Product Description

In 1942, Charlotte Gray, a young Scottish woman, heads for Occupied France on a dual mission - officially, to run an apparently simple errand for a British special operations group and unofficially to search for her lover, an English airman missing in action.As the people in the small town of Lavaurette prepare to meet their terrible destiny, the harrowing truth of what took place in `the dark years' is finally revealed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2253 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Sebastian Faulks established his authority as a storyteller with his best-selling Birdsong. His next book, Charlotte Gray, a haunting story of love and war set in London and occupied France in 1942-3, is loosely a sequel. Charlotte is a highly educated young Scottish woman who falls passionately in love with an airman, Peter Gregory, emotionally scarred by his many close brushes with death. When he disappears on a mission to France, she follows him as a British secret courier, sent over to help support the Resistance. Having failed to find Gregory, she decides to stay on to do what she can for the France she has loved since childhood. She and the reader are drawn ever deeper into the lives of assimilated French Jews-- the children Andre and Jacob whose parents have already been sent to the death camps, and the Levades, father and son. Though ultimately powerless to help, Charlotte nevertheless learns a far deeper understanding of herself and her own family through them.

This is a book full of insight into the way civilisation can slip into barbarism. Its haunting themes of memory and passion stay with you long after you have finished reading. --Lisa Jardine

Daily Mail
`A brilliant, harrowing, powerful novel'

Independent on Sunday
`…deserves the highest praise…masterful narrative and zestful pen-portraits. A beautiful near-masterpiece'

Customer Reviews

Best book about WWII I have read
This is a terrific book - difficult to put down and a real literary achievement. It is fundamentally a romance set against a backdrop of war but is much more than that in reality.
Not an easy read in terms of its subject matter as it deals with the worst aspects of Nazi atrocities as well as the bravery, clever scheming and misguided realpolitick of the Allies.
Those in France involved with resisting the Reich are not forgotten, as are those who embraced the regime brought by their occupiers.
I cannot think of anything negative to say about it. It doesn't pull any punches in describing the ludicrous propaganda used by the Vichy government and rightly so.

The book is about love and how it drives people as much as "the horror the horror".

As good as Birdsong, maybe better.

Still haunts me on the second reading
I read first read this book in my late teens and it haunted me then and brought with it a greater appreciation for literature that has stayed with me ever since. I decided to re-read Charlotte Gray now in my mid twenties and wasn't sure about how I would feel upon re-reading it.
Happily, I was swept away again. Charlotte is a very likeable character and Faulks manages to evoke romance and passion without any sense of sentimentality. I loved the characters of Levade and Julien and felt that they bring an extra depth to the story, enabling us to see Charlotte's strengths and passions.
It is a book that may teach you more about history and breaks down the barriers of time. Often books are either about war, or about love but this one manages to combine both without overshadowing the plot.
I feel Faulks is a beautifully haunting and transporting writer and this book will remain in my list of favourites forever.

A moving book set in wartime France
Charlotte is a British spy sent into France in 1942, trained by the government to liaise with the resistance and pass messages. Secretly she is hoping to make contact with her lover, who has gone missing during a routine flight to France. She uses the resistance to try to establish his location and make contact.
This love story is contrasted with the backdrop of war - the brutal treatment of Jews by the Vichy government and many of the French characters. The destruction of property and human life is captured in text that fully portrays the grim reality. Focussing on two Jewish children brings home the awful consequences of genocide, and regularly brought tears to my eyes. The descriptions were so real that I could see my own children following those footsteps.
Maybe my slight criticism is that Charlotte's story and the Jewish stories don't seem to stick together. There is too much comment on French wartime behaviour for the novel to completely gel. But still a fine and moving read.