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Storyline
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Narration
Midnight on the Marne
Historical Fiction
Macmillan Audio, Forge Books
August 9, 2022
Audiobook, Kindle, Hardcover
368
Set during the heroism and heartbreak of World War I, and in an occupied France in an alternative timeline, Sarah Adlakha’s Midnight on the Marne explores the responsibilities love lays on us and the rippling impact of our choices. France, 1918. Nurse Marcelle Marchand has important secrets to keep. Her role as a spy has made her both feared and revered, but it has also put her in extreme danger from the approaching German army. American soldier George Mountcastle feels an instant connection to the young nurse. But in times of war, love must wait. Soon, George and his best friend Philip are fighting for their lives during the Second Battle of the Marne, where George prevents Philip from a daring act that might have won the battle at the cost of his own life. On the run from a victorious Germany, George and Marcelle begin a new life with Philip and Marcelle’s twin sister, Rosalie, in a brutally occupied France. Together, this self-made family navigates oppression, near starvation, and unfathomable loss, finding love and joy in unexpected moments. Years pass, and tragedy strikes, sending George on a course that could change the past and rewrite history. Playing with time is a tricky thing. If he chooses to alter history, he will surely change his own future―and perhaps not for the better.
I am a huge fan of historical fiction. I love anything set far enough in the past that it feels like a whole different world. Sometimes I just want to experience something different without it being completely fiction. I generally am all about regency, WW1, WW2, or really just anything historical, so when this book got handed to me, I was really excited to see what it was about.
A Quick Overview
We start with Marcelle, old and gray, and not able to remember if a version of her life is true or not. She clearly has some secrets, but how much of this man’s story could be true? As her daughter reads her this diary sent to her by an American man, we are taken through her tragic life during WW1. It seems like the story just keeps getting more and more tragic as things go on, but Marcelle and her little family keep pushing through. There is an obvious theme of “what if’s” throughout the novel, which is pretty much the whole point. At some point in the story, something happens that allows George a chance to change the past. The book description even says that the story “explores the responsibilities love lays on us and the rippling impact of our choices.”
My Main Thought
I think that a novel with a deeper meaning can go one of two ways. It is either really cool, or it just misses the mark a little. The idea that our decisions can have a rippling effect isn’t groundbreaking, but it is a really cool concept to form a whole novel around. However, I was kind of frustrated with this ending. A huge chunk of this story was focused on one path that Marcelle and George took, but when George gets a chance to fix things, everything the story had already set up completely fell apart. It felt like I had just sat through an entire book for no reason.
Loved the Story, Hated the Ending
It is safe to say that most of us have likely run into this issue. It isn’t the first time for me, and it certainly isn’t the last. I thought this book was extremely well written, interesting, and certainly unique. I just wish it had a more satisfying ending. I just cannot shake this feeling that I got attached to all of these characters, felt all of this heartbreak, and listened to multiple hours of a book just for none of it to mean anything, because the story changed at the last minute. I think this is definitely the kind of book you will either absolutely love, or it will leave you questioning things. Either way, I would still recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction!
Narration
This book was narrated by Saskia Maaleveld and John Pirhalla. I though both narrators did a pretty good job, but I just want to know who decided to have each narrator read in American accents, have them say French places or names in French accents, and use a French or German accent when the characters are meant to be speaking that language. I get that it was third person narration, but it felt really odd that the accents kept shifting. It pulled me out of the story at times since I kept trying to figure out why someone thought that was a good plan, instead of having Marcelle’s story told in a French accent and George’s in an American accent. Even with it being third person narration, I think it would have been less odd.
