Thursday, March 26, 2015

Gracianna - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

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I have barely started reading Gracianna by Trini Amador, but I think I'm going to enjoy this story. It takes place in Paris in the early 1940s as the Germans are occupying France. 

Book Beginning (Prologue):
     Odds are I was the only four-year-old to have ever freely fumbled a loaded German Luger.
     I was barely able to lift it. How could I know it was a real gun?

The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle). I haven't reached this point in the story.
He could never tell Gracianna how badly she had been beaten.Just like that, Constance was going to be "s'en va [going away]," the term used for the many who were sent to the camps.

Genre: Family Saga / Historical Fiction 
   Length: 301 Pages
   Amazon Link: Gracianna

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     The gripping story of Gracianna--a French-Basque girl forced to make impossible decisions after being recruited into the French Resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris.
     Gracianna is inspired by true events in the life of Trini Amador's great-grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. As an adult, Amador was haunted by the vivid memory of finding a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering his great-grandmother's home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time, but the memory remained and he knew he had to explore the story behind the gun.
     Decades later, Amador would delve into the remarkable odyssey of his Gracianna's past, a road that led him to an incredible surprise. In Gracianna, Amador weaves fact and fiction to tell his great-grandmother's story.
     Gracianna bravely sets off to Paris in the early 1940s--on her way to America, she hopes--but is soon swept into the escalation of the war and the Nazi occupation of Paris. After chilling life-and-death struggles, she discovers that her missing sister has surfaced as a laborer in Auschwitz. When she finds an opportunity to fight back against the Nazis to try to free her sister, she takes it--even if it means using lethal force.
     As Amador tells the imagined story of how his great-grandmother risked it all, he delivers richly drawn characters and a heart-wrenching page-turner that readers won't soon forget.
 

                 

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25 comments:

  1. This sounds like a powerful and captivating story. Thanks for sharing, Sandy. I hope you have a great w.end.

    Here's my meme for this week - Here is the link for this week@s meme, Best Friends…Forever? (Landry’s True Colors Series).

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  2. The Basques in WWII are not as well known as the Resistance fighters in the cities. Interesting to have a Basque girl in the city. This sounds like something I would enjoy.
    Thanks for visiting.

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    1. The author goes into a lot of detail about the Basque culture. It's fascinating, so far.

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  3. This sounds like an intense read.

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  4. Based on the beginning Gracianna sounds like it could be an interesting read. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  5. Sounds like a captivating story. Hope you enjoy it.

    My Friday post: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2015/03/friday-focus-friday-56-book-beginnings_27.html

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  6. This sounds like an enticing story that reveals much that I haven't known before...about some of those victimized during the German Occupation in France.

    Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: “THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY”

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    1. So far, the story is told from a different perspective. I'm enjoying it.

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  7. I'm immediately drawn to the time period. Sounds like a very interest story about trying to piece together the past.

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    1. I like the fact that the story is based on the author's family history.

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  8. Sounds like a compelling story!

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  9. Wow, sounds like a powerful story!
    My F56: http://onceuntold.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-friday-56-dead-of-winter.html
    New follower.

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  10. Hi Sandra,

    This sounds like a very powerful story and one which might make for difficult reading in some parts, as none of us really likes to face the reality of actions taken in times of war and conflict, and the long term consequences of those words and deeds. Your selection from 'Words 56' is particularly telling.

    Thanks for sharing and have a good weekend.

    Yvonne

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  11. Ah books like these almost make me cry. I love that it's a journey back to the past to find a story. Thanks for sharing!

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  12. I love books set during WWII, you have totally drawn me in and I may have to add it to my TBR

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  13. This sounds like an intense but interesting read. I love books set in the World War 2 period and this sounds like an unusual one. Hope you enjoy it!

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  14. Oh dear, that opening implies forthcoming disaster. The story sounds intense.I hope you enjoy it.

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  15. Sounds like a heart-wrencher!
    Happy weekend!

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  16. Sounds like it is going to be a sad book. I somethings think I have reached my saturation point with Nazi Germany books then ones like this come along...

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  17. This sounds very emotional. I love books written in this era. To be 4 years old and fumbling a weapon. I wonder how she got a hold of it.

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  18. I read this book and loved it.

    Will be looking forward to your thoughts on it.

    Isn't the cover awesome?

    ENJOY!!

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Book Beginnings

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  19. Great pick I don't read a lot of histroical fiction but this book looks and sounds very intresting!

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  20. I always seem to enjoy narratives that are set in Europe and this one looks inviting; I love the cover art too; so dramatic :)

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