Book review of The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

Inspired by the true story of a woman who used knitting patterns to encode intelligence during World War Two.  

Guernsey, 2010. After a stroke, an elderly woman shocks her family by speaking perfect French – a language they never knew she possessed. As her granddaughter unravels seventy years of silence, a hidden wartime story emerges...

Paris, 1941. After her brother is declared missing in action at Dunkirk, eighteen-year-old Lenny Gallienne vanishes into Churchill’s secret army. In a bookshop on Rue de la Pompe, she poses as a simple shop girl while encoding intelligence from Nazi headquarters into knitting patterns. Each sweater smuggled to prisoners contains flight paths. Each scarf holds radio frequencies. Each mistake means execution.

Fellow agent, Harry Dennison is the only person who knows her real name. But when the SS close in, Lenny faces an impossible choice in the Metro tunnels beneath Paris – one that will haunt her family for generations. Because in the resistance, the most dangerous secrets are the ones you keep from those you love most.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

My review

Set partly in Guernsey, as well as London, Scotland and occupied Paris, this dual timeline novel tells an emotional story of determination, espionage, heartbreak and above all family bonds.

Lenny is pushed to her limits, physically and mentally, but shows a resilience to adapt and keep going whatever her superiors and the Germans throw at her. Desperate to find a way to remember the morse code, Lenny practises it over and over again, in her knitting. This ingenious idea, born out of the practicality of a woman doing her best to be accepted into the male-dominated SOE (special operations executive) world, sparked a whole new adventure for her in this book, before circumstances led to the unravelling of her dreams.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

The knitting element to this book intrigued me and really added that new edge to a genre I’m well-read in. I’m not a knitter but do know my knit and pearl stitches and just loved how something so simple as knitting was used in the storyline, although, I would have liked to have seen it play a more important role out in the field.

This book was an enjoying step back in time for those, like me, who love a book set during the Occupation of Paris.

Purchase links

French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

Amazon link UK / US

 

 

Author Bio  

Jenny O’Brien writes complex thrillers and heartbreaking historical fiction, as well as intriguing romances. Silent Cry, initially self published, topped the Amazon kindle chart in both the UK and the USA. Most of her books have followed suit. 

Jenny has over 40 years experience as a qualified nurse. She turned to creative writing as a hobby when her children were born. 

Born in Ireland, she now lives in Guernsey with her husband and children.

BOOK NEWS 

The Resistance Knitting Club comes out in February, 2026. A blend of Jenny’s two hobbies - knitting and reading. For more check out The Resistance Knitting Club Facebook Page. Join the conversation as well as share your crafting projects. 

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The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien

Book review of The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

🥖🥐🥖🥐 Grab your passport for the first in the European Escapes series 🥐🥖🥐🥖

No home. No job. No boyfriend.

When Lia loses her job straight after a break-up, she escapes to the Molins’ family-run boulangerie in Toulouse – the place she was last happy, far away from her cheating ex.

Sworn off men, she isn’t prepared for the spark she feels for charming cheesemaker Jean-Luc, nor for things heating up at the family’s country home in Gascony when handsome, self-assured vineyard-owner Théo asks her out.

Torn between the two and her connections to the Molins family, Lia has some tough decisions to make.

Lia loves being back in France with the people she cares about, helping in the boulangerie. On discovering it is under threat of closure, she is devastated and resolves to do everything in her power to help it stay open.

Will she succeed? And will she be able to choose between the two handsome Frenchmen and live her happily ever after?

For fans of Gillian Harvey, Rebecca Raisin, Jo Thomas and Veronica Henry.

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

My review

This book cleverly illustrated the good and the not so good in the life of a family run boulangerie in France, plus a whole lot more that kept me turning the pages, wonderfully absorbed in Lia’s adventures in France. 

Following a tough time, Lia takes the dramatic decision to return to the boulangerie in France, where she had spent a short but happy part of her youth. She is warmly welcomed by her former host family, and with the maturity that comes with age, now sees their lives in a different light. In some ways, everything is just as she remembered: the bedroom, the scent of freshly baked bread (that I am sure I could also smell), and the love of the family. She now also appreciates the important role the boulangerie has in the neighbourhood and the difficulties for the family as they juggle the unsociable hours and long days with family life.

