A thought provoking story. The characters are interesting and entertaining. It was very enjoyable. Good historical read

While the basics of the story were interesting enough, I noticed having a very hard time getting through it. I ploughed on, and about halfway in I realised why: we have ourselves a Mary Sue on our hands. Arielle is such a Good Girl(TM) that it is hard to get really invested in her as a main character, or to find anything interesting happening to her (and things happen to her, never -really- through her) plausible.

Ann Bennett is one of my favourite authors. If I am having a reading slump I know that an Ann Bennett book will have me turning the pages from the first sentence. The Lake Pagoda is the usual dual timeline, heart felt, emotional journey. The characters and the setting are wonderfully described.

In this book we follow Arielle who is half-French, half-Vietnamese living in Indochina in 1945. World War II era is one of the areas I read a lot of. This book brought me to a different area of the world, and a completely different setting than I was used to reading. It was interesting to learn about this area of the world, as I had no knowledge of Indochina, I learned so much while reading. We get flashbacks to before the Japanese invaded, as well as what happened with her after they invaded, and where she goes from there. Her story was compelling and intriguing, yet challenging. The characters were well written, although obviously not all likeable. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and will pick up another by this author.

I loved this book! It is so beautifully written. If I could give it a 4.5 star rating, I would. I reserve 5 star ratings for practically perfect book. This one comes close. Ann Bennett is a brilliant writer, and I have enjoyed some of her other books in the past. She paints vivid scenes and characters, and I actually learned quite a bit of history from the 1930's and 1940's. It is a beautiful, sometimes brutal story. I will definitely recommend this to anyone and look forward to reading more by Ann Bennett.

I liked this novel. Learning about history through historical fiction is so much more interesting. The history of Vietnam, the French, the Japanese, the American's in that time I knew nothing about. The author brings all of them together in one time frame and shares the hardships, the heartaches, the sadness, cruelty and love all in one very interesting story. I will highly recommend this book to friends and patrons of our library.

This was my first time reading about Vietnam, and I was intrigued to read about it during this particular time period. I liked seeing how the main character, Arielle, grew and developed throughout the book. Thanks for letting me try it!

My rating:

Plot: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:


Historical Fiction



Review:

I was attracted to this story because of the interesting subject. The book is set in Vietnam during and just after WWII. A lesser known period in Vietnamese history, I didn’t know a lot about. The story is well written and has interesting characters and gives you an insight into a lesser known period in Vietnamese history. The end was a little disappointing; it was a happy ending which was nice it just ended all a bit abruptly.

Review copy provided by Netgalley at no cost to me

I was offered this book as an ARC via NetGalley and really enjoyed the nuanced insight into Vietnamese history around the time of the Second World War. Rather than write from the perspective of a protagonist with strong political ideals, by choosing to write from the perspective of a mixed heritage citizen (French and Ammanese), the author was able to draw the reader into the story with the sense that events are overtaking the character, as many people are when there are revolutions. The only thing that stopped me giving it four stars was that in places the dialogue seemed to be a bit stilted and various characters kept bumping into each other as though by accident. To me at times this felt a little contrived as I can have trouble finding the person I entered a supermarket with let alone randomly bump into people from completely different places, years apart - maybe that is just me though!

A novel of love, loss, and survival against all odds in war-torn Indochina.French Indochina 1945: Arielle, the daughter of a French father and Vietnamese mother, is working for the colonial government.Because of her native blood, she’s spared imprisonment when the Japanese storm Hanoi.Forced to work for the enemy,Arielle is contacted by a Viet Minh agent, who threatens to expose her dark secrets from ten years before if she doesn’t help his cause.
As Arielle is drawn deeper into the rebels’ dangerous world, will she ever escape the torment of her past? Or will she find love in the most unexpected of places?
From the late 1800's to 1954,Vietnam was part of French Indochina.Under French rule, Hanoi was separated into 3 regions which are French area,Vietnamese area and concession area.Hanoi’s French Quarter is located on the southeastern end of the popular Hoan Kiem Lake, housing most of the city’s foreign embassies, government buildings and affluent residential neighbourhoods.
The Old Quarter is the historical civic urban core of Hanoi, located outside the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. It was the residential, manufacturing and commercial centre.
The Old Quarter contains many historic sights, such as temples, pagodas, and assembly halls.
The First Indochina War(December 19, 1946-July 20, 1954.)Fighting between French forces and Việt Minh began September 1945.
Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin,northern Vietnam.Laos and Cambodia were French Indochina protectorates.
The OSS Deer Team was established on May 16,1945 to attack and intercept materials on the railroad from Hanoi to Lang Son,to stop Japanese military units from entering China.The team provided training,medical and logistical assistance to the Viet Minh.They worked closely with Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap,aka Mr Hoo and Mr Van.The Americans left camp on August 16,after Japan surrendered.When guerrilla combatants debuted against French and Japanese troops,Vo Nguyen Giap arranged a safe house for Deer Team.
The OSS remained on good terms with Hồ Chí Minh until the USA began overtly supporting France's occupation of Indochina in the late 1950s.

