Review ~ Ignorance by Michèle Roberts

January 22nd 2013 by Bloomsbury USA

Ignorance 

by

Michèle Roberts

Jeanne Nerin and Marie-Angèle Baudry grow up in the small French village of Ste Madeleine, where Marie-Angèle as the daughter of the local grocer thinks she is superior to her friend, Jeanne, whose mother, a Jewess, washes clothes for a living. However, the outbreak of WW2 will alter the dynamics, not just of the two girls, but also of the time in which they live.

This is not a story exclusively about war; it is rather more the story of the individual effects of war on a community and as both Jeanne and Marie- Angèle come of age in this troubled time, the consequences of their lives will impact greatly on those around them.

Beautifully descriptive, the detailed exploration of culpability, combined with the starkness of the prose lends an overwhelming seriousness to the narrative, which is as compelling as it is shocking.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury.