Small Acts of Defiance: A Novel of WWII and Paris

This story starts out in Australia where a mother Yvonne, and her daughter Lucie are left homeless, by a deadly fire in their home in the middle of the night. Lucie knows very well it was her dad that started the fire, in which he died...but did he plan on killing her and her mom too.? Her dad who had became very reclusive due to his time he spent in world war 1, and the horrors he experienced, left him alone and isolated from the only family he had, her and her mother. Lucie could remember all her young life after her dad returned from the war, hearing him screaming and yelling in the middle of the night. On her sixteenth Birthday her dad had given her a present that was just from him, a leather bound sketch pad and special pencils. Both Lucie and her mom were so surprised by his gift, she knew her father was very artistic and made his living after the war painting, in Paris..that was how her mother and father had met. Lucie herself had her fathers gift of drawing, but it was one thing her father never let himself get closer to her over ...their shared gift of being artistic....he always said it was in another lifetime. So after their loss ...of the husband/ dad, Lucie's mom reached out to her only brother who lived in Paris. He paid their way for them to come live in Paris as a family..as he to suffered losses of his wife and baby due to illness. As time goes on Lucie finds her uncle Gerard a hard person ..and difficult to talk ...to and warm up to. Europe becomes trapped in world war ll, with Hitler invading Paris. Lucie befriends a Jewish girl Aline, and her mom and grandfather..as they form a close relationship, Lucie uses her Artistic skills to help Aline and the Resistance she has joined in any way she can. Making up posters, certificates of birth, falsifying identity cards, marriage certificates, anything to help with small acts of Defiance. I have to say it was a decent enough story..but something about it just didn't give me that " This is a "GREAT BOOK" feeling..like in many parts..she explains how Lucie will randomly start drawing different people..then fold the drawings and hide them..in floor boards, in tree hollows, under rocks, but then never tells you why or what became of these drawings...it just falls flat in a few parts of the story. Thats the only way to describe the book.I feel bad saying that..Its NOT the WHOLE story..just certain parts. The Historical places in Paris, and all the Characters your introduced to were wonderfully described. Sometimes I feel if you Read an exceptional book..then pickup another to read.. it kinda can't compare to the one you just finished. I had just finished "The Rose Code" which was no comparison. I think that's why I felt this fell short ..in comparison to that book. There's SO MUCH MORE of course to the story, between Lucie, the Uncle, Aline's and Lucie's involvement in the Resistance.. with even Lucie's mom and Aline's mom, joining in to help anyway they could. The sad Capture and imprisonment of Aline's old dear Grandfather, Samuel. The Facts and treatment of the Jewish population were all told in heartbreaking reality. All in All I can say I felt pleased to have read this book, with its heartful story.