This is a period fiction book with a romantic angle included; the romance is not central to the story. The plot-line revolves around a half French - half Vietnamese woman's turmoil in a period of unrest, as her country overthrows colonial rule. Her efforts to save her French father also form a major part of the story.

Arielle's transformation from a naive young woman who is shocked to discover the exploitation of her countrymen to a guerilla warrior is well done. The author gives us a well written picture of the Vietnamese struggle and the efforts to round up a rebellion. Even Arielle's girlish missteps into marriage are well presented and fleshed out.
I was fascinated by the story for a lot of bits which were fast moving, but the scenes set in Paris are so dull that I found myself getting bored sometimes. Unfortunately the book opens with these scenes in Paris and the decision to stay with the book despite it, was not the easiest.

I found some of the conversations heavy with exposition, for example: her conversation with her grandmother at the pagoda. This is a ritual they have both undertaken many times together, even if I, as the reader, haven't seen it yet. The dialogue was riddled with excessive explanation of the setting which seemed odd... surely both of them are familiar with it? There could have been a better way to introduce us to the significance of the religion and rituals.

The story is set in three time periods , which makes for a dramatic effect. The romantic portion is full of filmy flair and her hero conveniently drops in to save the day whenever she gets into trouble. The ending feels too good to be true and saccharine.

Read for: The vignettes of Hanoi , the preparation of the guerilla fighters and scenic descriptions of Vietnamese countryside and culture.

A historical fiction story set in French Indochina during the late 30’s and 40’s, Arielle is the daughter of a French father and her late Vietnamese mother. Widowed and living in the French section of Hanoi with her father, they both work for the French government when the Japanese invade. Arielle’s father is taken along with all the other French patriots and imprisoned while Arielle is left behind as she looks very Vietnamese like her mother and is then forced to work for the Japanese General. However, Arielle is also coerced to spy on the Japanese for the communist nationalists who threaten to expose a secret from her past, when all she wants to do is rescue her father, live in peace, and find love. But the communists have more demands for Arielle to help their cause. Will Arielle be able to survive and live a life of promise?
This was an interesting story of a time period that I was not familiar with. It certainly gave me a new perspective about the political makeup of this country that has been in such turmoil. This is also a story about surviving, loss, and love. A bit confusing at first, Arielle’s story is told between her life in 1945 and her life 10 years prior to give the back story. The ending is a bit pat and neatly wrapped up and for that I give it a 4 rather than a 5.

Many thanks to #netgalley #thelakepagoda #annbennett for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Lake Pagoda takes us into the life of Arielle, half French and half Vietnamese, as she experiences an early teenage, arranged marriage, witnesses the degradation of fellow Vietnamese countrymen, reluctantly aids the Viet Minh by copying Japanese intel ,and becoming a freedom fighter being trained by the Americans.

In the mix is a love story, compassion, heart-ache, loss, betrayal and horror all in the midst of the French Colonial rule of Vietnam. This story gives us a small history Indochinese lesson while watching young Arielle grow from a shy teen to a sharpshooter patriot.

