I loved how she wove recent history with the distant past in this story about the French resistance in the Languedoc. I love books set during the Second World War, and I love books that have a parallel narrative, set in two different time periods – and so ‘Citadel’ ticks a lot of boxes for me. their hearts burn with passion, there is much gazing at the stars, there is a Jewish lover, who is, of course taken and so and so on. What she suffered through and how she supported others was a tribute to the many women who led the pack to protect their families, friends, and even strangers in their towns during the Nazi invasion of France in the 1930s and 1940s. She has a particular knack for creating vivid action scenes — the blood, debris and panic of a bomb attack, or a skirmish – but she describes with equal precision the small, daily hardships of life under occupation: the endless paperwork, the difficulties of communication, the twitching curtains next door.

This entry was posted in book reviews and tagged book review, books, Kate Mosse, Languedoc, World War Two on April 25, 2014 by sandradan1. After the protagonist is tortured, there is repeated reference to how she'll never have children as a result. Really this was a little below 4 - only because some of the characterisation got a little "box-ticking" towards the very end. Citadel is a deeply satisfying literary adventure, brimming with all the romance, treachery and cliffhangers you would expect from the genre. But once again I was drawn quickly into the tale and the location, which Mosse paints so beautifully with her words.Hij liet zijn blik over het place des Armes glijden naar de cathédrale Saint Michel, die oplichtte in de gouden avondzon.

Even though it is very heavy and hard to hold while reading in bed, ‘Citadel’ was a swift and pleasurable read. Sandrine, a spirited and courageous nineteen-year-old, finds herself drawn into a Resistance group in Carcassonne - codenamed 'Citadel' - made up of ordinary women who are prepared to risk everything for what is right.

Kate Mosse is the multimillion selling author of four works of nonfiction, three plays, one volume of short stories and six novels, including the New York Times bestselling Labyrinth and Sepulchre. I made myself finish it as a matter of principle, but really gained absolutely nothing from it except a slow sense of crippling ennui and a desire to stick pins in my own eyes on a regular basis (which I couldn't help but repeatedly roll after each ridiculous cliche that I read). The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. The street scenes, countryside, the romantic allure of France, transcended onto the pages of the story. He had no particular destination in mind, only that he had to find somewhere distinctive and sheltered, somewhere where the pattern of the ridges and crests might retain their shape for centuries to come… Forests might be cut down or burn or drowned when a river bursts its banks.

I really loved both ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Sepulchre’, which brought together elements of my favourite genres – history, suspense, romance, with a twist of the supernatural. The combination of harrowing wartime setting and the supernatural romance of the Codex can sometimes feel jarring – tales of Nazi brutality do not usually need mystic additions to make them convincing – and at 919 pages, Citadel is very long, but the story progresses rapidly and for the many fans of Mosse's Languedoc novels, it will be a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.I needn't have worried as I enjoyed it even more as an audiobook, especially as Finty Williams was a perfect narrator, really bringing this book and it's characters to life. I love how Kate Mosse can transport you back in time and really emmerse you in the French landacape. So as 'Citadel' was billed as the third in the series, I thought that having just read a series of fairly weighty literary poetry collections, I would delve into the third Mosse offering.