The Lost Castle

A Split-Time Romance

By: Kristy Cambron

Narrated by: Amy Rubinate

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Bridging the past to the present in three time periods - the French Revolution, World War II, and present day - The Lost Castle is a story of loves won and lost, of battles waged in the hearts of men, and of an enchanted castle that stood witness to it all, inspiring a legacy of faith through the generations.

Ellie Carver arrives at her grandmother’s bedside expecting to find her silently slipping away. Instead, the beloved woman begins speaking. Of a secret past and castle ruins forgotten by time. Of a hidden chapel that served as a rendezvous for the French Resistance in World War II. Of lost love and deep regret...

Each piece that unlocks the story seems to unlock part of Ellie too - where she came from and who she is becoming. But her grandmother is quickly disappearing into the shadows of Alzheimer’s and Ellie must act fast if she wants to uncover the truth of her family’s history. Drawn by the mystery surrounding The Sleeping Beauty - a castle so named for Charles Perrault’s beloved fairy tale - Ellie embarks on a journey to France’s Loire Valley in hopes that she can unearth its secrets before time silences them forever.

Praise for The Lost Castle:

“Spanning the French Revolution, World War II and today, Cambron masterfully carries us into each period with all the romance and danger of the best fairy tale.” (Katherine Reay)

©2018 Kristy Cambron (P)2018 Thomas Nelson

Critic reviews

"It's been a long time since I've been so thoroughly engrossed in a novel...The Lost Castle kept me spellbound!" (Tamera Alexander, USA Today best-selling author of To Whisper Her Name and Christmas at Carnton)

Sweet, girlish romance and refreshingly CLEAN

I enjoyed the historical aspects, but I thought spanning three different time periods was a little too much. I think that the author could have had more time to develop the characters if just two time periods were chosen. The modern day heroine was certainly the least interesting. I thought it was a little too coincidental that each heroine found love. But, I guess they do that in fiction. It was sweet, I just didn't find myself pulled in. I kept waiting for them to unlock a great mystery, or have something exciting happen, but it all felt a little too distant. I think it was because while the author was detailing gloves and ribbon, you're in the reign of terror. And she spends a lot of time talking about shoes and clothing while you're in WWII France, it just didn't feel like the seriousness, or the nitty gritty was captured, seemed a little too fanciful for my taste. But it's sweet. I appreciated the moral uprightness, and the fact that there was romance but it stayed clean. And there was mention of faith and God.

Slow to start but picks up speed.

Almost gave up on this one but glad I hung in there. Beautifully told story of 3 generations, inspired by a real castle in the Loire Valley. Feel like I need to take the field trip now!

Once you get how the 3 timelines is

Once you get how the 3 time lines is your able to keep up with the storyline completely. I love how the author wrote this and the characters strengths. Absolutely remarkable and very descriptive and accurate in the portatrial of each time-line. I definitely recommend this novel and I have already moved on to novel 2 in this series. Love it.

Fantastic!

I couldn’t put it down! 3 great stories that combined for a great connection! I loved it

I hate to say … but only average.

The first half of this book was torture. The plot gave way to vivid, long winded descriptions. I honestly would not have kept going if I had not been on a long car trip. By the second half I wanted to know if my assumptions of the predictable ending were correct, and they were. The best part was the characters themselves but so much more could have been done with them.

A lot of Stories Knit into One

I’m glad I persevered through this as it was a good story and the historical connections were GREAT. And, I’ve purchased and downloaded the next two, as the first was a good enough “hook!”
At times, the narration was not the most engaging and for me it was often hard to follow. The book switches back and forth between three characters which is fine, but then it switches years within the characters and it’s hard to keep track while listening. This may be ok when you are actually reading a book because you could flip a few pages and look at the time from previous chapters so you can understand where the character is in life …. Or maybe if your auditory skills are better than mine you won’t have a problem.

An incredible and captivating story

Loved everything about this story; the setting, the journey through history and time, the characters, the vivid pictures in my brain painted by Amy Rubinate. It was an amazing escape and I didn’t want it to end.

Love this series!

The characters seem so alive, the relationships so real, and the author so articulately engaging!

I can't handle this narrator!

I'm on chapter 7, really would like to finish this, but the accents are making me cringe. The American the worst of all! Blah!

A beautiful story of three women throughout history who share a castle in common

I really enjoyed this story and I really appreciate that the author had a little note at the end telling you which parts were based in history and which places were real. T

he one thing I didn’t enjoy was the narrator – overall she was a good reader, but her French accents did not sound French at all. Since the story is set in France and most of the characters were French, it was not a minor problem. Her American and English accents were great, so I’m not sure what happened.