Page Turners – June 2026 review

In June the Page Turners read Sebastian Faulks’ 1998 novel ‘Charlotte Gray‘. Charlotte becomes an agent of Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) assigned to work with the French Resistance in Vichy France, during World War II. After completing her first mission she remains in France and tries to locate her lover, a pilot who is missing in action. Before she finally returns to England, Charlotte becomes more involved with the French community and particularly with the efforts to conceal local Jewish people from the Nazis. The book has some particularly harrowing scenes as we follow the fate of these Jews.

We agreed that the book was well written. In particular the descriptive writing gives a good sense of place and the depiction of the realities of hardship, loss and the impact of war on individuals and communities is powerful. We also learnt something of the politics of France at the time. However many of us failed to engage with the central character and this led to us not particularly enjoying the book. About three years ago we read a non-fiction book about the work of SOE agents and some of us remembered this and compared Charlotte unfavourably with those real-life heroines.

This is perhaps not a beach read – one of us felt it might be more suited to a winter afternoon! – however if you would like to read it for yourself, do get in touch and perhaps swap it for a page turner of your own.

Deborah Wallis, convenor