IN THE BLUE OF THE EVENING is a historical novel which depicts the rise and fall of the friendship of two young, French-Canadian women in the mill town of Collins, Maine, during World War II. Micheline Simard and Lorraine Coutiere share a secret which upends their families, in a tight knit community where tradition, religious values, and reputation matter most. Micheline learns to think and act for herself, learning the power of a lie, while Lorraine must struggle to discern lies, and how to break out of the shadow of convention and lead her own life. The novel presents multiple points of view in the third person, which lets the reader follow the plot as it moves forward in multiple locations. Like Ian McEwan's Atonement and Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Dreams, IN THE BLUE OF THE EVENING uses mistaken identities, secrets, and discoveries for dramatic effect.
