"The Lost Castle" by Kristy Cambron

"The Lost Castle" is a tale of The Sleeping Beauty in the Loire Valley - a castle that has kept its tales close to home through many generations. Now Ellie Carver is on a quest to uncover them all, guided only by the knowledge that once upon a time her grandmother lived and loved in its proximity. Now that Grandma Vi is being stolen from her due to Alzheimer's, Ellie's journey to France feels like a mission of utmost importance.

Running alongside Ellie's story is that of Viola Hart in 1944 - 'Grandma Vi' when she was still a young girl herself. With WWII having changed everything for London families, Viola is recruited to be a linguist for Britain's Special Operations. Things take an unexpected turn when she winds up in Nazi-occupied France working under threat of her life every day.

A third storyline takes place during the French Revolution. Aveline is a woman of noble birth who is on the eve of marrying the elder son of one of the richest dukes in France. She herself is not so interested in wealth, but with politics and finding a way to break down the walls between the aristocracy and the lower classes. She's been conditioned to keep this part of her heart under wraps. Before she can meet her betrothed face to face, a fire at his castle injures Aveline and leaves her in the care of the workers of the estate. As the war progresses, can Aveline be a part of building together the things that are good and right about mankind no matter their rank or station?

I have to say that having three different storylines in three different time periods with three sets of major and minor characters was a bit much for this reader, especially because within each storyine was a fair amount of flashbacks, making its already tenuous chronology even harder to follow. Each individual story felt shallow because it didn't have its full chance to expand and grow, being compressed by the others demanding their own share of the pages. I felt that Aveline's story would have worked very nicely as a prequel novella, so that those of Vi and Ellie could have had more depth.

There were a few other things that detracted from my full enjoyment of this book, but I do like Kristy Cambron a lot and fully plan to read more of her stories in the future. This book's personality just didn't suit my own, and that's no one's fault at all.

I received my copy of the book from the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.