It’s time for another Weekend Read post and today my guest is Angela Barton author of the powerful historical romance novel, Arlette’s Story. Grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and we’ll find out a bit more about the book and get chatting to Angela.

Blurb

When Arlette Blaise sees a German plane fly over the family farm in 1940, she’s comforted by the fact that the occupying forces are far away in the north. Surely the stranglehold of war wouldn’t reach her family in the idyllic French countryside, close to the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane?

But when her brother leaves to join the Resistance and the Gestapo set up their headquarters in a nearby manor house, Arlette realises that her family’s peaceful existence might be gone for good. Arlette’s confusion intensifies by the arrival of Saul Epstein – a young Jewish medical student who’s been forbidden from training by the Nazis.

When autumn arrives with the smell of wood smoke and ripe-honeyed fruit, Arlette is forced to make decisions that brings the danger she feared, right to her doorstep…

Buy Link: Amazon

Welcome to my blog, Angela. Can you tell us what inspired you to write this book?

Huge thanks, Karen, for inviting me on your blog, to tell you about Arlette’s Story.

I was in inspired to write Arlette’s Story after visiting the ‘martyred village’ of Oradour-sur-Glane, in France. Towards the end of World War 2, in June 1944, a convoy of German Waffen – SS soldiers attacked the small town. Only six villagers out of 642 survived. The village still stands as a memorial to those who lost their lives that day: houses are open to the elements, cooking pots, iron bed frames, sewing machines and picture frames continue to rust and decay over the decades  – all ghostly images of family life and a once thriving village.

I was so deeply moved by my visit that I felt compelled to help keep the memory alive and was desperate write a story from a survivor’s viewpoint. I had to create an innocent and ordinary protagonist because I was going to place some terrible obstacles in front of her and she needed to grow in character, resilience and bravery. So I created Arlette, a twenty-year-old young woman who lives with her brother and father on their family farm.

Readers will walk in step with my heroine, Arlette, along a path of love, danger, anger, desire and hatred. The reader will travel back to the war years of 1940s France, where they’ll discover little known truths of what really happened in that peaceful village in June 1944. They’ll discover what led a naïve farm girl to bury the body of a member of the Gestapo in the vegetable plot in the still hours of night. They’ll meet Arlette’s friends, fall in love with Saul, fear her enemy and stand beside her in the church at Oradour at the exact moment the Germans pushed open the doors and committed an act that French officials to this very day are trying to ensure is never forgotten.

Arlette’s Story isn’t solely a story about war. For several years Arlette feels its reverberations but she also builds friendships, laughs, falls in love, enjoys family life, experiences adventures and lives her life positively despite challenges placed in her way. That is until the day she helps her grandmother into the family’s horse and trap and takes her back to Oradour-sur-Glane …

What a fascinating story, Angela. Thank you for dropping by today to talk to us, and for providing those amazing photos. Wishing you lots of success with your book.

Meet Angela

Author bio

Angela Barton was born in London, grew up in Nottingham and has three young adult children. She is passionate about writing both contemporary and historical fiction and loves time spent researching for her novels, three of which are with Joffe Books. Angela is currently writing her sixth book.

In addition to writing, Angela works for the NHS and relaxes by making ink Lino prints, reading and baking. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and a reader for their New Writers’ Scheme. Angela is also a member of Nottingham Writers’ Studio, the Society of Authors and Ampersand fiction critique group.

Contact links

My website: www.angelabarton.net

Facebook page: Author – Angela Barton  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573818380168

Instagram author posts: Ange Barton