The hype on the cover of this book published suggested that this would be a memorable reading experience...it wasn't. To be sure, there were parts that I found well-written and engaging but overall, it was a disappointment and in places, barely credible. Charlotte Gray moves from the Scottish Highlands to London in early 1942 to take a job as a receptionist for a doctor. Upon meeting others involved in the war effort, she decides that she should do something as well. On the train to London, she had met a couple of men, one of whom gave her a phone number to call if she wanted to do something...well, geez, it's a chance to become a British agent in occupied France, aiding another agent whose French is not good and dropping off some radio crystals..one wonders whether those involved in this spying thing would be giving away phone numbers to strangers on a train.Prior to parachuting into France, Char meets "the man of her dreams" Peter Gregory, fighter pilot turned "spy" who disappears on a flight made to France, the purpose of which he declines to share with her. Resourceful girl that she is, she decides to stop following orders and look for her pilot. When she finds that his contact has not seen him, she ends up just staying in the village where she first landed, becoming housekeeper for the aging father of her Resistance contact. She seems to just be doing whatever she wants there, placing others at risk.It seems like she just telephones for a cab when she returns to Britain and no one seems to be upset that she has just gone off on her own. Perhaps because she brings back information about the French round-ups of Jews and what is likely happening to them in the East. I looked at the dates outlined in the book respecting the general round-ups of Jews in the "Free Zone" but it appears that during the fall and winter of 1943, very few Jews were rounded up and sent to first, Drancy, a camp in France and then off to Auschwitz. The deportation of several thousand children from Drancy happened in 1942 according to what I have found. It seems that the fall/winter of 1943 was a pretty slow time for deportations. Ok, perhaps I am being too picky but with the other incredible happenings, the stupid and unnecessary sub-plot respecting Charlotte's relationship with her fatherThe book was released in 1998 and I simply refuse to believe that the quality of the books written then was so bad that one reviewer of another of his books would write "He is the best novelist of his generation" [Allan Massie in The Scotsman]. If you were stuck with this book as your only reading material, it would pass the time but I wouldn't bother otherwise.
Even though I greatly enjoyed the majority of this ‘British lass battles the Nazis in France’ novel, I have to say that – after turning the final page – I’m somewhat disappointed. It’s a really good book and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone who wanted an incredibly well written tale of recent history. But still, it’s far from perfect and I’ll confess that, as I was working my way into it over the first hundred pages or so, there were moments when I was tempted to just hurl it against a wall and give up the whole thing as a bad lot.The main problem, certainly in the opening sections, is Charlotte Gray herself. The character we’re introduced to (as opposed to the one she develops into) is like a wet weekend – a kind of mournful and dour presence that you wish would just go away. It’s never great when a reader wants the central character – and the title character, to boot – to just sod off! Her fairly joyless presence even has the odd effect of making the London sections at the beginning of this novel seem flat and less than convincing – particularly strange as Faulks actually lives in this city. Once Charlotte is flown across enemy lines, however, the novel picks up tremendously. The French sections are brilliantly done: combining an unflinching view of life during wartime and the worst of what man is capable of; with a more positive recognition of individual courage and camaraderie in the face of seemingly overwhelming force. On the other side of The Channel, Charlotte herself becomes a more dynamic character and the book goes with her, creating a tale which brings out passion, outrage and suspense, but never dips far into melodrama.Unfortunately that isn’t sustained right to the finish line, as the ending is somewhat flabby and inconsequential. So what I really like about this book is the middle, and that’s fine. I’ve read other tales of wartime derring-do that don’t manage as much in their entire length as Faulks does in the middle of ‘Charlotte Gray’. So, it’s a book I have reservations about, but one that I – for the most part – thoroughly enjoyed.
What do You think about Charlotte Gray (2000)?
I had high hopes for this book, because I absolutely loved Birdsong, but I found it left me rather unmoved. It's written in what seems, to me at least, to be a curiously detached style and it didn't seem to really penetrate beneath the surface of the characters. Even amidst the danger of Occupied France, SS officers on trains, children being sent to concentration camps, the collaboration and resistance of the French, I never really cared very much about what happened to the characters. The one part that did affect me, the two young boys being sent to the gas chambers, was less about the specific fate of those two characters and more about the actual fate of the children who really were killed in the Holocaust. So, a disappointment, I would say.
—Caroline
I had mixed feelings about this book. It shares many similarities with Birdsong, lovers, war, etc etc. The language is gorgeous, Faulks writes in a way that really engages the you. You feel as though you really know Charlotte, you almost feel what she feels. For me it felt as if all that was missing from this novel was a good story. For huge sections of the novel nothing happens at all. Faulks has seemed to have just focused on the travelling between places and writing out many conversations in which Charlotte describes, and in my view, exaggerates her love for Gregory. She seems to view love as one person exploiting another through a wound. Read into that what you will. And I guess one could agree with her. Charlotte is a strange character, at points in the book she seems very wise and strong willed, and at others almost infantile. I think beneath it all she is still a child and seeks from Gregory the love that was never/rarely bestowed on her as a child. That's another thing I dislike about this book, it's transparency. The ending is obvious from the moment you open the book. All the other components(everything but the story) however, were perfect. If you read this expecting another Birdsong, you will probably, like me, be disappointed.
—Jessica Ariwa
Okay, Sebastian Faulk is now my latest favorite author. This one is about WWII, and it's every bit as great as Birdsong. There were a couple of places where I felt he was rushing, as a writer, and a couple of other places where I thought the character motivation was a bit weak. But overall, it is more satisfying than Birdsong. He even has a few minor characters from Birdsong that make a brief appearance near the end. This book gives you a whole new perspective on French relationships with both Britain and the US, although it never really explains why they hated us so much. I had not realized that many segments of the French population actually felt a lot closer to the Germans than to us. The book also shows you the terrific difference between war-time Britain and France. Another fascinating element is the underlying French resentment of Jews, which I did not previously know about. In other words -- a story you can't put down, where you not only identify with interesting characters, but learn more about a facet of history we rarely hear discussed.
—Alesa
