You either love it or you hate it.
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i wouldn't have picked this book of the shelf myself but it was at my apartment on holiday so i thought i'd give it a go, and, well it went everywhere with me, to the pool, car journeys, up mountains and picnics.
An AMAZING read. HOOKED on every page. It might be diffcult to get into but just relax into and you'll realise how good it really is.
One tip though, there are lots of characters and i did get confused, so i advise as you are going through and you meet a new character write down their name and a bit about them so you don't get too confused.
This is definately a MUST READ!!!
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I haven't been so gripped for a long time
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I had seen this book in the shops for months before I stumbled across it a discount bookshop and thought 'what the hell?' I started reading it that night and by the same time two days later I had read myself to exhaustion and had finished it.
The book centres around a mysterious Grail story, combining mythology and history, past and present, magic and reality, in a fantastically constructed plot which doesn't disappoint in terms of excitement, romance, description or its ability to shock and to move.
One half of the story takes place in modern-day France, in the Languedoc, where a girl called Alice stumbles across a mysterious cave with unexplained skeletons and a frightening aura. The other half moves back to medieval France, when religious turmoil and warring are threatening to devastate the land where Alais lives with her family and husband. As the story progresses the secret of the Grail and its relevance to the two women and the wider world becomes apparent.
By the end of the novel I had shaken with anticipation and suspense, laughed, sighed, and cried hysterically. It inspired me to find out more about the history of the Languedoc. There is also a new edition of the novel with photographic illustrations of locations and artefacts relevant to the narrative - which I bought too...
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My wife kept it and passed it on, great read
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My wife passed it on to daughters
great read they say - but when is it my turn?
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Kate Mosse - the Damien Hirst of the literary world.
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A minor miracle - I read it through to the end! From the start I couldn't believe the shallowness of the plot and the characters. Masochism seemed to kick in, by the 300+ page I was willing it to get worse and it did, oh boy it did. A `can't put down read' for all the wrong reasons. The end didn't disappoint, it was a confused mishmash of parallel story lines which never seemed to connect up.
Alice, the modern day heroine, is a complete airhead, although she is a doctor - of what I can't remember. If asked to put her head in the fire you would believe she would do so.
Alais the historical heroine finds a body in the river, scrambles back to the bank and we are told `Alais tried to stand, but her legs felt hollow and wouldn't hold her . . .' A rather Victorian view of what a woman does in a crisis - swoon. I think in the circumstances we'd expect Alais to be up and running with maximum power to the legs.
This is a 700 page novel which could have easily been cut by half; the characters and the plot tightened up and then it would have a chance of becoming a reasonable read. This is the last time I will be picking up any of her books.
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Amazing! Such a good read!!
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I can't belive there are so many bad reveiws on this book!!
The only books i have ever been interested in and actually ever read to the end was the Harry Potter books! So when i finished reading them i was looking for another book that was along similar lines..I brought this book 3 days before my holiday so i would have something to keep me occupied whilst i was sitting in the sun! I loved this book i couldn't put it down!! Everything is explained in so much detail that u actually have a picture of the scene in your head! As for the story line... I thought it was fabulous! I loved how it went from past to present every few chapters and thought it was really clever how they linked together aswell! I think its very cleverly and beautifully written!
I'd definatly recommened this book!
xxx
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