Book Review: Along the Infinite Sea

2016_July_InfiniteSeaI’ve already reviewed A Hundred Summers,  a book I enjoyed by author Beatriz Williams,                                   in an earlier post. You can see my earlier review here.

After having enjoyed Williams’ debut novel, I was happy to  (bad pun alert) dive back into another of her works with Along the Infinite Sea, a story of two women set in France and Germany of the 1930s and Florida in 1966.

The 1930s story line follows Annabelle, a young French-American woman, fresh out of convent school and thrown into the libertine world of her father’s raucous villa rental on the Riviera. She meets two very different men that summer: a handsome, wealthy German Jew, who is wanted by the Nazis, and a powerful Nazi General, a widower who falls in love with Annabelle.

We follow Annabelle’s complicated story through a backdrop of even more complicated times, as Europe descends into war.

Years later, we meet Annabelle again on the Florida coast in 1966, when she purchases a vintage car from Pepper Schuyler, a New York debutante who is hiding out to avoid questions about her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Inexplicably, Annabelle takes Pepper under her wing, and elements of her complex story and her eventual escape from war-torn Europe are slowly revealed.

This was a great summer read, with well-drawn characters and a sweeping plot and plenty of twists that kept me reading on to see what was happening. The historical story definitely kept my interest more that the 1960s story line and its protagonist, but I suppose it’s to be expected with one story that is more interesting and developed than the second story line.

An enjoyable read. Looking forward to more Beatriz Williams.

2 Comments

  1. evelyneholingue on July 22, 2016 at 5:21 pm

    Sounds like a good read, Kimberly. Happy reading summer to you.

  2. kimberlysullivan on July 25, 2016 at 6:40 pm

    Thanks, Evelyne! Yes, she has a nice writing style and it was an enjoyable read. A great reading summer to you, too. Partly in Maine, right? I’ll think of you on those wild, lovely shores.

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