My 13-year old daughter read this as part of our study of WW2 in our homeschool this year. She enjoyed this book, but commented that she found the timeline switches a little bit confusing and that they made the story hard for her to follow at times. She liked how Giselle's story lined up with her granddaughter Chloe's, but she didn't particularly like the sidestory about Chloe's fiance and his overzealous campaign manager. She absolutely loved the relationship between a German soldier and a baby. As far as whether it helped her learn about WW2, she felt that it added to her understanding of the French resistance movement and how things were for those living in Normandy during the war. She also commented that it helped her to understand that there were both good and bad people on both sides of the conflict.

"A courageous young noblewoman risks her life to hide French resistance fighters; seventy years later, her granddaughter visits the family’s abandoned chateau and uncovers shocking secrets from the past.

Gisèle Duchant guards a secret that could cost her life. Tunnels snake through the hill under her family’s medieval chateau in Normandy. Now, with Hitler’s army bearing down, her brother and several friends are hiding in the tunnels, resisting the German occupation of France.

But when German soldiers take over the family’s château, Gisèle is forced to host them as well—while harboring the resistance fighters right below their feet. Taking in a Jewish friend’s baby, she convinces the Nazis that it is her child, ultimately risking everything for the future of the child. When the German officers begin to suspect her deception, an unlikely hero rescues both her and the child.

A present day story weaves through the past one as Chloe Sauver, Gisèle’s granddaughter, arrives in Normandy. After calling off her engagement with a political candidate, Chloe pays a visit to the chateau to escape publicity and work with a documentary filmmaker, Riley, who has uncovered a fascinating story about Jews serving in Hitler’s army. Riley wants to research Chloe’s family history and the lives that were saved in the tunnels under their house in Normandy. Chloe is floored—her family isn’t Jewish, for one thing, and she doesn’t know anything about tunnels or the history of the house. But as she begins to explore the dark and winding passageways beneath the chateau, nothing can prepare her for the shock of what she and Riley discover…"

Totally on Time Slip novels with WWII right now.

This book just didn't work for me. While I loved the setting I felt that the characters were more tell than show and I was never pulled into the story.