Blog Tour: The Time of Cherries – Michael S. Hollington

Burgundy, 1861.

Christine ‘Kiki’ Vellay, the daughter of vineyard workers, is forced to marry an older man in exchange for a piece of land. He abuses her. Seduced by a young naval cadet she plots to run away. When her husband is killed during the attempt, she finds herself wrongly accused of his murder.

Kiki is on the run.

On reaching Paris in disguise, Kiki discovers she is pregnant and takes on various jobs to survive. When her child is stolen from her, she begins a desperate attempt to find him. Her story takes her from imprisonment in the infamous Conciergerie, to a chateau in the Loire, back to Paris under siege – as a spy – during the Franco­Prussian war, culminating in a dramatic conclusion in the final bloody week of the Paris Commune.

A story of resilience in the face of immense hardship, The Time of Cherriesis a gripping account of a woman’s instinct and longing for her child.

Michael S Hollington qualified as a chartered surveyor. After spells in the City, Belgium and North America he spent the bulk of his career in Hong Kong, selling buildings on behalf of clients. He lives in London with his wife, Sarah. The Time of Cherries is his first published novel.

My thoughts: this was a really interesting, well written and researched historical novel with a delightful and compelling protagonist in Christine “Kiki” Vellay, who sometimes uses a lot of different names as she works her way through the 19th Century and Paris at the height of the Commune.

A resourceful and brave young woman, after the death of her horrible husband, she flees to the capital and using her wits and the skills she’s accrued as an educated seamstress, she takes on a variety of jobs, from chambermaid to accountant for a mining firm, eventually becoming a Baroness and a vintner.

Her son is kidnapped and she puts much of her efforts into rescuing him and building her finances so she can provide for him. She makes genuine friends along the way, as well as some false ones. Becoming a spy, she is double crossed but rescued once again by a face from her past.

I really enjoyed this book, it brings a period of time that doesn’t get covered much, to life and in the figure of Kiki, the hidden and often forgotten lives of ordinary women (even though she is pretty extraordinary).

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.