Chateau of Secrets: A Novel Paperback – May 13, 2014

It has been a long time since I stayed up past midnight to read, or kept a book on my kitchen table to read as I prepared a meal. Chateau of Secrets is such a book. I carried it everywhere with me till I finished it.Melanie Dobson tells the story of Gisele Duchant, a 22 year old daughter of an aristocrat, who risks her life to save others during the German occupation of the French town of Saint-Lo. Her efforts to resist are complicated by the takeover of her Chateau for use as German Headquarters. The tunnels beneath the property are used as conduits for resistance fighters, putting Gisele's safety in further jeopardy.The author also tells a parallel story in alternate chapters of the book. Chloe Sauver goes to France after a failed engagement to a womanizing politician whose only interest in her is to further his political aspirations. Her one week stay is extended after meeting Riley Holtz, who is conducting interviews to shed light on the plight of Jewish soldiers in the German army. Realizing that Riley's research is somehow linked to her grandmother's experiences during the war, she stays and solves a puzzle that has tortured her grandmother for 70 years.This story is loosley based on the experiences and exploits of a French noblewoman, Genevieve Josephe de Saint Pern Menke. As a young woman, Genevieve was a Red Cross driver, who rescued allied airmen and others in harm's way during the war. The book is very well researched, but does not read like a history book, for which I was truly thankful.Not only is the story engaging, but the writing is excellent. Melanie Dobson is a very gifted suspense writer. Each chapter in the book is a gem, ending in a sentence or question that foreshadows or leads into the next part of the story. The chapters are short but full of detailed and relevant information contributing to the development of the story. There is no rambling or failure to tie loose ends in this book. I also liked how Melanie alternated between the present and the past with each chapter, thus creating a natural cliffhanger between each section of her narrative.Told from a Catholic perspective, this is a worthy contribution to the Christian fiction genre. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

This is a heart-rending, thought-provoking story. The author perfectly weaves the stories of present-day Chloe and her grandmother Gisele's past into an unforgettable historical tale of the German occupation of France during WWII. It is well-written, thoughtful, and God-honoring, based loosely on the real-life story of a woman who risked her life to rescue Jewish orphans. Lovely!

-This is a most interesting fictional story about a young woman, Chloe Sauver, whose grandparents emigrated from France to the United States after World War II. Her family owned a large chateau and surrounding lands for generations, and continued to hold on to it even now. Her father, Michael, was able to become financially successful, as was her mother. Though both parents were enmeshed in the businesses they set up, Chloe was more interested in a simpler career. But a young man who was rising in the political world, Austin Vale, had met her and the two became engaged.-Chloe was asked by a documentary journalist to go to France for a week, for a story he was putting together that involved her family. She was reluctant to go, especially because she was to be married in 9 weeks, and also, Austin was running for governor of Virginia, and there was a lot to do in his campaign. Austin, though, realized that it might be good for his campaign for Chloe to find out more about her family, since her family had a regal background, and he convinced her that it would be good for her to go.-Flight arrangements were made, and on the evening when Chloe was flying in to New York in order to catch a connecting flight to France, Austin also flew into New York for a fund raiser. As luck would have it, Chloe got to her flight on time, but her flight was cancelled to the next evening, giving her time to go into the city and surprise Austin. She did surprise Austin, but she received an even bigger surprise herself, as she caught Austin in a hotel room with a former flame.-Chloe left to France, and told Austin it was all over.-At the same time that this is happening, we are introduced to a young Giselle, Chloe’s grandmother, in the time period right after France had fallen to the Germans. She was living in the chateau that belonged to her family and, after the fall of Paris to the Germans, was planning on escaping to the south of France with her cousin. They got separated, because of the advancing German troops. Giselle ended up going back to the chateau only to find that her father had been killed.-We continue to follow the stories of both Chloe, who is trying to find out more about her grandmother in the current time, as well as what Giselle had to go through, with the Germans entering the town that she was in, and taking over the chateau. Chloe knew that her grandparents, along with Michel, Giselle’s brother, were in the resistance against the Germans, and that Michel died in the fighting, but there were so many other secrets that were soon to come out.-Fortunately, someone who was a friend of Giselle was still alive and living near the chateau, but she refused to speak to both Giselle and to the reporter that’s filming the story. Giselle, though, in the current time, is suffering from dementia, and was unable to relate her history, but she keeps on crying out to make sure that Adeline is all right. But the name is no one that anyone in her family remembers.-The reporter reveals to Chloe that his true subject of the documentary was to highlight Jews who were in the German army, and it was in this chateau that a German Jewish officer saved the life of his grandfather. This adds a completely new twist on how this all fits into Chloe’s family history but the parts slowly fall into place as information from both the past and present come to light.-Following Giselle’s story as it’s happening in the early 1940’s, while at the same time, watching Chloe make discoveries which shed light on those events was very interesting. Although the writing was not as tight, with the suspense that other writers are able to convey, the story line and its development was very well done. What hit me most was in the author’s notes where she revealed that the character of Giselle was based on an actual extraordinary woman who stood up to the Germans and saved countless lives. The author also discovered that the German army contained over 150,000 Jews and/or half Jews, who were forced to fight on the side of Hitler.

What a tumultuous read! I had dreams about this book! Chateau of Secrets captivated me that much! Exceptional writing and an intricate plot consumed me. The story goes back and forth between Gisele's life in German occupied France and her granddaughter's experiences in present day. The way the author weaves their stories back and forth, slowly meshing the pieces together as we head to a crescendo of a climax -- well, breathtaking doesn't begin to describe the kind of read this is. Honestly, I'm gobsmacked.A masterful tale that includes a different spin on the World War II theme. An emotion filled, complicated story that, while painful at times, is ultimately uplifting. Dobson has done a tremendous job of capturing the courageous spirit of some incredible people. She turns despair into hope and breathes new life into a timeless tale of sacrifice. A book that truly honors the heroes of our past.

Gostei de ler, mas não gostei tanto duas histórias em um, cada capítulo mudando delugar, mas valeu a pena,pois gosto de ler histórias sobre a guerra.Eduardo

An excellent book with a lovely twist at the end. Highly recommend

What a truly wonderful story, well written, message of the Gospel, kept me up just reading it

V plsd