The Space Between Words

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The Space Between Words
Michèle Phoenix 
Thomas Nelson

"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?

     As I've said before, contemporary fiction isn't usually my cup of tea. But there was something about the cover that drew me, and of course, I can never say no to a good historical mystery. I was especially interested in it because of the Huguenot aspect- a sizable Huguenot population fled to Charleston and established a church there, and I've actually been inside that very church for their annual French service.

     I was almost immediately captivated by this story, and I read through it faster than I thought I would. Jessica's story was interesting, but I was pulled in by wondering about Adeline. Like Jessica, I eagerly followed the rabbit trails of evidence leading towards the Baillard's ultimate fate.

     However, the book wasn't faultless. I wasn't enthralled by the child character (I don't mind children in novels, I just agree that they are tricky to pull off well) and some of the plot didn't quite pull together. While I thought the first half of the book was well-written and absorbing, the latter half stretched my credibility, and I didn't always completely buy the novel's presentation of a few of the relationships.

     In the end, though, while this novel stumbled in a few areas, it had much to offer as well, and I thought the author showed sensitivity an talent in portraying a tragedy so recent yet already fading from the public's memory.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 

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