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    The Lost Carousel of Provence
    The Lost Carousel of Provence
    The Lost Carousel of Provence
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Lost Carousel of Provence

    Written by Juliet Blackwell

    Narrated by Xe Sands

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An artist lost to history, a family abandoned to its secrets, and the woman whose search for meaning unearths it all in a sweeping and expressive story from the New York Times bestselling author of Letters from Paris.

    Long, lonely years have passed for the crumbling Château Clement, nestled well beyond the rolling lavender fields and popular tourist attractions of Provence. Once a bustling and dignified ancestral estate, now all that remains is the château's gruff, elderly owner and the softly whispered secrets of generations buried and forgotten.

    But time has a way of exposing history's dark stains, and when American photographer Cady Drake finds herself drawn to the château and its antique carousel, she longs to explore the relic's shadowy origins beyond the small scope of her freelance assignment. As Cady digs deeper into the past, unearthing century-old photographs of the Clement carousel and its creators, she might be the one person who can bring the past to light and reunite a family torn apart.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 18, 2018
    ISBN9781977380715
    The Lost Carousel of Provence

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    Reviews for The Lost Carousel of Provence

    4/5

    41 ratings8 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher (Berkley Books) in exchange for an honest review. This was such a charming and quaint story!The book started off a bit slow. It took a while for the story to actually take shape and for the historical parts to start making sense (the book has dual storylines, one historical and the other contemporary). But once the main character, Cady, went to France, the story really took off and from there it was magnifique!I loved the way the author described France, particularly the small village Cady visited and the chateau she stayed at. From the scenery to the food to the carousel, she made it sound so enchanting and beautiful. I wish I was actually there! I also loved the little nods to the Bay Area. The author is from the San Francisco Bay Area (like me) and the main character is from Oakland. Anytime Cady would mention something about Oakland, I’d always think to myself, yup that’s so true. As for the characters, I loved them all, especially Fabrice, the owner of the chateau. He was such a mystery and I enjoyed unraveling his past. Overall, this is the perfect historical fiction and contemporary read for anyone who wants to spend time in a chateau in the French countryside.
    • 5/5
      I found this book captivating. I'll be reading more of this author's books!
    • 5/5
      I have loved carousels since my very first ride as a child, always choosing a jumper (moving) horse. The lights, the music, the colors, the animals, the pace of the ride, and waving to my father at the turn of each cycle blended for a ride of joy and enchantment. In adulthood, I have often wondered how a solitary carousel horse came to be available in an antique store window. With those thoughts, the title of the novel, and knowing the exquisite care of research that Juliet Blackwell blends with her creativity, I knew I would quickly become mesmerized by the pages.Cady Anne Drake, a photographer in Oakland, California, is presented with the opportunity to travel to France and photograph Parisian carousels for a coffee table book by a small press publisher specializing in this niche market. Encouraged by friend Olivia Gray to take the opportunity for the change of scenery, Cady is hesitant as decisions are difficult after the loss of Maxine Caroline Clark. Maxine was the woman who meant everything to Cady, becoming her world at the very time Cady desperately needed someone to care.Past and present are easily identified as notations at the beginning of each chapter, designate the year or Present Day, location, and speaker that will illuminate Cady's experience in France and the history that led to her current discoveries. It is a story of family by choice, family by blood, friendship, and love. Interwoven is the history and magic of carousels as we glimpse them in an earlier period of origin and simultaneously learn of the attitude of the time toward women regardless of their ability and proven talent to work outside the home at a "man's craft" in a "man's world." Book clubs will appreciate the Questions for Discussion at the novel's end.
    • 4/5
      I've always enjoyed Juliet Blackwell's cozy mysteries, so once she started writing these stand-alone, general contemporary fiction stories, all set in France, I've made sure to pick them up. I'm not sure this is going to be helpful to anyone but myself, but - and maybe because I don't read a lot of general fiction - I find these stories kind of weird. Apparently, I'm a little genre-dependent because I'm never sure what the point of the story is. I mean, I do; personal journeys, growth, blah, blah, blah, but I'm hard-wired to look for dead bodies, I guess. Plus, the author uses multiple timelines and POVs in the France books, a device that generally drives me nuts. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the story though; I did. Blackwell captures France and I enjoyed the 'mystery' behind the carousel figure and the box inside. I might have liked the secondary characters more than the main character, Cady, but chalk that up to personal tastes, as in, mine don't run towards broken characters. As in the previous 2 stand-alones set in France, the romance is iffy, if non-existent. This is a good thing; if Blackwell has a weakness, it's writing romance with any sexual spark (except the Witchcraft series, where the romance was very sparky). There is a love interest here, and characters are getting lucky, but it's mostly an afterthought, with only an implied possibility of a HEA. So, after all that rambling, I'll just say: it's a good book. It's a quiet, well-built, interesting story that I enjoyed escaping into for a few hours on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
    • 4/5
      I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher (Berkley Books) in exchange for an honest review. This was such a charming and quaint story!The book started off a bit slow. It took a while for the story to actually take shape and for the historical parts to start making sense (the book has dual storylines, one historical and the other contemporary). But once the main character, Cady, went to France, the story really took off and from there it was magnifique!I loved the way the author described France, particularly the small village Cady visited and the chateau she stayed at. From the scenery to the food to the carousel, she made it sound so enchanting and beautiful. I wish I was actually there! I also loved the little nods to the Bay Area. The author is from the San Francisco Bay Area (like me) and the main character is from Oakland. Anytime Cady would mention something about Oakland, I’d always think to myself, yup that’s so true. As for the characters, I loved them all, especially Fabrice, the owner of the chateau. He was such a mystery and I enjoyed unraveling his past. Overall, this is the perfect historical fiction and contemporary read for anyone who wants to spend time in a chateau in the French countryside.
    • 4/5
      Orphan Cady Drake grew up in Oakland, in foster care and group homes, until, finally, stealing something from an antiques shop, or trying to, throws her into the path of Maxine, the antique store owner. Now Maxine has died, Cady has lost her unborn, accidental baby to a miscarriage, and even finding new photography assignments seems too much.

