What Are Buzz Residents Reading? Q&A with Elaine Schroller

This week, I interviewed Buzz resident Elaine Schroller about what she has read recently and loved. She selected Her Own War by Debra Borchert. The publisher provides this summary: “Imprisoned for the crime of impersonating a man, Geneviève LaGarde fears giving birth in an asylum could be certain death for her and her unborn child. Desperate for her release, her husband, Louis, trades his freedom for hers and joins Bonaparte’s army in Egypt.

As Geneviève wages her own war by spying against the tyrannical general, she not only risks her own life but also those of her children and the four hundred families who depend on the Château de Verzat estate. Knowing her desperate actions could cause the government to confiscate the entire vineyard, she sacrifices all to save her husband and protect her community, but her actions could also hasten her husband’s demise. In a world of shifting allegiances, Geneviève must choose between love and duty, hope and despair, as she fights for her family’s survival.”

Here is what Elaine has to say about it:

What is the best book you have read recently?

Her Own War (Château de Verzat Book 3) by Debra Borchert. Although this is the third book in a series, it can be read as a standalone.

What did you like about it? What made it stand out to you?

Set in revolutionary era France, this series features gutsy women who take on tasks that society tells them they shouldn’t. Sound intriguing, don’t they? Her Own War is a masterful blend of strong women and honorable men struggling to survive and hoping to thrive at the end of the French revolution into the beginnings of the Napoleonic era. Geneviève LaGarde is a heroine who races to face threats to her home and family, often causing as much trouble as she hopes to avoid. Borchert’s command of the era’s history is breathtaking; every scene is imbued with the scents, sounds, and colors of the Loire Valley, Paris, and Egypt in the late years of the 1700s. With short chapters alternating between main character points of view, I found myself devouring chapters wanting to know what happened next.

Did you read a physical book, a digital copy, or an audiobook? Did that format work well for you?

I read a digital copy using the Kindle app on my Samsung tablet. I also use the app’s notebook functionality to highlight and make notes on intriguing passages, which is super useful for my own research. As much as I love my hundreds of physical books, having at least as many ebooks available without having to buy more bookcases and sticky notes is a definite plus!

How did you learn about the book?

For every book on a bestseller list, there are at least one hundred that are just as good and often better. Debra Borchert is a fellow member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and, like me, is an enthusiastic Francophile. Her companion short stories and a cookbook (Borchert says the characters of her books stunned her when they demanded she publish their recipes!) are wonderful ways to linger longer in her 18th-century world.

What are you reading now?

The Ship of Brides by JoJo Moyes for tales of more than 600 Australian WWII brides sailing to England to reunite with their English husbands and The Hugo Marsten Mystery novels by Englishman-turned-Austinite Mark Pryor for present-day Paris with the regional security officer of the American embassy in Paris.

For more book recommendations and bookish thoughts, see Cindy’s monthly Buzz Reads column, her award-winning Thoughts from a Page Podcast or follow @ThoughtsFromaPage on Instagram.