2024 Book Review #38: The Stolen Child

 

I enjoy reading the historical fiction genre and this new to me author didn't disappoint. What drew me was that it was partly set during or just after the Great War (WWI) and in 1973-1974 when I was a young teen. This is a work of fiction loosely based on some paintings by a woman in France that the author discovered at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris (I've been there and it's a great museum!!) and she got the idea of the "museum of tears" after reflecting on all the tears she has shed over the years, as well as discovering the Nativity shops in Naples, Italy. 

STORY SUMMARY

Nick Burns has been haunted for years by something he did....a decision he made...when he was an American soldier during World War I. A young, female French artisit whom he had befriended placed a few of her very small paintings and her newborn baby boy into his hands while he was in a trench next to her farm field.   She then disappeared and Nick has now been haunted by this memory for decades into the 1970s. 

Nick is now dying from cancer in 1974 and only has maybe a few months to live. He hires a recent college drop out named Jenny, to accompany him to Italy and France to try to find out what happened to the baby whom the French woman named Laurent.  Jenny is bored with her life. She had a baby out of wedlock after getting pregnant during the summer before college began, dropped out when she became noticably pregnant during her first semester, and put the baby up for adoption per her mother's demand. Now Jenny is only 19 and working a dead end waitressing job in her hometown in Rhode Island at International House of Pancakes (aka I-HOP). 

She longs for adventure so jumps at the opportunity to interview with Nick and accept the position as his personal asssistant. 

Their travels lead them through the art galleries of Paris and several provincial towns to a surprising place called the Museum of Tears in Naples, Italy. This museum is hte life work of an old man who is a lonely Italian craftsman. Enzo as he is known by, and his older brother Massimo create Nativities of all kinds with all kinds of characters, not just including the Holy Family. 

Jenny is determined to find the baby (well...now a senior citizen!) and discover what happened to the mother, Camille Chastain. 

While Nick and Jenny unravel some clues, they both must face regrets, betrayals, and the lives they've left behind. 

Will they find the baby now a man? and whatever happened to the French artist named Camille??

MY THOUGHTS

This was a delightful book. In fact, I had no idea that during WWI, soldiers would do art in the trenches.  This is a fact that the author discovered when researching for this story. I found it absolutely fascinating. 

Although this is a book of fiction, there are a few little true life facts thrown into the story.  An anecdote about Sophia Loren the actress when she was young. Some names of artists are fact. 

Character development and setting is exquisitely done in this story. Jenny is like a lost little girl even though she's 19. Nick is so sad and lonely missing his beloved wife Lillian, now deceased. I loved Enzo and correctly guessed some of what the plot was doing and where it was going. 

There's a bit of mystery to this book but more importantly this is a book about love lost and forgiveness. 

Another theme is "becoming the person you are meant to be" and a sort of "coming of age" story with the character Jenny. It's also about life and coming to the end of a life. (Nick). 

It's about taking chances and seeing how everything ties together eventually. 

It's about how a simple encounter with someone can change your life forever. This is basically the whole story in a nutshell. 

This story is heart warming and the characters will stick with you for a while. 

It's somewhat different from most historical fiction books I have read. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older. 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 10.