Rating: 
Summary: Birdsong still shines through the Gray clouds.
Review: I have had to reflect upon Faulks' 'Charlotte Gray' for some time to refrain from critcising it unduly. This is, quite genuinely, a convincing and well-woven story that will greatly appeal to first time readers of Faulks, yet still it may be a slight disappointment to those who have read 'Birdsong'. In itself, 'Charlotte Gray' is an accomplished novel by a gifted storyteller. - Our eponymous heroine is a complex and fairly intriuging lady, but in my opinion was less well conceived than the characters who accompany her in wartime France. The Jewish father and son, who aid Charlotte in the Resistance and in her search for her missing lover, are particularly compelling. In criticism, the concentration camps present in 'Charlotte Gray' would have benefited from the visceral style Faulks' employed in his description of the First World War trenches of 'Birdsong'. Unfortunately, the horrors of the Second World War are not described with the clarity or power present in his earlier book.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful insight into human nature
Review: It didn't matter where this novel was set,it could have been any period of turmoil in our history. What it showed was how powerful human emotion can be, both for good and evil. It is emotion (of love)which drives Charlotte to France and it is emotion (of hatred) which drives the two Jewish children to their deaths. The story is entirely probable and I am sure has been repeated many times since, in real life. I notice that many female readers have given poor reviews because they cannot identify with the heroin. Although I am a man, I am perfectly convinced that womankind have the ability to be both in love, and passionate about other things at the same time.
Rating:
Summary: Sebastian Faulks Is A Marvelous Writer
Review: I must say that I'm dismayed by several of the reviews that I've read here. The general consensus is that Birdsong is Faulks masterpiece and anything that is written and read afterward by Faulks must measure up to this. Fortunately, I've not read Birdsong so I'm not predisposed toward an opinion of Faulks. However, after reading Charlotte Gray, I will read Birdsong because this man can write like few others around. His ability to weave a story leaves no doubt in my mind that this is a writer who has extraordinary talent. Charlotte Gray was a very plausible story and so multi-leveled that I fail to understand how someone could not like it. Certainly it is not a profound masterpiece with universal insights that will enrich the minds of generations of readers. But it is a very well plotted story with a ton of information that very few people that are still alive today would know about Vichy France and the lives of ordinary people both in England and France that it affected. And, Charlotte Gray is an ordinary person in many respects which some of the reviewers fail to remember. What do they expect that all women who helped out in the war effort did superhuman tasks and that only the bravest or craziest are worth writing about? Get real people, most of the heroes and heroines are largely unimaginative people whom you wouldn't pay much attention to you if you knew them! Faulks has done an admirable job telling a story that's been told many times before but with a decidedly different point of view. He draws you into his characters and makes you want to know what is going to happen to them. This is a page turner that will leave any thinking person with more than they started with by the book's end. He has nothing to be ashamed of with Charlotte Gray and has an enthusiastic fan that will relish reading his Birdsong.
Rating: 
Summary: No better than alright....
Review: I agree with those who have rated this as an OK book but nothing special - although the scenes in which the two small boys are sent to the concentration camp seem all the more harrowing in the contxt of the central character's generally unisnpiring "adventures" in France. However, don't give up on Faulkes if you haven't read Birdsong. There is no comparison between the literary worth and emotional punch of these two novels: Birdsong will tear you apart even before you get to the trench warfare. Please read it.
Rating:
Summary: Charlotte Gray
Review: A fine successor to Birdsong..very sad in places
Rating: 
Summary: This book is vastly overrated
Review: I can hardly believe that the critics raving about Charlotte Gray have read the same book as me. I found it dull, lifeless, boringly written and all the other things that have been mentioned by some people here already. For me, why it failed was that Faulkes took an amazing true story - that of the SOE who carried out incredibly dangerous missions which we now can hardly imagine - but chose to make his heroine a real wimp who insists on staying in France to moon over her boyfriend, not doing anything much to aid the war effort - why doesn't she go home and be someone's housekeeper there? The parts about the two little boys are heartbreaking, but relatively brief compared to all the nonsense about Charlotte, not to mention the very over-the-top tale of recovered memory which inflates a minor incident into something which transforms her life. I was so particularly disappointed with this book because most stories about resistance fighters are pretty basic thrillers with little real insight into how these people really managed to live such difficult and brave lives - that is what I wanted to read about. Finally, there were quite a few women in the real SOE and I'm sure they did more than just hang around waiting for their boyfriends. No matter what everyone says about Birdsong, I won't be reading it - Charlotte Gray has put me off Faulkes for life.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes a little bit boring, but harrowing in parts
Review: When I read Charlotte Gray I was at first prepared for a war-time love-story, but I found the story-line made me want to read on and find out what was going to happen. I found Charlotte's feelings for Gregory to be a little too complex. I enjoyed the idea of Charlotte taking over the "Dominique" character. The interrment of Lavade and his subsequent death I found extremely painful but the imprisonment of Andre and Jacob caused me sleepless nights. I still have visions of them in my memory.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent airplane book but nothing more
Review: I would not recommend anyone buying this book. If you are curious, check it out from the library. The character development is shallow and the story is generally not well written. The readers who have enjoyed this must be very young, and therefore not exposed to the better writers of the past. I put a lot of blame on the editor of this book, as it is his job to assist the writer in preparing the manuscript. I will not read this author again.
Rating:
Summary: An overused subject but from a new perspective.
Review: I bought this book because the plot seemed to be somewhat original for the world war times. I was not prepared for a soap opera. I guess I expected somewhat of a different approach by Faulks. Still, it was a semi-interesting book.
Rating:
Summary: Competent....
Review: dull, long. Not for serious readers
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