Rating: 
Summary: The last pages of the book made me cry!
Review: As usual Faulks uses his descriptive subtlety to the maximum. The horrors of war and ethnic cleansing brought to the reader via the vehicle of two small Jewish boys. I haven't cried when reading a book before but the closing chapter of Charlotte Gray had me in tears.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, could have been better
Review: Like most of the other reviewers here I found that Charlotte Gray didn't come close to Birdsong - but maybe it is unfair to compare the too. Charlotte is a good read. I came to care deeply about all of the characters and was eager to see what would happen to them. The one part of the story that rings false is the love story between Charlotte and Peter. Much like the granddaughter in Birdsong, this plot seemed contrived as a way to tell the rest of the story. Faulks is at his best describing life in "Free" France and the people who lived there. His prose brings the landscape and even the smells to life. From anyone else this would have probably been considered a wonderful book, maybe it's just that from Faulks we've come to expect a bit more.
Rating: 
Summary: recommend the audio book
Review: Sam West's interpretation of the characters in Charlotte Gray made the book well worth "listening to" - he's fantastic. His inflections and characterizations are consistent and show imagination and strength. I had to share side 2 of the first tape with all my sisters. Those who have listened will know what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: Pure entertainment
Review: While not as viscerally charged as Birdsong, this book does succeed on an entertainment level. The characters and plotlines are interesting and the pacing is wonderful. Enjoy it for what it is instead of comparing it to other books.
Rating:
Summary: Not as hot as we are led to believe
Review: Actually rather a pedestrian book about rather a difficult subject .... given the subject matter one would expect to feel more moved, but somewhow Faulks missed it.... The low spots are very low,prepare to weep as Andre and Jacob are led to the gas chamber... but the rest is samey... sorry Sebastian, I am very disappointed
Rating:
Summary: Very good.
Review: "Charlotte Gray" is the only novel I've read in recent months that can compare to "The Triumph and the Glory" for superlative plot, engaging theme, well-rounded characters, and overall quality. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A passable novel, flawed but enjoyable
Review: If you are expecting a novel with the power and depth of Birdsong you will be disappointed. While a very passable book, this one somehow falls short of the mark. Perhaps it is unfair to expect another Birdsong from Mr Faulks, at least in the short-term.The prose is good, and the author builds his characters convincingly. I found no difficulty in immersing myself in the story and enjoyed much of the narrative. What I had problems with was the oddly inconsistent behaviour of the main character who, we are told, turns out to be one of the SOE's best agents. Why, I kept asking myself, is she pursuing this daft personal mission when it can jeopardize the organization and at worst bring about her own death? This and other incongruous events and attitudes kept jarring and gave the novel a slightly contrived feel. Do I recommend Charlotte Gray? Yes I do. Even at his most workmanlike, Sebastian Faulks can out-perform most of his contemporaries. Even with its flaws this is a readable, if not memorable, novel.
Rating:
Summary: Faulks' writing is great, but the story is dull.
Review: I was amazed by Faulks' writing style, very poetic and well-written. However, the story itself is boring. It is definitely not a page-turner. I struggled to finish reading the book since it's a gift. This novel is something that can kill the time, but I would not highly recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Faulks gets, but better than most novels.
Review: Charlotte Gray follows a recent trend of slow reads, books so leisurely in pace that they are easy to put down and difficult to pick up again. This one, ultimately, is rewarding, in part because of the solution to the title character's dark, mysterious haunting and partly because Faulks is as good a writer of fiction as is working today. This work does not stand tall beside Birdsong, the second in Faulks' triology and an honest-to-god towering novel, but little else in English does. Faulks has a feel for the way the English talk and an obvious affinity for the French which both emerge in Charlotte Gray to the book's advantage. Faulks is at his anxiety-inducing best when he brings Nazis and collaborationist Frenchmen into the mix, and when he describes the transporting of Jews -- including two little boys -- to their deaths in the internment camps. His examination of the French character and how some of these people could collaborate with Nazis, rationalizing all the while, as others fought to their deaths is enlightening and often powerful. Charlotte Gray is not the extraordinary piece of 20th Century writing that Birdsong is, but in Faulks' hands a novel of any kind is worth reading, and this one is not an exception.
Rating:
Summary: Two very different books rolled into one.
Review: My summary paraphrases the review by the NY Times. The first part of this book involves young people from the British Isles, living in post-Blitz London, all involved in some sort of war work. However, most of the story revolves around the social lives of these people. It is all very cheerio and clipped dialogue. Wrods by Noel Coward, music my Cole Porter! It very closly resembles movies made in the early '40's about this time and place. You almost expect David Niven and some classy, blonde movie star to jump out of the pages. Then WHAM...it jumps right to the story of two little French,jewish boys ages 7 and 4 who in two pages have their tender,loving parents yanked forever from their lives. Of all the details about Vichy France told in this story, the story of Jacob and Andre will stay with you more than anything else. It reminded me of the little girl in red in Schindler'sList. So much so, that I found myself saying, yea,yea,yea to what happened to Charlote and Peter and just rushing to finish the book.
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