Momma Says: 3 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐
The Space Between Words is very well-written in first person POV. It fits well into the Women's Fiction genre, as well as Historical, Contempory, and Christian Fiction genres. I found nothing objectionable for most ages, but the tragic events discussed could be disturbing to some readers.
"There were seconds, when I woke, when the world felt unshrouded. Then memory returned."
When Jessica regains consciousness in a French hospital on the day after the Paris attacks, all she can think of is fleeing the site of the horror she survived. But Patrick, the steadfast friend who hasn’t left her side, urges her to reconsider her decision. Worn down by his insistence, she reluctantly agrees to follow through with the trip they’d planned before the tragedy.
“The pages found you,” Patrick whispered.
“Now you need to figure out what they’re trying to say.”
During a stop at a country flea market, Jessica finds a faded document concealed in an antique. As new friends help her to translate the archaic French, they uncover the story of Adeline Baillard, a young woman who lived centuries before—her faith condemned, her life endangered, her community decimated by the Huguenot persecution.
“I write for our descendants, for those who will not understand the cost of our survival.”
Determined to learn the Baillard family’s fate, Jessica retraces their flight from France to England, spurred on by a need she doesn’t understand.
Could this stranger who lived three hundred years before hold the key to Jessica’s survival?
The Space Between Words is really the story of two women, Jessica and Adeline, and the tragedies they faced in their respective times. While both stories are interesting in their own right, I found the bouncing back and forth to be a bit distracting. Add Jessica's flashbacks of surviving the Paris attacks along with an almost separate story of her resistance to romantic relationships and the story becomes quite busy. The story has a good premise and the characters are very well developed, but with so much going on, I found it hard to stay focused. The author seems to be making a comparison between the Huguenot persecution and the Paris attacks, but I failed to see the connection, other than the fact that both women faced extreme circumstances. I actually laid this one aside several times and came back to it, determined to finish and see where Jessica's journey would lead and I suppose the book does have a fitting ending, but it felt like it took a meandering route to get there.
**ARC provided by NetGalley and Thomas Nelson
The Space Between Words releases on September 5th and is available for pre-order at the following links.
Thanks for joining me!
Momma😘
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