Review by Stacsads -- VieVie La Fontaine

[Stacsads]

[Following is a volunteer review of "VieVie La Fontaine" by Linda Heavner Gerald.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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In her author’s dedication, Linda Heavner Gerald tells us that her historical novel, VieVie La Fontaine, “is the fictional story of a French woman.” I would disagree. While VieVie is a central character, this book’s narrator is a young man named Mark. It is his story. The novel follows Mark, a German Jew, as he is sent from Berlin to France in 1933. As Hitler is rising in power, Mark’s parents send him to stay with General La Fontaine and his wife, VieVie. Paris is an exciting place for Mark. He can follow his passions, both with his art and with VieVie. As Hitler’s grasp reaches closer, and then into Paris, Mark struggles with enormous loss: loss of loved ones, loss of security and loss of self.

While I enjoyed the history in the story, it wasn’t so much intertwined as it was unloaded in chunks. At times the history lesson dragged on. However, the author did add many noteworthy facts. I found it interesting to learn that a used bicycle cost a month’s wages and that both art from the Louvre and stained glass from the Sainte-Chappelle were removed in fear of air raids.

I didn’t find any of the characters to have redeeming value, especially not Mark. As the protagonist, he should show growth and development. But basically, Mark is wishy-washy. He cries easily and often. He has no strength of character and I lost track of how many times he felt bad about something or thought he was going to be discovered and killed. When he gets a chance to stand up for another Jew, he is a coward. The author tries to make up for this by having Mark join the French Resistance, but through her style of writing, we never experience a Mark who redeems himself. We are told he joins the Resistance, but we never see him in action. He is a shallow character who vacillates between emotions, and he isn’t someone we can root for.

VieVie is another thin character. I couldn’t decide if she was a femme fatale, an insane person or a quintessential French lover. But I never saw her as the “Star of the Resistance.”

I didn’t feel the author had a good grasp of her characters. And her style of writing, which is predominantly to tell the reader everything the character is thinking and feeling, doesn’t lend itself to the reader having to use their own imagination at all. The reader doesn’t have to draw any conclusions since the author pours everything onto the page. In addition, I often felt the characters’ words and actions were inauthentic.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. While the novel didn’t have many spelling errors, it did lack professional editing. Too many sentences started with one word, usually an adverb, followed by a comma (ex. Already, or Again, or Unfairly,). There were punctuation errors and ill-formed sentences. The saving grace of the story was the author’s desire to honor those who suffered and died under Hitler’s regime. The story and characters had potential. They just needed a lot more fleshing out.

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VieVie La Fontaine
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