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

As the pressure mounts for the Molins family, Lia wants to do all she can to help them out. Learning who to trust when you are new to an area is never easy, but I certainly enjoyed meeting the local characters alongside Lia as she took her first steps helping in the shop. I am a great believer in always saying yes to new opportunities, especially if they take you out of your comfort zone and Lia did just this, which gave us an exciting and entertaining read, full of French promise.

The comfort of the baked goods, the love of the family, plus the simmering heat of romance and the spark of an idea that could change her life forever, all set with the beautiful city of Toulouse as a backdrop - I couldn’t have asked for anything more from this book. 

Purchase links

French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

Amazon link 

Ebook – all digital retailers  

 

Susan Buchanan

Author Bio  

Susan Buchanan writes contemporary romance, women’s fiction and romantic comedies, usually featuring travel, food, family, friendship, community – also Christmas!

Her books are Sign of the Times, The Dating Game, The Christmas Spirit, Return of the Christmas Spirit, A Little Christmas Spirit, A Taste of Christmas Spirit and Just One Day – Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, The Leap Year Proposal, You Can’t Hurry Love and The Boulangerie on the Corner.

As a freelance developmental editor, copyeditor and proofreader, if she’s not reading, editing or writing, she’s thinking about it.  

She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Society of Authors and the Alliance of Independent Authors. 

She lives near Glasgow with her husband, two children and a crazy Labrador. 

When she’s not editing, writing, reading or caring for her two delightful cherubs, she likes going to the theatre, playing board games, watching quiz shows and eating out, and she has a penchant for writing retreats.

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The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan

Giveaway to Win a signed and dedicated paperback of The Boulangerie on the Corner (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Gleam box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Win a signed and dedicated paperback of The Boulangerie on the Corner (Open to UK Only)

It's been a long winter, this week

Frosty trees at Javarzay
photo credit Edward Brown

It’s been a long winter, this week

A week ago, we arrived back in France having spent Christmas and New Year in England with our families. We had been spoiled rotten, meals out, centrally heated houses with plush carpeted floors, and weather kind enough to allow us to wrap up warmly and walk regularly. France hasn’t been so gentle on us; in fact, this week has been a bit of a shock to the system.

With Mum on New Year's Eve

Our journey home was rather exciting with a ferry full to bursting and way more French being spoken around us than English, followed by a dark drive in Normandy on roads that were edged in white and glowed ominously in the car headlights. As we made our way to a hotel just north of Rouen, the satnav, that has ideas of intelligence way above reality, sent us deep into the undulating countryside, where we crept along deserted roads whose surfaces resembled ice-rinks, all to avoid a one-way system on the final approach to the hotel car park. 

The drive home the following day began at -6º and alternated between freezing cold with sunshine, and freezing fog which decorated the trees in a beautiful, sparkling hoary frost. You could say it was a day where everything was freezing, but on our arrival home, the fridge-freezer in the kitchen was anything but freezing. I guess after over twenty-one years of sterling service, it was bound to pack up at some point, but to choose a week when we weren’t here was a little unfair. The first task having unpacked the car, was to throw most of the contents of the freezer into bin bags and to make up a soup with what could be saved. The second task was to call the water company, fill up as many pans of water as possible and then turn the water back off as while the fountain from the stopcock tap was pretty, it wasn’t a feature we needed. Welcome home and Happy New Year!

Snow on the back gate

The week then threw us from one challenging meteorological state to another as we lunged from an orange alert for snow on Tuesday, that became an ice-rain warning on Wednesday, only to be replaced with the strong winds and rain warning on Thursday and Friday as storm Goretti appeared from the Bay of Biscay. Deep joy. The bikes were left untouched and the car too on Tuesday and Wednesday, as I set up office on the dining room table and clicked away on my laptop preparing the spreadsheets for the 2026 season at the château as well as some promotional bits and bobs for upcoming château and library events.

New fridge-freezer safely loaded onto lovely friend's trailer

It was a relief to get to the weekend having survived 48 hours with no running water, a week using the porch as a fridge and thankfully missed the worst of storm Goretti, whose full force hit further north. Saturday was an exciting outing to buy a new fridge-freezer, and Sunday was celebrated with our first bike ride of the year. It is unusual for us to go so long without cycling as we are not generally only fair-weather cyclists, but the winter this week was intense. I’m crossing my fingers for a calmer second half to January and as I spotted some snowdrops this morning, the signs of spring won’t be far behind.

