I saw Chasing Mona Lisa by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey listed as a free Kindle book (at the time: it is not free now) at Inspired Reads, and thought it looked interesting, so interesting + free = “Sure, I’ll try it!”

The setting is in France just as WWII is close to winding down. Germany’s Goring has been quietly amassing a treasure of prized art pieces, and when he sees the handwriting on the wall concerning the war, he sets his sights on the Mona Lisa as his ticket to flee to South America and escape the consequences of his wartime activities.

The French, foreseeing that the Mona Lisa might be in danger, packed it up and hid it before Germany took over the country, yet Goring and his agent, Heller, have their ways of ferreting out information.

Eric Hofstadler and Gabi Mueller are two Swiss OSS (Office of Strategic Services) covert agents working to further the Allied cause. They are in Paris to deliver food, medical supplies, and information when they are reassigned to find and secure the Mona Lisa.

Bernard Rousseau is a leader of one of the resistance movements, this particular one being Communist. A sub plot is that the various resistance groups are vying to set themselves up to be able to grab power and authority as soon as the German regime comes down. Bernard is one of the first people Eric and Gabi meet in Paris, and he becomes involved in helping them find the Mona Lisa before Heller’s operatives do. Yet he has ulterior motives they know nothing of, and further complications involve his girlfriend, Collette, the Louvre museum curator, and whether she is in on Heller’s plot or not.

I don’t read many spy novels, but this one definitely kept me interested and threw a couple of unexpected twists into the mix.

I got the feeling that this might have been a sequel, and I was right: Gabi and Eric first appear in The Swiss Courier by the same authors. I’ve not read that one, and this book is easily readable on its own.

One part where I had to smile was where Gabi, Eric, and Rousseau escape from pursuers down into the sewers, and Rousseau begins to expound on the “technological marvel” of Paris’s sewer system: it reminded me of Victor Hugo’s doing the same in Les Miserables (linked to my review). Paris seems to be very proud of its sewer system!

One major problem I had with the novel, though, was its graphic depictions of violence. It’s a war novel, so violence and death are expected parts of the plot, but the authors just got too detailed and graphic for my tastes. Thankfully there aren’t many of those scenes.

It’s also odd that this book is marketed as Christian fiction, yet there is very little of Christianity in it. Gabi’s father, another OSS agent, is also a pastor and wonders from time to time how his congregation would react if they knew of some of his activities, and Gabi mentions God or prayer a few times, but otherwise there isn’t really a Christian theme or perspective woven into the plot. It’s a very clean novel, except for the aforementioned violent scenes, but of course Christian fiction is more than just clean.

But I did like the book, reading most of it on my iPhone or Touchpad during a road trip, and it made for a pleasant diversion.

This particular theft attempt was purely fictional, by the way, but the Mona Lisa was stolen once in 1911, and the book does tell about that incident as further motivation for not letting it happen again.

The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read.

I almost missed the Nightstand post completely this month — the months with five Tuesdays throw me off. Plus my youngest son graduated Monday (more on that tomorrow!), my oldest flew in for a long weekend, we’ve been doing lots of family things, and I haven’t been on the computer much at all for the last few days.

But thankfully I saw someone mention it on Facebook, so I’m late to the party, but I’m here!

Since last month I’ve completed:

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (audiobook), reviewed here. Enjoyed this very much.

The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis, not reviewed yet, but enjoyed. A classically trained violinist who loves to “fiddle” when she can, unbeknownst to her family and friends, breaks down when traveling during a storm outside a cabin of a young Amish man who is planning to leave the Amish and “go English.” They are kind of on parallel tracks, though in different circumstances, wrestling with the expectations of those they love versus their own desires.

Psmith in the City by P. D. Wodehouse for Carrie’s book club in April, reviewed here.

I am currently reading/listening to:

It Is Not Death to Die: A New Biography of Hudson Taylor by Jim Cromarty. I didn’t realize it was quite so long (480+ pages) when I ordered it, and I’m only about halfway through.

Chasing Mona Lisa by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey, about Swiss OSS agents trying to keep the famous painting from German hands.

When Christ Was Here: a Woman’s Bible Study by Claudia Barba. Wonderful so far.

