Blogging for Books: Avenue of Spies

Have I mentioned how much I love summer break?

One of the best things about summer vacation is that I have SO much more time to read.

Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage, and One American Family's Heroic Resistance in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Alex Kershaw

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I received a copy of this book for free from Blogging for Books. All opinions are my own.

As I began reading, I immediately enjoyed that while this book is nonfiction, it reads like a novel.

After getting further into the book I found that it was confusing at time with many names and how they were connected to each other in order to be influential. There were times that I had to reread paragraphs or pages in order to piece things together. The sentence structure awkward at times, and I needer to reread to figure out what the author was stating. I think this occurred because Kershaw felt the need to explain people, places, or clarify French or German phrases. Sometimes, it was slow going because of the numerous French and German names of people and places. While important to tell the story, it took time to work out the pronunciation!

Nearing the end of the story, things began to really move me. It's easy to forget that Jewish people were not the only ones targeted during WWII. People who resisted the Nazis and many others were put to death in the most cruel ways. While I do wish the story would have focused more on the Jacksons and less on other details, in the end, I think it all came together to tell a remarkable story of one family's remarkable bravery in terrible times.

If you enjoy history or WWII stories, I would recommend this book.



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