      Her only other friend, Olivia, is unwilling to leave it at that, though. Cady has an antique carousel rabbit Maxine gave her, believed to have been made by French sculptor and carousel maker, Gustave Bayol. Cady is fascinated by its past and by carousels, and suggests she go to France to photograph French carousels for a book on the history of carousels in France. And as it happens, she's already pitched the idea to a publisher her magazine works with. It's approved; Cady just has to agree.

      Cady is not initially enthusiastic, in part because she finds coping with people challenging in the best of circumstances, never mind in a foreign country where she knows no one, and her mastery of the language is imperfect. But she has no other plans, and has to do something...

      Her travels in France lead her to an architect whose family, early in the 20th century, bought their own carousel from Gustave Bayol. Then World War I, the aftermath of the war, the Depression, and World War II, seriously damaged the family's fortunes. Chateau Clement is in serious disrepair, occupied only by one old man, Fabrice Clement, grandson of the couple who bought the carousel. There's a huge rift between Fabrice and the descendants of his great-uncle, who think his grandmother was unfaithful, his father was illegitimate, and that they should have inherited the chateau.

      And there's also the question of what happened to the carousel, which no one has seen in a very long time.

      Jean-Paul, the architect, is a descendant of the other side of the family. He'd like to mend the rift, but Fabrice is distrustful. Cady, more than anyone in the Clement clan, understands Fabrice's distrust--and unexpectedly connects with him.

      But there are several family mysteries, the mystery of Cady's own carousel rabbit, a troubled teenager, and the tricky shoals of damaged people trying to connect. I like Cady, I like Jean-Paul, I like Fabrice. None of them are easy people.

      And interwoven with all this, we get glimpses of Cady's troubled childhood, and the life of a young woman from Bretagne, who, in 1900, defies custom to travel to the town of Angers on her own to seek to use the carving skills her father taught her to become an apprentice in Bayol's carousel factory. The stories all matter, and they are all compelling. People connect despite differences.

      I really enjoyed this book. Recommended.

      I received a free electronic galley from the publisher via NetGalley.
    • 4/5
      Juliet Blackwell tells the story of Cady, present time, and the 1900’s in France using a dual timeline format. While it can sometimes get confusing which time you are reading, Juliet does an amazing job keeping the two storylines separate while weaving them together a little bit at a time. I liked finding out how Gus, the carousel rabbit, Cady, and the Clements would all come together. I wasn’t surprised at how it all ended up but I did enjoy seeing how it all worked out. Usually, I find myself connecting to a certain character or a certain storyline but with this one I was thrilled with the descriptions and the characters of the 1900’s. I am also curious about wartime living and many of the characters were active in the war efforts. The present storyline was just as amazing. The food Cady ate, the towns she visited, the carousels she photographed, and the people she met were alive to me. I could taste, see, and enjoy all that she did. I really enjoyed The Lost Carousel of Provence. I learned about the making of carousels and all the tedious precision work that goes into their making. There was enough fact that I felt informed but not overwhelmed with facts that I didn’t need or want to know. Pick up your own copy and travel to Paris, visit the carousels, eat the food, and meet the wonderful characters.
    • 4/5
      I love reading historical fiction and I love books that are set in France so this book was a perfect read for me. I have seen several of the carousels in Paris that the author mentions but I guess it's time for another trip to Paris to see the rest (don't I wish!)This is a dual time line story. The early story takes place in Avignon in the early 1900s where a carousel is being built at a chateau for a wealthy French couple. In the group who is assembling the carousel is a female apprentice who longs to be a carver but makes a mistake that could ruin her plans and her life. In the modern day story, Cady is an orphan from San Francisco who is at odds with her life until she gets a commission to take photos of the carousels in Paris for a book. She owns a piece of an old carousel and wants to find out more about it which takes her to the chateau where the carousel was located in the early 1900s. Fire and world wars have taken their toll on the original carousel but Cady is determined to find out more about it.I enjoyed this novel and both of the stories that were intertwined throughout and loved the way that they author tied them together at the end. If you enjoy historical fiction, you don't want to miss this book.Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.