Toni

“The Guardian of Lies” brings us back to 1953 in the South of France, a time when the peace between the West and the Soviet Russia was fragile and volatile. This is the story of one family torn apart by secrets and conflicting allegiances.

It is hard not to be spellbound by the sense of place and times that utterly take us at the heart of Camargue during the Cold War. In the 50’s the south of France had become a battleground between the Americans and the Soviets. By establishing a nuclear airbase with the intent on stopping the spread of Communism, the Americans turned the small town of Arles upside down and caused conflict within its residents.

The author has taken writers privilege in her fiction and has placed the airbase in the south of France rather than in the north where the tactical air units where located during that time. Having said this, although the actual area may have been changed the story nevertheless reflects the challenges those affected had to go through.

The main character is Eloise Caussade, a courageous young Frenchwoman raised on a bull farm who followed her brother André to Paris after he became an intelligence office working for the CIA. Her dream was also to become a CIA operative but instead worked at a PI Agency. When her life was thrown into turmoil she headed back home only to find a town in a state of unrest. What happens in the town is a wonderful tale of courage, subterfuge, love, betrayal and murder.

The story maintains a steady pace and the author keeps it jogging throughout the entire novel. The narrative is as deceiving as the spies who played roles. Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, it is easy to get fooled ……eventually, what is slowly revealed is a twisty plot full of switches and a scheme Eloise is drawn into.

This is an enjoyable read

I received this ARC from Simon &Schuster Canada via NetGalleys for my thoughts