Book Review – The Light Behind The Window

by Lucinda Riley (Pan) ISBN 9781447218425

The cover promised a breath-taking and intense story of love, war and above all, forgiveness. I was disappointed. It is written without soul.

The story is set in France and England and moves between 1943 and the present.  During the war, Connie is trained as an agent and sent to Paris. Instead of working for the resistance, she ends up living with an aristocratic family and looking after the blind Sophia.

The preconceived ideas of the roles of men and women irritated me most. Sophia is ‘not equipped by birth to deal with what was happening to her’ and the brother is the hero with clenching jaw lines and hard passionate kisses.

The woman in the present, Emilie, also from an upper-class family, is like her distant relative depicted as vulnerable and helpless. She is the sole heir of an estate in the South of France. She is lured into marriage by a greedy, but dashing Sebastian. His handicapped brother lives in their dilapidated castle close to York. Can it be more clichéd?

Lucinda Riley has sold over 180,000 copies in the UK for her previous book, so there must be a market for this. For me, this book was a waste of time.

Pauline Vijverberg
1/5