Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

 When American Ella Turner moves with her husband to Lisle-sur-Tarn, a small town in southwestern France, she hopes to qualify to practice as a midwife as well as to start a family of her own. Instead she is disrupted by less-than-idyllic village life and strange dreams of the color blue. Haunted by sleepless nights, bewildered by her unwelcoming neighbors, Ella tries to forge a bond with her new home by investigating her French ancestors, with the help of seductive librarian Jean-Paul. Ella’s research takes her to the Cévennes, isolated mountains in the south and the birthplace of the Tournier/Turner family.

16th-century peasant Isabelle du Moulin, known as La Rousse for her red hair, is suspected of witchcraft and tormented for her association with the Virgin Mary even after she and the rest of the village have converted to the “Truth” – the new Protestantism as preached by Calvin’s ministers. When she becomes pregnant, she has no choice but to marry into the powerful Tournier family. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew in Paris sends waves of persecution throughout France, and the Tourniers are forced to flee their home near Le Pont de Montvert for a new life in the Swiss town of Moutier. Old ways follow them there, however, and Isabelle's final shocking fate lies undiscovered — until Ella Turner's arrival four centuries later…
(http://www.tchevalier.com/thevirginblue/story/index.html)

Two paragraphs above pretty sum it up…:)

Virgin Blue is about two women, Ella and Isabelle, who come from different century.  This kind of story is not unusual. Summerhouse and Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux and Ghost by Danielle Steel have quite the same concept, but The Virgin Blue offers more than romantic-easy-to-read story.  It was emotional and well-told.  You can feel the sadness and depression of the main characters.  Ella faced an ugly cultural shock after she moved to France and pressure to have a child of her own while Isabelle must countered religious conflict, unstable political condition in 16th century France, and deep hardship caused by living in a family full of hatred.  From the two tangled stories of Ella and Isabelle, I found Isabelle’s story was more compelling. Her ‘simple faith’ to Virgin Mary, the religious/ mystical power which seemed present only in old times, and the tale about The Huguenot put vivid descriptions for the story.

You, Men from Mars, might not like this novel, but probably if you want to try something new... The story was not dragging at all, no over description, no over-romantic scene (like something you can find in Twilight Saga), and the ending was not cliché.

You can find the book online (please, no piracy) or you can buy it from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or Abe Book. The price starts from $0.01 for used book and $1.00 for the new one (shipping cost and tax excluded).  I think they have the audiobook too.


Happy reading, Fella!
Nidya