A Good Death

by Elizabeth Ironside

Book Overview

It's 1944 and Theo Cazalle is returning to the family he left in Bonnemort, an estate deep in the French countryside, when he went off to fight with the Free French. Memories of Bonnemort have sustained him through four years of war, but when at last he comes home, he finds his world in tatters. The house has been abandoned, a family servant has been shot, Theo's wife has been accused of collaborating, and a Nazi officer has been found dead in front...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934609196
• ISBN13: 9781934609194
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Felony & Mayhem
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

It's about power, and its abuses

Some have called this a mystery, and yes, there is a death (or two deaths) that Theo de Cazalle tries to understand. But the real "mystery" at the core of this gripping book is what power - its loss, its abuse - can do to both the powerful and the powerless. To her step-daughter Sabine, Madame Ariane seems cold and controlling, but as we follow the story, we see that Sabine exercises a great deal of power herself, and that Madame Ariane is powerless in ways that Sabine can barely understand. The cycle of abuser and abused, predator and prey is repeated throughout the story, but non-didactically, in ways that enlarge our understanding of what it must have been like in fallen France. In addition, everyone lies, from Theo, who disappears and is apparently dead for 4 years, to Suzie who must hide her Jewish identity, and the de Cazalle family that hides the existence of the pig, Lou Moussou. The lies are perpetuated for apparently "good" reasons, but the secrets create pain, for Sabine who does not know her father is still alive, for Suzie who inadvertently reveals the truth of her identity, for Madame Ariane who is forced to act as a double agent. Theo, as he searches for the truth, seems to think that the truth will provide peace and resolution. But the point of the story is that truth can only be known by those who have lived the experience. You cannot judge if you were not there. This book is extraodinary.

Surprise!

Excellent condition. She writes in a manner unlike anyone else. It is very hard to put her books down.

A totally satisfying tale, beautifully told

I read this book in a day and night, unable to set it aside, neglecting everything, even reading it while eating. Elizabeth Ironside unfolds a complex story of love and betrayal, resistance and collaboration, in the Nazi-occupied French countryside towards the close of World War II. The heroine is a heroine indeed - passionate, intelligent, resourceful - saving Jews and dissidents from the SS, almost losing her own self-respect in the double game she must play. Happily, she has a husband worthy of her - a seeker after truth at a time when just about everyone had something to hide.

A Good Death

This hit a home run for me. Elizabeth Ironside combined my love of mystries and the second world war in one story. How great is that!!! the murder was secondary to the wounds of the characters from the war. the occupation of france was very interesting and you read about from all different perspectives. just great !

Great post WWII mystery!

I was so thrilled to find a new mystery by Elizabeth Ironside on my library shelf. I read Death in the Garden over the summer and couldn't figure out who did it until the very end, so I was looking very forward to delving into A Good Death. Set in newly liberated WWII France, A Good Death tells the story of a family broken up by the war and the mystery of a German soldier found dead on their doorstep. Ironside has chosen to jump between the points of view of four characters: Theo de Cazalle, an exiled French soldier; his wife Ariane; his sadistic daughter Sabine; and Suzie, a Jewish girl that Ariane takes in and hides from the Nazis. Ironside uses this device, not only to slowly leak how the murder actually happened, but also to show how WWII affected everyone, from the fighters to those who had to cope on the home front. What I loved most about the book was how Ironside really captured the atmosphere of desperation and uncertainty in a nearly post-WWII world. Not only did the characters question each other's loyalty, but I did as well, and I couldn't even begin to fathom how they would all be able to pick up their lives again after all they endured. I agree that this book may be a little grisly for some, and Sabine is, perhaps, one of the most disturbing characters ever written. Some questions are left unanswered, and the end is baffling and leaves you wondering. Overall, though, it's a fascinating historical mystery, and, again, I had no idea who did it until the end.