The French Kitchen

By: Kristy Cambron

Dakota County Library paperback 362 pages plus author's note and acknowledgments

Published: 2025

Genre: Historical fiction, WWII

 

I won't be able to attend our book club discussion tonight (3.30.2026), but I'd probably be a bit of a wet blanket anyhow. I didn't enjoy reading this book. There were too many time jumps (both in year and in which month of the year) and those made it challenging to follow the story line. There were also too many double identities. I made a cheat sheet . . . and there may be spoilers in this entry. There were positive aspects to the story as well; I just didn't care for this book. 

 

The one theme I did appreciate is "don't look back" and the notion of moving forward into the future rather than living in the past.

 

I did, however, make lots of notes. Because of course I did.

 

Page 18: Decisions - their weight had the ability to sink or save the heart. Trouble was, you never knew which road you'd chosen at the beginning. 

 

Sometimes we weigh decisions carefully and other times we just choose. But each decision we make has impact and Gavin realizes this. 

 

Page 19: A lump formed in her throat and she fought against it, battling to do the thing she'd always been best at - pushing emotion out of the equation until all that was left was the comforting strength of resilience.  

 

This is definitely not me! Stuffing my emotions is not something I'd be accused of doing. Kat is such a strong woman and her strength comes partly from her own resilience. It kind of bothered me that Cambron didn't incorporate faithfulness into this book.

 

Page 58 - the December 1951 scene where Leo / Xandré is presented as Mimi's husband and Kat / Celeste is blown away. This was where my cheat sheet really helped me. It was a bit convoluted, but all my questions were answered by the end of the book. Sadly, it was a bit too late for me.

 

Page 71: She recognized it with every blitz bomb and bullet and beautiful soul they'd wiped from the earth, without justification or certainly without mercy. 

 

I loved Manon! Her heart for innocent people's suffering and her careful threading of resistance while cooking for the German officers was amazing.

 

Page  73: She was struck by what she hadn't felt for so long in their war-torn world, save for when working alongside Valens: unyielding kindness. 

 

Kindness is powerful! I loved that Manon fell in love with Dominique / Gavin. For some reason, I kept forgetting that Valens was her father-in-law and not just a nice old male co-worker. I loved that I recognized so many of the cooking terms from all the time I've spent watching The Great British Baking Show!

 

Page 112: Before he even realized what he'd just revealed, the spark hit touch paper, and Kat rose with a fierceness that cut him to the core. 

 

WHAT DOES THIS SAY? Read this sentence carefully. I did - about twelve times. Is "touch paper" a thing? Did the spark hit or touch the paper? I just did not understand this at all. 

 

Page 125 - August 1943 - Kat is taken for torture as a . . . test? Thrown in a trunk, water boarded, . . . Jeffrey / still in the US! This seemed very out of place, but the scene does show her incredible strength and ability to be an OSS agent.

 

Page 154 - We finally learn why Kat has the scar on her shoulder! She was pierced by a tree limb when she parachuted out of the plane hit before it got to their actual drop point . . . That had been bugging me. There were lots of references to it in the first 150 pages and I guessed it had happened during the war. I finally found out how she got the scar, but now I'm wondering why it was so significant.

 

Page 225 - Gavin. Is Dominique. He and Kat meet in the town near the chateau. Seriously? The biggest driver of the story is Kat wanting to find out what happened to her brother during the war and she just runs into him in town?

 

Page 278 - It was always the hint of something beautiful next to brokenness with him. 

 

There were a lot of places where beauty and brokenness co-existed. The fact that this was in reference to Gavin / Dom made me wish we had learned more of his story (as we learn of Kat's). 

 

Page 338-340 - Kat finding Gavin and Manon. WHY?! The author explains why they were in hiding, but don't tell me they couldn't have found a way to communicate they were alive to their family members within the seven years following the war. This just bothered me a lot.

 

The book just didn't resonate for me. But I liked the food parts! There were lots of codes, secret identities, etc. and I generally like mystery type stories. 

 

 

 

 

 

The British Booksellers

by Kristy Cambron

Dakota County Library paperback 356 pages plus author's notes

Published: 2024

Genre: adult historical fiction

I enjoyed this book, but was not blown away. I'm a bit surprised that this was chosen for our book club because it's not a Christian book at all. 

 

Main characters Charlotte and Amos are star-crossed lovers. She is an aristocrat and he is a farmer's son. She loves to play cello. He has dreams of owning a book store one day. They share a love of books and have cute little quibbles over Austen vs. Scott. She is destined to marry Will, a wealthy and titled young man.

Moving between the start of WWI and the Blitz of WWII, I'm glad the author kept each of those timelines moving forward (I kept checking the date listed at the start of each section to make sure my brain was following the correct storyline.) There was actually a little part at the start of the story that took place in 1908. Amos was one of my favorite characters.

Glossary: "Ha=ha wall: A low wall with a ditch just in front of it, keeping grazing animals out of more formal gardens while maintaining a view of the surrounding landscape."

I laughed to put a post-it note before the story even began! An Enola Holmes story I read recently mentioned a "Ha-ha wall," and I just thought it was weird and a made-up thing. I was so surprised to see it listed in the glossary of this book! I should give Nancy Springer more credit. To be fair, I listened to it as an audiobook, but still . . . 

