The Blue Bicycle [Hardcover]

Regine Deforges (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"The little savage from Montillac" is what her suave lover Francois calls Lea, passionate heroine of this frankly lush, romantic novel of France during the war years 19391942. Daughter of a rich wine grower in Bordeaux, Lea sees her adored childhood sweetheart, Laurent, married to his cousin, namby-pamby Camille. Lea has lovers but never stops carrying the torch for Laurent, while tending pregnant Camille during Laurent's service at the front, holding down the family estate of Montillac, where Germans are billeted, and cycling through occupied checkpoints with messages for the Resistance. Deforges, a bestselling writer in France, gives us moving scenes of civilian panic and carnage and glimpses of Paris high life enjoyed by collaborators and black-marketeers. Radio broadcasts by the still unknown de Gaulle, and defeatist Petainhead of the Vichy puppet regimefire French patriotism and keep the underground going. Plenty of entertainment here, and echoes of Gone with the Wind, though it's hard to tell what lusty Lea sees in Laurent. Book two of this trilogy will come next year. 100,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This book has been compared to Gone with the Wind. It is that classic, modernized to World War II, with a French accent. In the first chapters the reader laughs to recognize people and plot elements created by Margaret Mitchell: the rebuff of Lea/Scarlett by Laurant/Ashley, his marriage to Camille/Melanie, the flight from burning Paris/Atlanta aided by Francois/Rhett. Most interesting is where the scene dictates such changes that Mitchell cannot be copied, and Deforges must use her own imagination. The "blue bicycle" is only a means of transportation until the end, when its function in smuggling letters between free and occupied France is revealed. The premise would have been satisfying without imitation, but the writing is juvenile and the book disappointing. Andrea Lee Shuey, Dallas P.L.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 386 pages
• Publisher: Lyle Stuart; First Edition edition (April 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0818404027
• ISBN-13: 978-0818404023
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest book, July 29, 2000

By 

"camille-france" (France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blue Bicycle (Hardcover)

This book is a great description of France during the second world war. But it isn't only fiction. Indeed, except what happens to the main characters, everything is true. The resistance, the location, many people did exist... It is a very good lesson of history. But not only, there is also a wonderful love story, a few erotic scenes, a lot of humor... I really hope many people would read this book (and the 6 following ones not yet existing in English version). It lets you understand better what to be French is.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great inside history of the French resistance, January 14, 2000

By 

Toto (USA/Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blue Bicycle (Hardcover)

This book might be a lot like gone with the wind, however it is a great book about the French resistance and the horrible times the people in local wine regions in France had during wwII. The book is easy to read and to follow. The story is ficton but the locations are real. ONE QUESTION......were is the translation of the other books by Regina De'Forges?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very entriguing, October 25, 1999

By 

tj (colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blue Bicycle (Hardcover)

This Book did start out like Gone with the Wind. Rumor was that there was a lawsuit concerning this book being a plagarism OF Gone With the Wind. Where are the other 2 books that were to follow? I enjoyed the content of the War from another perspective than just Jewish. This book showed not only the sufferings of the Jews but the sufferings of France as well. Very enjoyable.