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Thursday, February 7, 2013

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

The Ambassador's Daughter

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:

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

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

19 comments:

  1. That is a beautiful cover! I haven't read much firm this period either, but this book looks like a good one to start with.

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    1. I too like the cover, but I liked the cover on the ARC a little bit better. I didn't even realize that they were different covers for quite some time!

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  2. Looks like a great book! Its not a time period in history that I know a lot about, but this looks like a great place to start.

    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  3. I'm with you not really knowing much about the time period between the wars. I've really enjoyed the other books by this author so I'm going to give this one a try, as well.

    Thanks for the giveaway!

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    1. Glad to hear that you enjoyed other books by the author - I haven't had the chance to read any but I would like to.

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  4. My daughter would love to have this book, thank you for the chance to win a copy for her.

    wfnren(at)aol(dot)com

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  5. The time period really interests me.I'm anticipating the twists and that I'll connect with the characters. The author is new to me and would like to try her book. Thank you for the chance :)

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  6. I'd never heard of this author but I like the premise of this story. thanks for the giveaway.

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  7. This looks like a book that would be a good one to read. Thank you for the chance to win

    griperang at embarqmail dot com

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  8. would love to read The Ambassador's Daughter!!! thank you for the giveaway!!

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  9. Thanks for the giveaway! I love historical books like this and I love the look of that cover.

    mestith@gmail.com

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  10. This books sounds fantastic! I love books set in Europe!!!

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  11. I really liked the other two Jenoff books that I have read, and I have this one, but it was only a few days ago that I realised that she had moved to a WWI setting instead of her usual WWII setting!

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  12. This sounds like a lovely read, I've had a lot of friends recommend Pam Jenoff to me. I haven't read much from this time period but it looks wonderful. Lovely review!

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  13. I've recently become aware of this author, Pam Jenoff.

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  14. This book looks fabulous, and the cover makes my think it will be a scrumptious read. Thank you for having the giveaway!!
    ~Tiff
    kohlert(at)mail(dot)gvsu(dot)edu

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  15. I never really thought about it, but like you the books I read tend to focus on during the wars instead of between WWI and WWII. I would love to read this to get a better sense of the feelings and attitudes of the people during this time. And as you said, the cover is beautiful :). Thanks for the chance to win a copy!
    candc320@gmail.com

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    1. When you think about it, it is sort of important to know what happened in between to make the actual war experience well rounded in our understanding.

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Thanks for leaving your comments! I love reading them and try to reply to all!