Francesca Pascal: A World War II Drama (World War II Adventure)

Inspired by a true story, Francesca Pascal is a compelling World War II adventure from the bestselling author of Farewell Bergerac, The Cyclist and Galdir: A Slave's Tale. France, 1942: A Nazi Officer steals a Matisse painting which becomes a symbol of freedom against the oppressors. Francesca, an artist and conservator, grieving over the death of her daughter at the hands of German soldiers, flees Paris. She has only a handful of paintings and a desire for revenge she is ill-equipped to pursue. In the long hard winter that follows, she joins a group of Partisans in their battle to free France and salvage her culture. She becomes embroiled in a plot to recover Le Mur Rose, the stolen painting. The painting becomes her reason for fighting and an opportunity for revenge upon the occupying force - a force for evil. Francesca Pascal is an unforgettable wartime tale of vengeance, art theft, and intrigue.

This book was the hardest to write of my published novels. I've lived with women all my life but should confess to the fact I maybe still don't entirely understand them. To write a book from a woman's perspective therefore was a challenge.
The structure of the book is as one might expect but the storyline is not formulaic mainly because real life doesn't unfold in a standard way and the classic protagonist / antagonist struggle so often flogged to death in books is unrealistic. Francesca isn't Modesty Blaise so please don't buy if you want a superman to come to anyone's rescue!
The publisher's description above hints that the storyline is based upon a particular person but this is a fictional novel with fictional characters and the story itself is not based upon anyone in particular. Where the book overlaps with truth is that the Matisse was really stolen by Nazis. One of the characters fits Lise Lesevre's description of Klaus Barbie (the Butcher of Lyon) and some of  the story mirrors her description of some of the things that happened to her as she described them at Barbie's trial.
Maybe it's because the book took effort to write, it remains my favourite.
Hope you enjoy reading 'Francesca Pascal' as much as I enjoyed writing it - if you don't, I'm sure you will let me know :-)