Violins of Autumn Hardcover – June 19, 2012

WARNING! SPOILERS MAY FOLLOW!In 1944, a seventeen-years-old American girl living with her relatives in London named Betty becomes Adele Blanchard and parachutes into Nazi-held France. Part of the British operation helping the French Resistance, she is to become a courrier in Paris while her friend Denise is to become a radio operator. They are first taken in by a welcoming French woman and her less-welcoming son, Pierre. For reasons unknown to Adele, she feels the need to prove herself to Pierre and volunteers to spy on a nearby factory. Denise and Adele head to Paris, rescuing a downed American pilot named Robbie along the way. He and Adele bond but they get separated upon reaching Paris. Their safe house compromised, they scramble to find safe places to stay. Once these are secured, the girls get to work helping the Resistance while Robbie waits to be returned to his unit.First person present tense must be a growing fad in historical fiction. Once again, my usual complaints per my personal preference remain. But this one has an added on--the story starts with Adele being tortured by the Germans. So most of the story is technically in flashback, so it should be in past tense. Which would also help when we find out more about Adele's life as Betty. I know many rules aren't set in stone, but I wish changing tenses was one.Adele is a protagonist one can support, even if she wasn't our narrator. McAuley creates a portrayal of a young woman pretending to be older in a world that's all turned upside down. And she's trying not to die. I like how she's not immediately good at her job. She screws up her first drop. And she loses two bicycles. But she gets better and still manages to spy on the factory. She grows as an agent as D-Day approaches and develops a deep friendship with Denise as well as a relationship with Robbie. Along the way, she also manages to impress Pierre and he starts relying on her more. It makes you wonder how she ends up captured, but the reason is quite good and realistic.The other characters are interesting as well. Denise at some times was annoying. You wanted to take her, shake her and remind her: "This is war, damnit!" She seemed more interested in being in Paris, shopping and partying. But when she flips out on a German soldier at a nightclub, a new side emerges. We learn her fiance died fighting the war and she's determined to bring down the Nazis. As the danger grows more imminent, she's a good soldier even when the enemy tricks her. In a twist that probably did happen, she uses different ways to tell the SOE she's operating under duress but the SOE never picks up on it. They even remind her of the sercurity protocols rather than panic over the fact she didn't perform them. Denise is also a driving force at the end to save Adele, rounding up people who are trustworthy. She and Adele have a true friendship which is one of the best relationships in the book.I do not think I will ever be adding this to my "romance" shelf. It doesn't fit in with the definition of "romance" held by the RWA and the industry. Neither her relationship with Robbie nor hers with Pierre is central to the book. Neither has a happily ever after or even happily for now. Pierre is killed by Germans. Robbie is revealed to still be France and he visits Adele when she is busted from a German prison. But he still has to continue to fight and only promises to find Adele once the war is over. We do not see the end of the war so are not told if Robbie and Adele reunite. I personally would like to believe they do. Pierre was a distraction during the war. Two people facing possible death who found comfort in each other. Even Adele admits she prefers Robbie's company. And you can see the chemistry between them better.McAuley creates a good picture of Paris under occupation. She also writes the tension the city was under well.If it weren't for the present tense, I think this might have gotten 5 stars.

This book is a wonderful story of two young women who join in fight the to liberate Paris during WWII

Very inaccurate portrayal of SOE. agents activity in France. Although potentially an entertaining storyline. A rewrite would be in order.

loved it

Violins of Autumn mines the fertile literary ground of World War II, which has a seemingly limitless number of stories to be told. The plot of Violins of Autumn follows the work of a teenage female spy in the months leading up to D-Day. While I did enjoy this novel, the timing of my reading was bad. Unfortunately, Violins of Autumn came out on the heels of another novel about a young female spy for the Brits who is captured and tortured, Code Name Verity, and I could not help comparing the two, which weakened my experience of VoA.This novel begins, as so many do these days, with a brief into a climactic scene from the end of the novel. This technique has become exceedingly popular in YA fiction and, while it can and has been used to great effect in some cases, I maintain that it should be used sparingly. The right scene put at the beginning can create dramatic irony, keeping the reader on tenterhooks throughout the book to figure out what's going on or how the main character ended up in that situation. If this technique does not succeed, it comes off simply as a lame attempt to create additional drama, often having the adverse affect.The opening dramatic snippet of Violins of Autumn depicts Adele's torture by the Nazis. Adele (though her real name is Betty, I prefer her spy name for her and will refer to her that way), we now know will be captured at some point, and, based on the ending of that concluding section, possibly die. Wow, really, prologue? You mean a spy might be tortured or even die? Can this be true? This felt like such an unnecessary ploy, as I already expect that sort of stuff to happen in a novel about a spy and I felt less interested knowing what was coming than if I had been waiting to find out. Plus, Code Name Verity also opens with torture, and that made comparing the two even more inevitable.Where Violins of Autumn wins over Code Name Verity is readibility. The story is much less complicated, the characters simpler and it also doesn't make you want to weep for the rest of your life. For the reader that loved the idea of a teenage spy but could not get through Code Name Verity (and seriously no judgment for that since I nearly DNFed it too), Violins of Autumn is the book that you're looking for.McAulay keeps the plot moving along at a steady pace. Missions and danger and Nazis abound. All of the action kept me turning the pages. While I didn't particularly connect with the characters, nor did I dislike them. Adele is capable and skilled with language, so that was awesome. She avoided making stupid mistake and proved herself much cleverer than a lot of the other spies we see in the book, though she does struggle to do so well. However, I did not care for the love triangle, which resolved in an annoying way. Adele is one of those 'I love them both in different ways' girls, which I just cannot stand. With constant possibility of death, I am all for enjoying oneself, but attraction and fear do not love make.The ending of Violins of Autumn struck me as the weakest part of the book. I thought it too optimistic. In the chapters before the last two, some sad things happened: people died, torture, etc. Yet, in those last two concluding chapters the tone is one of unmitigated celebration. There is not one mention of the fallen comrades, and, while I don't think they should wallow, THIS JUST HAPPENED. I expected something a bit darker and more contemplative.Looking back on my review, I see how most of my comments are negative. I want to stress that this isn't a bad book; I did enjoy it. The timing was just off. Had there been a year or two gone since I read Code Name Verity, which covers the same basic concept, I would have appreciated this much more. So, if you've read CNV, give yourself some time.

I thought main character was so interesting and the story kept me engaged right until the last page! I love historical fiction now.