About this item
Highlights
- At the reading of her beloved father's will, Kate, a divorced French professor, learns of his affaire de coeur during World War II with a French artist named Emilie, to whom he has left a substantial bequest.
- Author(s): Suzanne Trauth
- 296 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Literary
Description
About the Book
"At the reading of her beloved father's will, Kate, a divorced French professor, learns of his affaire de coeur during World War II with a French artist named Emilie, to whom he has left a substantial bequest. Kate, stunned to discover the existence of this woman who captivated her father, is determined to unravel the mystery of his past and unearth the truth. Though Emilie has passed away, her daughter Yvette sends a box of her mother's keepsakes from the war that are even more unnerving - among them a dried flower, a photograph, two smooth stones, and a train ticket. With the help of a long-hidden memoir Kate begins to see the significance of these items that create the picture of a father she thought she knew. Kate wonders about her parents' marriage. After the war had he abandoned passion for honor? Did he really love her mother, or was he compelled to marry her out of his sense of duty? How well did she really know her father? Or her mother? When more secrets are revealed in the final pages of the memoir, she embarks on a journey to the south of France to reconcile the past and confront her own demons, as well as the legacy of her father's wartime love affair and the price he paid to live an honorable life. Kate's life is changed forever..."--Book Synopsis
At the reading of her beloved father's will, Kate, a divorced French professor, learns of his affaire de coeur during World War II with a French artist named Emilie, to whom he has left a substantial bequest. Kate, stunned to discover the existence of this woman who captivated her father, is determined to unravel the mystery of his past and unearth the truth.
Though Emilie has passed away, her daughter Yvette sends a box of her mother's keepsakes from the war that are even more unnerving - among them a dried flower, a photograph, two smooth stones, and a train ticket. With the help of a long-hidden memoir Kate begins to see the significance of these items that create the picture of a father she thought she knew.
Kate wonders about her parents' marriage. After the war had he abandoned passion for honor? Did he really love her mother, or was he compelled to marry her out of his sense of duty? How well did she really know her father? Or her mother? When more secrets are revealed in the final pages of the memoir, she embarks on a journey to the south of France to reconcile the past and confront her own demons, as well as the legacy of her father's wartime love affair and the price he paid to live an honorable life.
Kate's life is changed forever...
Review Quotes
"Beautifully written and timely, What Remains of Love perfectly blends one family's history with today's times. A five-star book by Suzanne Trauth that gives deep insight into two generations and the depth of love and sacrifice made to honor a promise. Beautifully done." -- Books and Pens on Green Gables
"A wartime love affair between a young French girl and American soldier in the 1940s. The daughter of this American soldier who finds out about her father's long lost love after his passing. Secrets uncovered in an old diary and mementos of precious time spent. What Remains of Love is beautifully written in both past and present tense with descriptions of France in the 1940s and the effect the war had. Heartbreaking, eyeopening, and unputdownable, readers will cherish the words on each page as they follow the story through the eyes of Emelie and Kate." - Kristi Elizabeth, Manhattan Book Review
"Sifting through the effects of her recently deceased father, a woman uncovers the story of his long-ago wartime affair with a beautiful French woman. WHAT REMAINS OF LOVE begins as a family mystery but opens up into a heartfelt story of loves past but not forgotten, of the burden of being torn between passion and honorable commitment, of living with knowing you can't have what you most want. By turns sweet and bittersweet, a touching read. Keep the Kleenex close by." - Bill Mesce, Jr., Author Median Gray
"What Remains of Love by Suzanne Trauth is a riveting saga of grand passion during the French Resistance in World War II, and its repercussions, which reverberate through generations on both sides of the Atlantic. This is a beautifully told family story of love, mystery, and forgiveness in the face of necessary secrets and the amends that must be made, even beyond the grave. Can a child ever really know a parent? Can love transcend loss? Can lifelong sacrifice justify unintentional betrayal? And can the heart expand to include relationships long denied? Trauth tackles it all and more in this gripping, moving, and deeply satisfying novel. A must read!" -Roselee Blooston, award-winning author of Dying in Dubai, Trial by Family, and The Chocolate Jar and Other Stories