Book Review: The Ambassador’s Daughter by Pam Jenoff + Giveaway

The Ambassador’s Daughter by Pam Jenoff
ARC, Paperback, 336 pages
Harlequin MIRA
January 29, 2013
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Historical fiction

Source: Received from publicist for review and tour

“Paris, 1919.The world's leaders have gathered to rebuild from the ashes of the Great War. But for one woman, the City of Light harbors dark secrets and dangerous liaisons, for which many could pay dearly.

Brought to the peace conference by her father, a German diplomat, Margot Rosenthal initially resents being trapped in the congested French capital, where she is still looked upon as the enemy. But as she contemplates returning to Berlin and a life with Stefan, the wounded fiancé she hardly knows anymore, she decides that being in Paris is not so bad after all.

Bored and torn between duty and the desire to be free, Margot strikes up unlikely alliances: with Krysia, an accomplished musician with radical acquaintances and a secret to protect; and with Georg, the handsome, damaged naval officer who gives Margot a job—and also a reason to question everything she thought she knew about where her true loyalties should lie.

Against the backdrop of one of the most significant events of the century, a delicate web of lies obscures the line between the casualties of war and of the heart, making trust a luxury that no one can afford.”

Prior to reading this book I had heard of Jenoff’s previous books, The Kommandant’s Girl and The Diplomat’s Wife, however I had not read them or known much about them. I certainly did not know that The Ambassador’s Daughter was a prequel to the above mentioned books [I realized this about ¾ of the way through the book when I visited the author’s website]. However, after reading this novel, I will likely be picking up the rest of her novels.

The setting of this book was a time period which I had never read about and did not know much about from my history classes. Most of my knowledge tends to actually revolve around the World Wars themselves and missing the time period in between. This book takes place across approximately a year during the negotiations of peace following the end of WWI. There is an intensity regarding the fate of Germany that permeates the novel. The very beginning of the book was a little slow to build and drawn out – however once we got past introductions it picked up the pace. Just when you thought you knew where it was going the novel changed direction; I really didn’t see the twists coming.

The main characters are Margot, the daughter of a German ambassador, and Georg a German military officer who is a part of the German delegation in Paris for the conference. I found Margot to be frustrating at times because of her naivety but I LOVED Georg from the start and all the way through. There were times that this book made me want to cry and other times when I just wanted to scream at Margot for being blind or not speaking up when she should. I found it difficult to be sympathetic to Margot’s plight regarding her fiancé and choices that she had to make because I didn’t feel like I got enough information about him early on to really care.

Author Pam Jenoff also has written the following books: The Kommandant’s Girl, The Diplomat’s Wife, The Things We Cherished, Almost Home, and A Hidden Affair. You can visit Jenoff’s website for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Ladybug Storytime
• To Read or Not To Read

Here are some choices for purchasing the book: Amazon, B&N, RJ Julia (my fav indie bookstore).

Now for the giveaway – I have one copy to giveaway to a US or Canada resident.  Giveaway will be open until February 24th.  Entries accepted through the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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