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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love and betrayal, July 1, 2003
When the Nazis occupied Paris during WW2, schoolfriends and neighbours, Gilberte,daughter of aristocratic French parents, and Anne, born in Paris of American expats, both become tragic victims of this cruel regime. Gilbert survives the war as a raped and tortured victim who lives with a Nazi general and becomes pregnant to him. With her head shaved as a collaborationist, she gives birth to a boy and survives in degradation as a prostitute. Anne was torn between saving herself with the help of Gilberts cousin Quent and staying with her ineffectual parents who dithered about leaving France.After the liberation of Paris, Anne and Gilberte met again with Anne finding medical supplies fot Gilberts baby, Michel.Anne has never forgotten her first lover,Quent but when she doesn't hear from him in some years, assumes that for him, it was just a fling and agrees to marry an American soldier Larry, dashing and fun as a soldier but a loser in civilian life.By lies and deception Gilberte marries Quent and she and Anne begin a successful clothes design company with Larry as the P.R. man. Gilberte however,is convinced that her dying father made her swear to kill the person who betrayed them and also their children.Annes father was unknowingly the cause of Gilbertes parents arrest and so she plots a terrible revenge on the woman she pretends to befriend. This is a tale of vengeance, betrayal and love which survives the terrors of the war years and beyond.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THIS BOOK IS AN ALL NIGHT READ!! EXCELLENT, February 3, 2003
THE NAKED HEART will keep you up all night!! An excellent story of love, friendship, revenge and regret!! From World War II to America of the 1950's to 1964 Paris, this book has the stuff to make you miss the characters long after you are done reading it!! Just PERFECT!!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Passionate and intriguing historical novel, September 1, 2001
My bloodshot eyes these past couple of days are clear evidence that "The Naked Heart" is definitely a "can't put down" novel. Jacqueline Briskin excels herself in this beautiful tale narrated with such raw clarity that one can almost form a strong kinship with the characters' passions and strifes. The saga revolves mainly around an deep yet turbolent friendship between Gilberte de Permont, daughter of aristocratic French parents with deep dark secrets forever haunting her life and the bubbly American Anne Blakely. Over a time span of two decades from wartorn, Nazi occupied Paris to England, America and back full circle to their homeland, the author depicts the intimate details surrounding their friendship, their lives and of those who loved them. It is a rich and complex story set against the background of the horrors of war and of those who survived it albeit with great psychological disturbances. The handsome and affluent Quentin Dejong, a member of the Resistance enters the lives of both Anne and Gilbert with consequences which prove to be both extraordinary and devastating. Gilberte possesses a morbid obsession for her brave, distant cousin, a loveless bond which would eventually heighten her bitterness. Gilberte's horrific wartime experiences consume her with an unsatiable pursue for her final vendetta ... the noble oath she swore to her father. Anne on the other hand, makes an escape from Paris over the Alps, simultaneously falling deeply in love with Quentin, her saviour and eternal soulmate. The saga moves on artfully and precicely to the moment the three of them finally meet once again in Los Angeles well after the liberation. The tale reaches its explosive climax as the secrets of the past begin to unravel and resurface, thus initiating a tornado of events which will inextricably alter their lives for ever. A truly remarkable work of fiction entwined with clear historical details. It is a beautifully crafted novel...a powerful story about the bonds of frienship and the jealousy, betrayals and pain that it also inflicts.
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