The first bike ride of 2026

Don’t forget, if you want to know the dates for the public and school holidays in France this year, and how other notable dates are celebrated, click here to read my traditional 1^st of January post. 

Public and school holidays in France, 2026

Public holidays in France 2026

Public and school holidays in France, 2026

I’d like to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year from France and share my annual guide to help you make the most of the French holidays. Here you will find the dates of the public holidays, other notable dates and how they are celebrated, plus the school holiday dates, so you can avoid the busiest times on the roads or in the resorts.

 

Don’t forget, you can save the image and keep it to hand for reference during the year.

 

Public Holidays in France 2026

1^st January, New Year’s Day, jour de l’an 

5^th April, Easter Sunday, Pâques 

6^th April, Easter Monday, lundi de Pâques (note there is no Good Friday holiday in France unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

1^st May, Fête du Travail (celebrated by giving a sprig of lily of the valley)

8^th May, Victory in Europe Day, Victoire des Alliés 1945 

14^th May, Ascension Day, jeudi de l’Ascension (note schools will have an extra day off on Friday 15^thMay for the bridge (pont)) 

25^th May, Pentecost Monday, lundi de Pentecôte

14^th July, Fête Nationale 

15^th August, Assumption Day, Assomption 

1^st November, All Saint's Day, la Toussaint

11^th November, Armistice Day, Armistice 1918 

25^th December, Christmas Day, Noël (note there is no holiday in France on 26^th unless you live in Alsace or Moselle areas)

 

Faire le pont

Except for the holidays linked to Easter: Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Pentecost Monday, the above dates are the same every year and the holiday is always observed on the actual date rather than being moved to the nearest Monday (as the UK would do). 

 

Public holidays can therefore fall on weekends (Sunday 15^th August); to make up for this it is not uncommon for people to faire le pont (make a bridge) if a holiday falls on a Thursday (Ascension Day) or a Tuesday (14^th July), by taking off the Friday or Monday to give themselves a four-day weekend. This leave will be part of their annual holiday entitlement, or the hours will need to be made up, so while most businesses will be open on bridge days, some staff shortages can be expected. 

 

No work May!

With Easter falling in early April this year, May will be hosting four public holidays and with two falling on Fridays (1^st and 8^th), plus Ascension Thursday (14^th) and Pentecost Monday (25^th), that means only one full working week in May and four weeks that will give us three-day weekends. For those of us working in the tourism sector this should get the 2026 summer season off to a good start.

 

https://www.vacances-scolaires-gouv.com

School Holidays

The school holiday dates in France are split into three zones and most of the holidays are staggered so not everyone is trying to hit the ski slopes or beaches at the same time, although be prepared for extra traffic on the roads on all Saturdays during the school holidays, or better still avoid driving on these days.

 

Here are the dates for 2026:

The winter holiday will be from 7^th February to 8^th March. 

Zone A gets the first two weeks, Zone B the middle two and Zone C the last two.

 

The spring holiday will be from 4^th April to 3^rd May. 

Zone A gets the first two weeks, Zone B the middle two and Zone C the last two weeks.

 

Thanks to Ascension Day falling on 14^th May, everyone will be off for a four-day long weekend from Thursday 14^th May to Sunday 17^th May, with Friday being a bridge day.

 

The summer holiday for all zones will be from 4^th July until 1^st September.

 

The October holiday for all zones will be from 17^th October to 1^st November.

 

The Christmas holiday for all zones will be from 19^th December to 3^rd January 2027.

Fête de la musique, 21st June

 

Other dates to note and celebrate in France

6^th January, Epiphany, celebrated in France with a Galette des Rois (see here).

7^th January, winter sales begin, soldes d’hiver. Sales are regulated in France and the winter sales will run from 7^th January to 3^rd February. 

21^st to 25^th January, Nuits de la lecture, national reading nights celebrated in libraries across the country.

 

2^nd February Candlemas day, Chandeleur, celebrated in France with pancakes (see here).

17^th February, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras when carnival time begins in France and pancakes, or beignets (similar to doughnuts) are eaten.

 

29^th March, Palm Sunday, Rameaux a day where our local boulangeries bake something different (see here).

