I’ll admit it’s been a few years since I read a book by Susan Wiggs, and I’m so glad I rediscovered her. When she was on a book tour in our area last month, I attended so I could listen to her and hopefully pick up a few tips on getting into the business. I also picked up a couple of her novels including Map of the Heart. I just finished it last night and I loved it!
Susan’s skill at storytelling is impressive. In Map of the Heart she seamlessly intertwines stories from two different generations. The first story surrounds Camille, an American photographer who specializes in developing old film. People come to her to salvage the images on long forgotten film in canisters found in attics or film found in old cameras. When Finn, a college history professor, comes to her about some personal film, Camille is instantly attracted to him, but she struggles with moving on after being widowed five years earlier. Her teenage daughter is also struggling with an overprotective mom and school bullies.
Meanwhile Camille’s father receives some old family film from France. The pictures lead Camille, her teenage daughter and Camille’s father to spend the summer in his hometown in France to research the parents he never knew. The lack of family resemblance in the photos make them question if his father truly was the tyrannical mayor, hated in the village because he was a Nazi collaborator during WWII, or if his father was someone totally unknown.
Finn, the history professor, returns to his teaching position in France. Along with his assistants, they help uncover the second storyline in the novel about Camille’s grandparents, Lisette and Didier. They learn that Lisette felt forced into marrying this Nazi collaborator, but she secretly helped the resistance. Is Camille’s father the son of Lisette and Didier as he had always believed? Or did an occupying Nazi soldier force himself on Lisette? Or is he the son of someone from the resistance or allied troops? Although revealing the past brings Camille and Finn closer together during their summer in France, what happens when she returns to America and he remains to teach in France?
I love these unique and yet relatable characters. Lisette’s story in a small worn-torn village occupied by Germans in WWII France was captivating. I’m not one to usually go for a war story, but this novel has such a nice balance of yesterday and today contrasting the problems faced by people in WWII versus now. The author in me kept thinking about the amount of research on WWII and France Susan must have done for this novel. Because of all the French cultural details, I wonder if she has a French background. Even though I don’t speak any French and know very little about France, the French words and traditions she included added interest and flavor.
I would recommend this book and I will definitely read more by this author. The newest book by Susan Wiggs is The Oysterville Sewing Circle which tackles the topic of domestic violence. Susan says it isn’t about sewing. It’s about a support group for women who have experienced abuse. I haven’t read it yet, but it is on my “to read” list!