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell (audiobook). Loving it so far.

Up next: These are carried over from my “Up next” section from last month’s Nightstand. 🙂

Infinitely More by Alex Krutov, nonfiction about an abandoned orphan in Russia whom God brought to Himself.

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin.

Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching, and Appreciating Boys by Hal and Melanie Young.

Happy Reading!

I listened to North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell as an audiobook and loved it.

Margaret Hale has been living with her bright and beautiful cousin, Edith, until Edith’s marriage, then Margaret returns home to Halston in southern England. Shortly thereafter her father reveals that he has had a crisis of conscience and must step down from his position as a vicar. It’s not quite clear exactly what this crisis involved (one problem with an audiobook is not being able to flip through pages to reread parts where you might not have picked up on everything). He doesn’t abandon his belief in God entirely, and that is demonstrated later in the book, but he doesn’t feel he can continue as a vicar in his denomination. His close friend, Mr. Bell, has arranged for Mr. Hale to become a tutor in the northern mill town of Milton.

This throws the family into an upheaval in several ways: the loss of position, the reduction of an already small income, the move away from not only all that is dear and familiar, but also the move to a place radically different than where they have lived, chosen purposefully by Mr, Hale so as to hopefully lessen the sorrow of leaving a place he and his daughter loved.

As both Mr. and Mrs. Hale are distressed, it falls to Margaret to support them both and undertake the lion’s share of details involved in the move.

Milton is not only different because it is a busy, smoky mill town as opposed to the peaceful, quiet, rural setting the Hales came from, but the way of life and way of thinking in the North is totally different from that in the South, and thus the Hales’ interactions with people are rife with several misunderstandings on both sides. Their main contact is with a Mr. Thornton, a busy mill owner. In the course of daily life they also become acquainted with a Mr. Higgins, a common laborer, or hand, as they call the workers there, and his very ill daughter, Bessy. Through these two relationships and the tension building up to a strike, they see right and wrong on both sides of the labor issue and try their best to help the two men to understand the view of the other.

In the course of the story, two very different men seek Margaret’s hand in marriage. She is not at all interested in either of them for personal reasons and because her family depends on her so much. One is obvious at the beginning, and the other emerges as a love interest later in the story. I was actually dismayed at first, because the second one, though a decent fellow, wasn’t very likeable. The changes and growth of the characters, particularly Margaret, make the outcome of this aspect of the story a surprise until the ending.

The feel (I don’t know how else to describe it) of this book was very similar to Louisa May Alcott’s books, especially those in which the main characters undergo a reversal of fortune. Gaskell was 22 years older then Alcott, and Alcott was American while Gaskell was British, but their writing seemed very similar to me (and I regard that as a good thing!)

There are some similarities between North and South with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: I saw North and South described somewhere as “Pride and Prejudice with a social conscience.” There are no balls or dances or frantic mothers in North and South, but there is pride and prejudice on many sides that is slowly overcome as the characters interact and come to know each other. Austen lived before Gaskell (Gaskell was seven years old when Austen died). Austen’s writings have more witty barbs and comic moments, but otherwise there are similarities in their writings as well.

Gaskell was a master of conveying human nature in this book. The words, the thoughts, and even the expressions of some of the characters had me thinking, “Yes, I can see that, I understand that exactly.”

I would not call this a Christian book, and I would differ with Gaskell’s Unitarian beliefs, but there are Christian principles through the book, and Margaret in particular offers Biblical advice as well as words of Scripture in her counsel to others.

My only previous experience with Gaskell’s writing was with Cranford (linked to my thoughts) last year, and I had thought of Cranford as “not spell-binding, but pleasant.” North and South was much more than pleasant: it was quite poignant. I wouldn’t call it riveting in the same sense as a who-done-it, but I did carry my iPhone around much more often than usual to listen to it, and I actually said out loud as it ended, “No!!! I don’t want it to end!” That’s the only real complaint: the ending was rather abrupt, but the book was originally written as a serial for Dickens’ magazine Household Words, so I don’t know if that had anything to do with it.

Juliet Stevenson narrated the book and did a marvelous job with the various voices and accents. I don’t always “think in British” when I am reading a British novel, and Juliet’s reading greatly enhanced my enjoyment of the book.