29^th March, clocks spring forward an hour to Central European Summer Time.

 

1^st April, Poisson d’avril celebrated in France with sticky fish (see here).

 

23^rd May, European museum night, Nuits des musées, where many museums open late or run special events. 

27^th May, National Resistance Day, journée nationale de la Résistance.

29^th May, Neighbours’ Day, fêtes des voisins often celebrated in France with shared meals.

31^st May, Mother’s Day, fêtes des mères.

 

21^st June, world music day, fête de la musique, celebrated with free concerts in towns and villages all over France.

21^st June, Father’s Day, fêtes des pères.

24^th June, summer sales begin, soldes d’été, and will run until 21^st July.

 

4^th July to 26^th July, Le Tour de France, with a planned depart in Barcelona, and with a finish on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. 

 

1^st August to 9^th August, Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, begins in Switzerland and finishes nine days later in Nice. 

 

19^th and 20^th September, European Heritage weekend, Journées Européennes du Patrimoine, many museums and other cultural sites will be open to the public, often organising special events, and with free or reduced-price entry. 

 

25^th October, clocks go back an hour to Central European Time. 

 

Free museum entry on the First Sundays of the month 

Did you know many national museums in France open for free on the first Sunday of the month? Whilst not exclusive, as there are often restrictions in July and August, and some museums will close for some of the winter months, this is certainly a secret worth knowing and we’ve had some interesting visits over the years, all for free. 

 

Note: not all museums are national and without the financial support from the government, locally or independently run places will not have the ability to offer free entries. If you fancy a cultural city break, it would be worthwhile checking the museum websites to see if they are taking part and plan your visit accordingly.

 

I hope you’ve found this useful and that wherever in France 2026 takes you, you have a wonderful time. I’d love to hear about your adventures and new discoveries.

Book review of Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

Beware the red and blue hoods - the signs of revolution

1358, Northern France. In a land ravaged by war, King John II is the prisoner of the King of England. His son, the teenaged Dauphin, must battle to impose control over the fractured kingdom. But King Charles of Navarre wants to wrestle power for himself. He leads Parisians and the Jacquerie to open rebellion, upending the social order, pitting noble against commoner in a brutal struggle for power.

A free company of English men and boys, led by John Hawkwood, previously of Sir John de Sully’s Vintaine, must navigate the treacherous landscape with only their wits, combat skills and each other to rely on.

From the smouldering ruins of small French villages, to the blood-soaked battlefields, their journey is fraught with danger, dogged by a mysterious enemy intent on revenge. As they face the harsh realities of medieval warfare, their bonds are tested, and their fates intertwined with the destiny of a nation.

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

My review

In Ashes of Rebellion, we follow the same troop or vintaine of Englishmen that we met in the first book in this series, Fields of Glory, set in 1346. I’ve somehow missed books two and three, Blood on the Sand and Blood of the Innocent, but it didn’t take me long to get the lie of the land and remember the names of significant characters. 

Following the Battle of Crécy in 1346, the English marched on to the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 and this book picks up their journey from there, feeding my appetite for our shared history along the way. When we are out and about exploring France by bike, one of my favourite things to do is to detour via a medieval town and imagine the lives of those who wandered the same narrow, cobbled streets, hundreds of years ago. This book fuelled my imagination, escorting me back through the centuries, bringing to life the hardships and dangers that lay around every narrow street corner and every shadowy forest path.

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks

Well-written historical fiction, like this novel, makes events so much easier to visualise than from a school textbook, especially as the noises, smells, and even their superstitions and fears were all vividly described. 

In order to fill in the gaps of my knowledge, I will go back and read books two and three, and if you enjoy gritty historical fiction, I’d recommend adding this series to your reading list too.

Purchase links

French Village Diaries is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk at no extra cost to you.

Amazon link 

Ebook – all digital retailers  

 

Author Bio  

Michael Jecks is the author of over 50 novels inspired by history and legend. He is the founder of Medieval Murderers, and has served on the committees of the Historical Writers’ Association, the CWA and he Detection Club. He was International Guest of Honour at the Bloody Words festival in Toronto, and Grand Master of the first parade in the New Orleans Mardi Gras.

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You can read my review of Fields of Glory by Michael Jecks here.

Ashes of Rebellion by Michael Jecks