{Blog Tour} The Greatest French Holiday Stories of All Time (Review & Giveaway)

The Greatest French Holiday Stories of All Time (short story collection) 
 Release date: October 10, 2017 at New Vessel Press 
ISBN: 978-1939931504 142 pages 
Website Goodreads  

SYNOPSIS

A continuation of the very popular Very Christmas Series from New Vessel Press, this collection brings together the best French Christmas stories of all time in an elegant and vibrant collection featuring classics by Guy de Maupassant and Alphonse Daudet, plus stories by the esteemed twentieth century author Irène Némirovsky and contemporary writers Dominique Fabre and Jean-Philippe Blondel. With a holiday spirit conveyed through sparkling Paris streets, opulent feasts, wandering orphans, kindly monks, homesick soldiers, oysters, crayfish, ham, bonbons, flickering desire, and more than a little wine, this collection encapsulates the holiday spirit and proves that the French have mastered Christmas. This is Christmas à la française—delicious, intense and unexpected, proving that nobody does Christmas like the French.

THE AUTHORS

Alphonse Daudet, Guy de Maupassant, Anatole France Irène Némirovsky, Jean-Philippe Blondel, Dominique Fabre, Paul Arene, Francois Coppee, Antoine Gustave Droz, Anatole La Braz

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Review

This is a short story collection like none I have ever read before.  A few of the stories are uplifting towards the end of them and some gave me a lot to think about.  I also want it to be Christmas time after reading the book.

My favorite story was in the beginning of the book with the old man who is out with his family.  He goes into portions of his life and how it went wrong with him and his deceased wife.   I loved getting his reflection back on life and how he came to be sitting with his family.  The author did a great job even going into the dynamic of the family it was only a short story, but it felt very memorable and a lot longer. The ending of the story is adorable and really makes me believe in fate.  This was an excellent addition to the Christmas story collection. 

Each story has a different meaning and is written in a different style.  I found some of the stories harder to follow along with than others, but overall the stories where great with very profound lessons.   Each story is unique in it's own right and they don't really have to be read in any particular order.

I enjoyed the bits and pieces of the older French culture that came through the book.  A large amount of the stories are set in the past and it was great to read about life in that time period in France. I liked how the stories where also dated so you could tell the time period of when the story was taking place. 

I would suggest this as a great nighttime read around Christmas time right when you are getting in the spirit of the holidays.   I would also suggest this could be a book for a middle school reader, although some of the topics where tougher I think it has a lot of valuable Christmas lessons to learn.   

I received a copy of this book from France Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.   This does not effect my opinion of this book.

My Rating: 3/5

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Visit each blogger on the tour: tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time! [just follow the directions on the entry-form] Global giveaway open to US residents 5 winners

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