The Lake Pagoda by Ann Bennet is an historical novel set in Hanoi between 1935 - 1945. It tells the story of a young woman’s perilous time during the war and the impact the different rulers had.
It was an interesting read with plenty of factual information threaded throughout the book. There is a romantic element but it doesn’t overload the story which I personally appreciated, it’s more about the exploitation and the difficulties of living on a knifes edge to survive the brutal crimes in Vietnam during the different leadership’s.
Big thanks to Ann Bennet, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

Arielle, a half-French, half-Vietnamese young woman in French colonial Indochina is the focus of the book We take the journey with her as we learn about the people of IndoChina. It is an interesting story told through three time lines...there is much to learn. While I have read many books concentrating on WWII, this is the first novel I've read about Vietnam and I wasn't disappointed. Well researched and well written. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this book. So well written, an amazing story
Thanks for the arc
Highly recommended

Living in Indochina (Vietnam), Arielle is half French and half Vietnamese, caught up in the struggle against the Japanese occupiers of her home country. An evocative touching story of a young woman trying to live her life against almost insurmountable odds, from guerrilla warfare with the Viet Minh to smuggling secrets from her Japanese employers. Very well written historical fiction set in 3 deftly interwoven timelines.

French Indochina 1945: Arielle, the daughter of a French father and Vietnamese mother, is working for the colonial government. Because of her native blood, she’s spared imprisonment when the Japanese storm Hanoi. Forced to work for the enemy, Arielle is contacted by a Viet Minh agent, who threatens to expose her dark secrets from ten years before if she doesn’t help his cause.
As Arielle is drawn deeper into the rebels’ dangerous world, will she ever escape the torment of her past? Or will she find love in the most unexpected of places?
A novel of love, loss, and survival against all odds. This is an exceptionally well-written, vivid, and powerful piece of work. I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

I've read a few books on WW2 based historical fiction depicting the nightmares of people in concentration camps amidst Holocaust, the inconceivable brutality of the Nazi army on civilians. This time around though I read a book based during the same time period but I got to read about the fate and destiny of people in IndoChina. The story follows the life of Arielle, a woman who is half-French and half-Vietnamese. In 1935, she meets a rich and charismatic French man, Etienne. Although she has her doubts, Arielle being young and naïve, accepts his proposal and gets married to him. Its only after the wedding, Arielle discovers the true horrors of Etienne's nature of work.

The plots flows through three time periods and narrates the story of the country's shifting political conflicts and Arielle's destiny that is tied to her country's fate. In 1945, Arielle has moved on from her disastrous marriage, although she is still plagued by the shadows it has left in the wake. Arielle is now in Hanoi, working along with her French father in the Mairie , the headquarters of the French administration, when Japanese troops infiltrate the city and overthrow the French government. Because she is half Annamese she escapes imprisonment, but her friend, Camille and her father are captured and detained in the Citadel. The Japanese general decides to employ Arielle as his secretary which gives Arielle access to important documents. Against her wishes, Arielle is forced to become a spy for the Viet Minh, an organization that wants to free Vietnam from Japanese as well as French administration. Arielle copies important documents from work and passes on this information to the Viet Minh agent.

When Arielle is discovered by her Japanese superiors, she is forced to become a guerrilla soldier, trained to kill and fight the Japanese army. It seems most of Arielle's life decisions have been forced upon her, and she yearns to reunite with her father again. Is there still hope for Arielle and will she ever be able to lead a happy and peaceful life again? Arielle's character although brave, sometimes in few chapters feel insipid too, like I said most of what has happened in her life is against her choice. The plot is fast paced and interesting enough to capture the reader's attention. I really picked up the book in a hope to read more about Vietnam and educate myself on its war tormented history and I wasn't disappointed.

Thanks to #NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for an advanced copy of the book. Recommended to all readers of historical fiction/WWII fiction/Vietnam history

I was drawn to this story because of its setting in Viet Nam, and I’m very happy to have discovered the novel and author.

This novel takes place in a triple historical timeline: 1935 Hanoi under French rule, 1945 Hanoi with the Japanese occupation and eventual conquest by the Viet Minh rebels led by Ho Chi Minh, and 1946 Paris. The intricate story matches the complexity of the country itself.

Arielle Dupont is the child of a Vietnamese mother, who died when Arielle was a baby, and a French father. Arielle has grown up in Hanoi between the two cultures, but when she marries young to a wealthy plantation-owning Frenchman, her eyes are opened to the abuses inflicted upon her countrymen for the economic gain of colonial business interests. The story dips into the complexity and frequent abuse of colonial rule, the cruel occupation of the Japanese and the hopeful Ho Chi Minh-led revolution that quickly turns authoritarian. This complexity is handled gently, against the well-developed backdrop of a beautiful and resilient country.

A story of upheaval, shifting loyalty, resilience and hope, The Lake Pagoda and its protagonist Ariella make for compelling reading about a stunning and complex country.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this novel, in exchange for an honest review.