange series of events propels her on a quest to uncover her family's French ancestry. As the novel unfolds-alternating between Ella's story and that of Isabelle du Moulin four hundred years earlier-a common thread emerges that pulls the lives of the two women together in a most mysterious way. Part detective story, part historical fiction, The Virgin Blue is a novel of passion and intrigue that compels readers to the very last page.

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