A Place in the Hills [Hardcover]

Please don't judge this book by its cover. The face of the dreamy young woman, the Roman soldier looking brash and bold in his armour and helmet give the impression of a typical bodice ripper set in ancient Rome. Author Michelle Paver, however, achieves a rather nicely paced story set in London and a small town in the French Pyrenees that calls to mind all the emotional tension and misplaced trust of two meant-to-be self-conscious lovers of the early Barbara Taylor Bradford in her story of misunderstandings and manipulations entitled "Voice of the Heart." Like Bradford's two main characters, Antonia, an archeologist, and Patrick, an American student attending Oxford, are swept away by an emotional longing the moment they set eyes on each other, but selfish human forces do their utmost to ensure that the pair never quite get together.

Paver, successfully, fleshes out a bevy of characters with so many hang-ups and selfish motives that the reader cannot help but believe in their authenticity. The book's pages seem to turn on their own accord as the reader devours the sophisticated and complex natures of Pavel's universe.

Most enjoyable for me was the authors juxtapositioning of the object of Antonia's occupational obsession: the riddle of Cassius, a Roman poet and soldier whose suicide was prompted by a failed long-ago love affair that served as the inspiration for his verse but left for posterity the mystery of the woman's identity and the cause of their break-up. Pavel attains the reader's attention by intermingling her major present-day plot with fist-hand snippets of the Roman tragedy and the zealous and insightful ponderings of Antonia as she puzzles through Cassius' poetry and clues buried deep in historical archives. Pavel is never pedantic, but she is academic enough to make the quest seem real. The reader does guess at the root of the Cassius mystery, but the riddle itself remains unsolved until the very moment present day Antonia and Patrick become enlightened. This formidable achievement maintains the momentum until the very end - no mean feat -- with just the right amount of emotional response garnered from the reader to make it all a very satisfactory experience.

My only critism would be that at times, the happenstance thwarting the present day lovers becomes almost frustrating. Although Pavel does an admirable job of keeping a sense of reality that underlines the inferiority complexes of both the main characters, pages of this negative interplay could be reworked to include more of the psychological denouement of the characters of Debra, Myles' mother and Imogen, Myles sister. I would like to hear more about Imogen -- maybe a whole novel's worth about her reconditioning.

Otherwise, I commend Ms. Paver for a most enjoyable 2 days of rainy-day reading. For those purists, this is not great literature with shades of meaning and message. But when it comes down to it all, as Cassius proclaims in all of his poems, it comes pretty close to what is truely worthwhile in life.

Bottom line: Too bad there is not more access to this author in the US. I was lucky to have seen this novel written up on Amazon.UK and to pick up one of the only copies inexpensively available on the Amazon Marketplace. I would love to read Paver's other novels and will when they are made more accessable to the American reader. In the interim, Ms. Pavel. please write on!

I have started reading this book thinking it would be just another simple romance story. How pleasantly surprised I was to find out that this story is anything but... This book is purely mesmerizing and once I started reading it, it was extremely hard for me to put it down and extremely easy to ignore a variety of mundane everyday tasks, like cooking dinner or tidying up the house. This story is gripping, heart-breaking and just beautiful and I don't think you will regret it reading it in one sitting, or two...

I was entranced by this story. By the location, a secluded valley steeped in history, tucked away in the Fenouilledes, French foothills of the Pyrenees and of course the characters, in particular Antonia Hunt. This is the story of Antonia; the child, intelligent, misunderstood, desperate for her father's love and approval, whose only friend is Cassius, a Roman poet and soldier who lived 2,000 years ago; Antonia the talented archaeologist, colourful, vulnerable, passionate, determined to solve the riddle Cassius left. On the verge of success and having unexpectedly met Patrick, the first person to understand and love her, tragedy strikes and all she knows is ripped away from her. Antonia; numb, in darkness, at the edge of despair, suddenly having to face the past and "claw her way back to sunlight".

The Valley de Sarac is a fascinating backdrop to the story, mirroring the moods of the characters. Stunningly presented in the glory of summer, a time of hope, joy, optimism, then after the accident, the gloom of winter, stark and cold.

Having read the story, I glanced back through the book and savoured some favourite parts, as I often do. Soon, I realised I had fingers in four places, tying up details from the beginning that were mirrored or resolved at the end. They intrigued me so much that I actually re-read the book straight away, which I've never done before. In doing that, I found a depth that was very satisfying. Some details had not registered the first time because only in the light of whole story can they be seen and appreciated. The book itself is like an archaeological dig. The more you look, the more you find.

The intertwined stories of Cassius and Tacita, Antonia and Patrick are cleverly done. The layers of the book, the parallels of the characters and reflection of one in another is very refreshing and satisfying.

This is a love story with an intellectual twist, moving events and well-placed touches of humour which added to the enjoyment.

I was so absorbed that I reached the end reluctantly, not wanting to leave and wishing madly that there was more.