There was a BBC production of North and South which I’ve not seen, but I want to now.

I had seen Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters on DVD some years ago and really enjoyed it: I’m thinking that might be my next audiobook.

Carrie at Reading to Know has been coordinating a book club this year, hosted each month by a different blogger friend. Tim at Diary of an Autodidact) is this month’s host, and he chose any book by P. G. Wodehouse.

My only previous exposure to Wodehouse was Carry On, Jeeves (linked to my thoughts). I liked it quite a lot, but the chapters did seem variations on the same theme (Wooster or one of his friends gets in trouble and Jeeves gets them out), so I thought I’d try something from one of his other series.

I chose  Psmith in the City, this time, in which English gentlemen Psmith and his friend, Mike Jackson, are thrown into the world of Commerce by starting to work at a bank. Mike’s father has had some financial problems, so Mike has had to quit college to start working in the postal room of the New Asiatic Bank. Psmith’s main purpose seems to be to win over his boss, Mr. Bickersdyke, and failing that, to get the better of him.

Psmith added the silent P to his surname to distinguish himself from other Smiths. He’s tall, thin, wears a monocle, is very generous but not terribly industrious, and is what we’d probably call a charmer. He seems to be able to talk his way out of most anything. He’s also something of a Socialist, but I think even that is for comic effect, something to play off of, rather than a political statement.

In fact, I’m not sure if there is any higher purpose to Wodehouse’s work other than humor and cleverness, and that’s all right: sometimes that’s just what one’s brain needs.

This book started off a little slow for me: the first chapter was primarily about a cricket match, and I know nothing about cricket, although I did get the point that someone walked into his way and ruined his shot. But by the third chapter things had picked up considerably. This is one of Wodehouse’s earlier works, so his skills aren’t quite as developed as the later ones, but the humor is still very evident.

I also have Galahad at Blandings on hand from the library, a sample from yet another of Wodehouse’s series (though I understand Psmith ends up at Blandings Castle eventually), but I am obviously not going to get to it before the month is up. If I have time before it is due back I might give it a try, though.

The folks at 5 Minutes For Books host What’s On Your Nightstand? the fourth Tuesday of each month in which we can share about the books we have been reading and/or plan to read.

Since last time I’ve completed:

Everyday Battles: Knowing God Through Our Daily Conflicts by Bob Schultz, with my youngest son, reviewed here.

In Every Heartbeat by Kim Vogel Sawyer about three friends from the same orphanage awarded a scholarship to college just before WWI, the different routes they go, temptations they face, etc., reviewed here (including some general thoughts on romance in Christian fiction). Very good.

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, a classic medieval knight’s tale (audiobook), reviewed here. Very enjoyable.

Loving by Karen Kingsbury, the last of the Bailey Flannigan series, not reviewed. A satisfying end to Bailey’s story, despite sentences like, “He squinted against the glare of his breaking heart” (p. 90) and “His tone was so sincere it was like she had a front row seat in the arena of his heart” (p. 249). Wince.

Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin, not reviewed, about a girl excessively caught up in her novels (and more than a touch immature and self-centered) who loses her job as a librarian during the Depression. She takes some donated books to Kentucky, ends up having to stay there much longer than she had planned, learns and grows through the frustrating and sometimes dangerous situations she encounters. Enjoyable, except I did get quite perturbed that the two primary Christians in the book forced (at gunpoint in one instance), coerced, and even tricked her into doing what they wanted, which is not how Christians should usually operate.

Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life by Emily P. Freeman, reviewed here. Excellent.

I’m currently reading/listening to:

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (audiobook). Enjoying it very much!

The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis.

Psmith in the City by P. D. Wodehouse for Carrie’s book club in April.

Next up:

I have Galahad at Blandings by Wodehouse on hand from the library for Carrie’s April book club, but will wait to see if I have time after I finish Psmith. There are not many days left in April!

Infinitely More by Alex Krutov, nonfiction about an abandoned orphan in Russia whom God brought to Himself.

It Is Not Death to Die: A New Biography of Hudson Taylor by Jim Cromarty.

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin.

Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching, and Appreciating Boys by Hal and Melanie Young.

That should keep me busy for a while. What are you reading?