Sandra's Book Club: Blog Tour: IN THE ORCHARDS OF SHADOW AND LIGHT by Arthur McMaster

In the French Resistance of 1944, trust is the difference between life and death.

Post-war troubles heighten when our hero’s life is in danger and all he holds dear is at risk.

In the Orchards of Shadow and Light

The Shadow Series Book 1

by Arthur McMaster

Genre: Historical WWII Suspenseful Spy Romance

In the vast tapestry of war, outcomes are never certain. Its demands are endless, its sacrifices countless. Yet for one couple who will share war's burdens and dangers-a daring American OSS agent and a French Resistance leader-its conclusion will transform both lives forever.

From the opening line, author Arthur McMaster, a retired foreign intelligence officer, makes clear: "No families escape the devastation of war." What follows is storytelling you won't be able to set aside. Amid the apple orchards and farmlands of war-ravaged Western Europe in the final years of World War II, we follow thirty-five-year-old OSS operative Claire Skiffington and French Resistance leader Jacques Berlangier through perilous clandestine operations. Eluding Vichy collaborators and Wehrmacht checkpoints, Claire's cover is that of a simple pastry girl, but this emissary is far more than she appears.

Years after the Nazi menace has passed, in the small Breton village of Combourg, Claire and Jacques are in love and determined to build a life together. Their days and nights in Paris work to make it all magical. But someone wants Jacques dead. Why? And how will one estranged family member unlock the source of danger?

Brimming with suspense and rich in character development, In the Orchards of Shadow and Light features beautiful imagery and finely drawn characters. Written by former DIA-CIA analyst and award-winning writer Arthur McMaster, In the Orchards of Shadow and Light is the first in a trilogy based on espionage, romance, and suspense. Combines elements of "The Rose Code," "The Nightingale," and "All the Light We Cannot See" to create a rich atmosphere, original characters embroiled in real historical events, dangerous romance and compelling drama. This story represents one man and one woman's perilous commitment to service in the face of danger: one couple's commitment to overcoming treachery and blazing a future together.

What readers are saying:

“Finely crafted with an artisan's touch, there is an unseen history beneath the lives of those trying to survive. Precisely researched, McMaster adroitly drops the reader behind the lines of clandestine operations. The grim destruction of Europe is brought to life with beautiful imagery and reconnoitered characters-every bit as interesting as those of Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle and The Key to Rebecca. This is a fine novel no one should pass up.”

— William Walsh, author of Lakewood (TouchPoint Press)

As you begin this book, prepare yourself for reading a writer who knows the details of espionage so well they feel like second nature, rather than research. Prepare yourself for lush, lyrical prose and the historical span of an Ian McEwan novel. This is a spy story, a love story, and a family story set largely in France, during a war, but McMaster balances the deprivations of war with domestic arts, the healing chores of mother women who bake stolen oranges into cakes, somehow find tea to serve, and harvest the slenderest sprigs of tarragon and chervil, plucked from their gardens, and stored in delicate clay pottery. This is a white knuckle thriller written by someone with all the sensibilities of a poet.

— Susan Tekulve, author of In the Garden of Stone

**Releases June 2^nd – Order Now!!**

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Near eleven, Jacques’s truck approached the barn. There, he and Claire saw two men in black coats putting a third into their vehicle. The barn behind them roiled in flame. From the look of it, the generator had exploded, or maybe they had simply set off some explosives. Jacques and Claire sat far enough back to observe what had happened but not close enough to be spotted.

“Goddamn it.”

“My God, Jacques,” she said. “They are taking him.” Their own luck had held. Thomas’s had not. “And he had been so clever. The boot heel. The shaving cream.”

“We have to go. Immediately!” Both watched, though only seconds more, until the Germans drove off with their prize, the barn behind them collapsing in flame. “Did you think he knew about Combourg?” Jacques asked her.

She had never mentioned it. They’d only met Thomas at the Laurent farm, in Épiniac. “As I recall, nothing was ever said to him about Combourg.”

“He would not know of the monsignor, Roger’s uncle,” she added. They had kept that secret. Claire rubbed at the palm of one hand, kneading it with the knuckle of the other.

“No. And he does not know our real names,” Jacques said. “But Roger Laurent could know.”

Jacques took her hand. “Thomas is lost, but what harm Roger could do yet is considerable. If he gives up Roger.”

“Will he? Where will they take him?” she asked as Jacques worked the truck around, knowing he was leaving behind his apples and, more importantly, his cover for travel.

“Saint-Lô, I would think. Some Nazi headquarters.”

As Jacques wrenched the truck sharply onto the road toward home, where the deeply distressed Claire would be able to arrange for her return to Bodney, a bottle scooted out from under her seat.

“Look at this,” she said, pulling it up from the floor. “It’s his Calvados.” Attempting to hold back tears.

“Keep it. We will finish it tonight in his honor with a tip of the hat to our friend.”

Passing near enough to the Laurent farm en route to Combourg, with relative safety still several kilometers away, Jacques pointed to the farmhouse. It was risky, but he had to take a look, remaining well back from potential observation. There, they were able to make out, standing near the entry door, the one thing they had hardly dared hope to see—a dark green motorcycle.

What Roger’s return portended was unclear, but given what had happened to Thomas, that outcome was surely the best they could have hoped for. Jacques slowed the truck and looked to the darkened house, their hearts racing.

“Oh my God. He’s come back.”

Jacques touched her hand.

She thought to say something, leaning into him. “Let’s go home, Jacques. Please!” Then added, “You did well, getting us through it all. So brave.”

“You and me,” he said. “We did. Together.” He touched her face tenderly.

In that moment, Jacques and Claire leaned toward each other for a necessary hug, and then a kiss. A kiss of relief. A kiss of what might yet be.

Poet, playwright and novelist, Arthur retired from full-time teaching, most recently as Visiting Assoc. Professor of English, at Converse College, in Spartanburg, SC. HIs books include: In the Orchards of Our Mothers (historical fiction novel); The Whole Picture Show (poetry) Musical Muse (academic); Birdies Never Die (golf); Givings & Misgivings (poetry) and The Spy Who Came Down with a Cold (poetry) and Need to Know (memoir).

Arthur's first career was that of a foreign intelligence officer, with assignments with military intelligence and briefly with the CIA. Arthur earned an MFA degree in Poetry at University of Florida. Pushcart Prize nominations. He now teaches in Continuing Education Dept for Furman University (fiction and poetry).

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