Page 78: "The customary invitation for tea had set Charlotte and Mother off to Holt Manor again. Will sometimes appeared in the grand marble entry - and had that day - greeting them with a kiss to his mother's cheek and a wink to Charlotte."

I don't know why the wording of this bothered me so much! I read it at least four times and that disrupted the flow of the story. I had to make sure he kissed HIS mother's cheek and not Charlotte's mother's cheek. Did he completely ignore Charlotte's mother? He greeted his mother and Charlotte and said nothing to the other guest? This stopped my brain a bit.

Page 89: "'Perhaps days like this are exactly why we have books in the world. To remember that not all is lost, even if we find ourselves in the unknown. I like to think we provide a haven for the wanderer. And help him remember he has a place to call home.'"

I share Charlotte's love of books, but I think I'm with Eden in being surprised that she'd go to open a book store right after a bombing event. Charlotte's response to her daughter's expression of concern is great, however.

 

Page 158: "'We all can use a reminder from time to time that what we see and hear each week inside this cathedral is what people are actually living outside these walls. Benevolence, compassion, and love - bombs will never silence them when we put those virtues into action.'"

Yes, Provost Howard! Preach it! Live out the Word of God.

Page 211: "'You carry an emergency book?'" . . . "'Books were as necessary to us as oxygen.'"

I love when Jacob is in the air raid shelter with Eden and he remarks on her emergency supplies! And Eden's response is a version of "of course we do!"

Page 239: " ' Wayfarers and wanderers, and Coventry storytellers of old . . . we bring you The British Booksellers.' Like it? It's our new bulletin name - for all of us."

Okay, first of all, I love finding where the title of the book is really revealed. I assumed the title just referred to Amos and Charlotte and their two book shops. But then I got to this scene and had an "aha" moment. Secondly, I ended up really liking the Land Girls a lot! They added so much to the story! Dale is speaking here. She is such a fun character!

Page 276: "'Then surely you must see whatever plagues us cannot be so bad to lock us away from each other forever. I would play again . . . if my heart had a reason. And I believe if you were to share what tortures yours, then we might meet in the center of this messy, broken world we live in. And find solace in that place. To be known - isn't that all anyone truly wants?'"

Charlotte is talking to Amos here. I just really like this concept. It's good for us to be in community and connection with one another.

Page 322: "'I am curious, Sergeant, why Captain Holt here would seek to save your life instead of his own.'"

There is so much going on in the scene with the snipers, Amos, Will, and Frank during WWI! When Will is speaking in German, it's hard to know what he is communicating. I was suspicious of him. When Frank (key player!) says this, I had to rethink my opinion of Will.

Page 339: "'Alone is a place the human heart was never meant to dwell.'"

Loneliness is hard. I'm so very thankful to have lots of people I love in my life! 

Page 351: "'An artist, I'm told. Goes by name of John Piper?'"

This made me smile! I'm no art historian, but I recognized the name. Then of course, I looked him up. Yep. Pretty famous guy! And I learned that he was especially known for his WWII Coventry paintings!

We had a good discussion of this title at book club. There is so much to like about this story, but we all agreed that it was pretty predictable.

The Ringmaster's Wife

by Kristy Cambron
Hennepin County Library paperback 340 pages
genre: Christian historical fiction

Based on real-life John and Mable Ringling and their protégés Colin Keary and Lady Rosamund Easling (fictional), this was a story set in the early 1900s in the circus world. I liked, but didn't love it. I wish I'd been at the book club discussion last week. The book is mostly about Mable and Rosamund and living your dream. It didn't resonate for me . . . and I'm not sure why. I didn't care deeply about any of the characters. I'm not sure if I can even pick a favorite. Perhaps Rosamund's dead brother Hendrik . . .

page 76 - "She'd always spoken from the heart with those whom she loved, and Sally was dear to her. . . . .  'And I certainly don't think that marrying for money is the same as marrying for love.'" Amen, Mable! Speak the truth in love; that's very Scriptural.

pages 156-7 The scene when Mable visits Sally in the hospital on her wedding day . . . that was beautiful. Probably my favorite scene in the entire book. I love when she described the day they met! "I was transfixed - an Ohio farm girl who walked into a Chicago club looking for a job, and instead was taken half-way round the world by a friend's gift of song."

page 226 - The warning bells went off for me like in a slasher movie when the music gets creepy! This was the highest point of suspense for me . . . and it fell flat. Bella coercing Rosamund to her tent with the costume story.

page 299 - "They all had one thing in common: faith that when one has no control, there is One who does. It was comforting that God had sent John Ringling at a time in her life when Mable had really needed him." This made me wonder about the line between fact and fiction. Were the Ringlings Christian? Did they have a strong faith in God?

page 330 - "It wasn't in the initial faith leap to chase a dream; rather, the magic was in the day-to-day living and breathing and choosing to be courageous when common sense told one otherwise." I like the idea that the daily life of a person says a lot more about them than bold, momentous decisions.

I hope I didn't ruin this book for anyone else. Sometimes titles just don't resonate for me . . . and I love hearing others' points of view! So sorry I missed book club.