The Lake Pagoda

Firstly thank you Netgalley for this ARC

Wow what a nail biting book a real page turner just love this author

This was a heartbreaking and beautifully written book. From start to finish I was captivated by this story of a young woman and her personal journey in 1930s and 1940s Hanoi and Paris. The story was gripping and the characters were so intriguing that I could not put this down.

This was such a beautiful read. It is well written with a compelling and heart-breaking storyline and well developed characters especially Arielle who I took to my heart. It was a gripping read that had me in its hooks right from the start and I couldn't stop reading, I loved it and will be looking out for more from this author.

The Lake Pagoda, by Ann Bennett, is a historical fiction with all the feels. While it's a serious book that goes into detail about this horrible time in history, there's also joy woven throughout. I really liked the main character, Arielle. She's brave, kind and strong. I also appreciated learning a lot more about what led up to the American-Vietnam War.
It's 1945 in, what's become known as, French Indochina. Arielle's, working in the offices of the colonial government, along with her French father. While she escapes being sent to a Japanese prison, (only because her mother was Vietnamese), when the Japanese invade, she's forced to work for them when they take over the colonial office building. Then she's cornered by a Viet Minh agent who threatens her if she doesn’t do as he says.
As Arielle finds herself becoming part of the rebels’ dangerous world, she ends up finding what she's been longing for.

Ann Bennett has done it again! Such a wonderful mix of history, life during war time, coming of age, and a bit of romance thrown in. What a great read!

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. Bennett gives us a small history lesson while watching young Arielle grow from a shy teen to a sharpshooter patriot.

My favorite of Bennett's writings!!

My thanks to #NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC of this wonderful read and this opinion is my own.

The action in "The Lake Pagoda" is mainly based around Hanoi and it's environs from 1935-45. It is the story of a naive mixed race girl who comes of age in this war-torn region. With a French father and a native mother Arielle can usually fit in to both worlds but when the Japanese seize power this is no longer possible. Along the way Arielle gets involved in politics, including communism, but always keeps her faith and visits the pagoda of the title whenever possible.

This is an atmospheric and revealing story which casts some light on the events in Indo-China at this time.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

Generally, I avoid World War I and II-era novels because I feel they've fallen into a predictable pattern of a female protagonist falling in love with a male soldier on the battlefields of Europe, the climax being one or the other thinking the other has been killed, then they live happily ever after at the end. It's not just that the general plot beats are the same, the setting is as well, making the novels sort of blend together in my mind as it's hard to differentiate them from one another.

Author Ann Bennett avoids this by setting the majority of her novel towards the end of World War II, within the lush tropical landscape of Indochina, known now as Vietnam. Young Arielle, the daughter of a French father and Vietnamese mother, grows up relatively well off within the French Quarter of Hanoi. Her mother has passed away, but her father is a government official and they lead a fairly prosperous life. When a rich French businessman named Etienne comes courting, Arielle is surprised but agrees to marry him. From then on, she finds herself drawn into the cultural resistance formed by the Viet Mihn, and her life veers down paths she never could have imagined.

Unlike other novels I have read where an author creates a multicultural protagonist in turbulent times and then calls it a day, the multicultural aspect totally ignored, Bennett pays attention to the French/Vietnamese cultural connotations Arielle is forced to deal with. While she can physically pass as fully Vietnamese, her father is an important French official, so most of the people in her town and other important officials are fully aware of her half-French heritage. As both the invading Japanese and the rebel Viet Mihn factions are anti-French for various reasons, Arielle struggles to maintain connections to her French father while hiding that side of herself. This take was immensely refreshing in a genre bloated with fully European World War II stories and gave it a unique feel that I absolutely loved. Bennett is talented at descriptions as well, bringing to life the vibrant colors, sights, and smells of Vietnam so much that I could almost taste the tea and smell the pho bubbling in the pots of street vendors.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fresh take on stories set in the World War II era.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.