Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
573 pages
Synopsis
Near the end of World War II, seventeen-year-old Mireille de Jouarre flees the home of her stepfather, a Nazi collaborator and abusive drunk. She finds shelter with her childhood friend Stefan, and the two fall deeply in love. But as the fighting escalates, Mireille must escape alone to Paris, where she discovers she’s pregnant and lacking a way to provide for her child.
So begins her new life as l’Ange—the Angel. After an unlikely meeting with a wealthy aristocrat in a Parisian hotel—and her acceptance of his solicitation—Mireille becomes the most celebrated poule in all of France, eliciting huge fees and invitations to exclusive parties. At one of these events, Mireille meets Oliver Jordan, an American womanizer and film producer, and is soon launching a promising film career. As her star rises, Mireille is determined to bury her past. But her success isn’t as carefree and glittery as it seems, and when her daughter’s future is threatened, Mireille must make a deadly decision in a desperate attempt to finally choose her own path.
What Did I Think About the Story?
I initially decided to read and review Mireille based on its connection to WWII France. I am on a huge kick right now with WWII fiction, especially if it deals with resistance against the Nazi war machine. However, within Mireille the storyline dealing with the war is over relatively quickly. Did I find this to be a disappointment? Not at all! Mireille's struggle to survive against all odds had me hooked from the first page and when it left the war in the dust I was happy to go along on Mireille's compelling and heartbreaking story.
What Mireille had to endure throughout this novel is beyond comprehension and, at times, hard to read. From the get-go her life is in danger and she has to do unimaginable things just to stay alive and, once she has her daughter Stephanie, to keep her safe. Her beauty is her curse but it is her determination and quick thinking that allows her to find a way to use that beauty to make a life for herself until she is able to finally show the "real" Mireille to anyone, even those closest to her.
The author's character development is spot on. Not only is Mireille a compelling character but many other characters come to life and, for me, fought to take the spot of favorite. Mireille's friend Barbara won that distinction as a wonderfully hilarious character that shows Mireille the ropes of becoming a world-class prostitute and takes Mireille in when she has nowhere else to go. She also plays a huge part in Stephanie's life later on and her unique way of making light of the darkness they all live in was beyond endearing to me.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Oliver Jordan might be the most heinous character I have come across in a long time. He is a predatory psychopath that uses every person he comes into contact with, all with a diabolical charm that initially brings so many into his sick world. He blackmails, abuses and manipulates Mireille, and others, in every possible way until I, for one, couldn't imagine anything worse he could do. He ruins every part of Mireille's personal life, including her relationship with Stephanie as Mireille attempts to protect Stephanie from her past and Oliver Jordan's influence, and when her plans backfire the three of them become so wrapped up in a warped tangle that I could not imagine a different resolution than what the author presents. I won't give away what that is, but it was perfect to me given the situation!
One thing readers should note is that this novel has a lot of graphic sexual content and abuse. It might be hard to read but almost all of it I considered necessary and appropriate given the situations and characters presented. Mireille becomes a prostitute so this should be expected and the author does not shy away from thrusting the reader into that world in remarkably realistic ways. The worst of it involves Oliver Jordan but, again, I think most of it was required to show just what level of depraved individual we are dealing with and just how much danger he presents to Mireille and her daughter.
Mireille is what I like to affectionately call a "chunkster", weighing in at nearly 600 pages, but it reads much faster than I expected. It is a long, hard journey for the characters but the ending was quite satisfying and left me certain that happiness could be had, with honesty and a release of the past. I highly recommend this to those that can stomach a difficult stroll through the 20th century with a character who refuses to give up.
What Did I Think About the Cover?
I love it! Mireille's true love Stefan is a painter, so showing our blond-haired beauty in a painting is perfect. The Eiffel Tower of course gives us a sense of place and the colors are very inviting. Good job to the designer!
My Rating: 4.5/5.0
Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a free copy of Mireille in exchange for an honest review! Be sure to continue below for information on the author, the blog tour and where you can grab your own copy! Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a copy below as well!
About the Author
Molly Cochran is the author of more than twenty novels and nonfiction books, including the New 
Visit Molly at her website mollycochran.com.
Giveaway Time!!
For a chance to win your own copy of Mireille (US/Canada only) please enter your name and email address on the giveaway form HERE. Please be sure to enter your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner. You can receive extra entries for following me on various social media sites (links on the right hand side bar) just be sure to leave the name you follow under on the giveaway form (I check!). That's it! I will select a winner on June 29th and email the winner for their mailing address. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my email with their mailing address before I have to pick another winner.
Good luck everyone!
TLC Blog Tour Schedule for Mireille
Monday, June 8th: Patricia’s Wisdom
Tuesday, June 9th: The Book Binder’s Daughter
Tuesday, June 9th: Built By Story
Wednesday, June 10th: The Novel Life
Thursday, June 11th: Kahakai Kitchen
Monday, June 15th: Broken Teepee
Tuesday, June 16th: Life is Story
Wednesday, June 17th: 100 Pages a Day
Thursday, June 18th: Book Lovin’ Hippo
Friday, June 19th: Ageless Pages Reviews
Monday, June 22nd: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
Monday, June 22nd: From the TBR Pile
Monday, June 22nd: The World As I See It
Tuesday, June 23rd: A Literary Vacation
Wednesday, June 24th: Bell, Book & Candle
Thursday, June 25th: Savvy Verse & Wit
Friday, June 26th: Thoughts on This ‘n That
Monday, June 29th: The Avid Reader
Tuesday, June 30th: Life By Kristen
Buy the Book
I would love to read Mireille. Lately I too have been reading WWll fiction. But I love the theme here. Based on your excellent review I'd love to take the journey with Mireille to her HEA. Thank you for the giveaway chance.
ReplyDeleteCarol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com
You are very welcome Carol!!! If you get the chance to read it I hope you come back and let me know what you though!
DeleteI hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I've used a random number generator and the winner of a copy of Mireille is.....Kayla!! Congratulations Kayla!! I'll be sending you an email in just a minute and you'll have 48 hours to get back to me with your full mailing address.
ReplyDeleteI hope to have more giveaways coming soon or stay tuned :)!
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