The Ambassador's Daughter

A well written novel. Life at the peace talks in Paris in 1919, Margot is a young, naïve woman, helping her father as he negotiates with dignitaries. She meets Krysia and is taken aback by other people’s views, challenging her rather narrow view of life so far.She becomes embroiled in subterfuge, rather wishing she hadn’t, further complicated by her feelings of love for a German naval officer although she is engaged. All she wants is for life to return to normalcy but that is a forlorn hope in the aftermath of WW1.This is a compelling read, a way of looking at things from a different perspective with some twists and turns that make a good novel a great novel.

It is 1919. Margot Rosenthal is 20 years old and in Paris accompanying her father, a German diplomat, who is attending the peace conference following the Great War. Margot is a reluctant visitor - she feels distrusted by the allies for being a German and distrusted by the Germans for being a Jew.Margot is engaged to Stefan who she has known since their schooldays. It was an impulsive engagement and one which she may be regretting. Stefan was about to go to war and Margot accepted his marriage proposal without thinking about the consequences too much. When Stefan returns at the end of the war he is badly injured and Margot is torn between her feelings for Stefan and her desire for independence.With her father concentrating on the conference, Margot is left to her own devices and is bored. Her ensuing friendship with Krysia, a young Polish musician who has secrets of her own, brings her into contact with some shady characters and the story then leads to blackmail and espionage. Margot finds herself having to make some very difficult decisions, not least because she has met Georg, a young German soldier who is also part of the delegation and brings into question her feelings for Stefan. Margo is helping Georg with some translation work for the conference and finds herself increasingly drawn to him.This is more than just a romance story and I found it an interesting and compelling read. I didn't really know much about the Treaty of Versailles and after reading this book, I was interested enough to look into it further. There were occasions when the dialogue seemed out of place for the period but this didn't affect my overall enjoyment. The atmosphere of post-war Paris was well described and the characters were believable and engaging. There are secrets and twists throughout the book and it was interesting to see Margo's character mature as the story neared its conclusion.I would certainly read more books by this author.

I have read all of Pam Jenoff's books and just cannot put them down once I start to read them. She doesn't appear to be as well known as some authors and I cannot understand why.. All o my friends enjoy them jut as much as I do.I love he 1st 2 books about WW11 and the Resistance workers. The descriptons are so vivid that you feel as if you are actually there. I am sure that this book will be loved by all those who read it and cannot wait for her next novl to come out,Thanking youS.Jones

I have read all Pam Jenoff's previous books and when I saw this one advertised I had to buy it! However, I have found it is not up to her usual standard of writing and got rather bored with it - needless to say, I abandoned it having much better books to read.

Unusually I did not finish this book. I found the style so irritating. I found I had no patience with the protagonist and could not careless what happened. Another member of my bookclub also gave up after the first 100 pages for similar reasons. Others completed it and were slightly kinder.

Haven't read the book yet, its on my reading pile !! But I don't doubt for one minute that a book writtenby Pam Jenoff would be anything else but excellent. Looking forward to reading this book. All her otherbooks that I have read have been excellent.

Required reading as book club choice. Don't think any of members finished except the person who chose it. Loosely set around the peace talks at end of WW1. Heroine made part of assassination plot. Many historical inaccuracies, contrived and unlikely storyline, one-dimensional characters. Unbelievably awful. How can this author's books be so popular.

My wife loves Pam Jennof!