The Fortress

A Love Story

By: Danielle Trussoni

Narrated by: Danielle Trussoni

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

The critically acclaimed, best-selling author of Falling Through the Earth and Angelology returns with this much-anticipated memoir of love and transformation in France. The Fortress is Peter Mayle meets Eat, Pray, Love, a gorgeously written account of one woman's journey to the other side of the romantic fairy tale.

"If I had been another woman, I might have been skeptical. But I wasn't another woman. I was a woman ready to be swept away. I was a woman ready for her story to begin. As a writer, story was all that mattered. Rising action, dramatic complication, heroes and villains and dark plots. I believed I was the author of my life, that I controlled the narration."

From their first kiss, 27-year-old writer Danielle Trussoni is spellbound by a novelist from Bulgaria. The two share a love of jazz and books and travel, passions that intensify their whirlwind romance.

Eight years later, hopeful to renew their marriage, Danielle and her husband move to the south of France, to a picturesque medieval village in the Languedoc. It is here, in a haunted stone fortress built by the Knights Templar, that she comes to understand the dark, subterranean forces that have been following her all along.

While Danielle and her husband eventually part, Danielle's time in the fortress brings precious wisdom about life and love that she could not have learned otherwise. Ultimately she finds the strength to overcome her illusions and start again.

An incisive look at romantic love, The Fortress is one woman's fight to understand the complexities of her own heart, told by one of the best writers of her generation.

©2016 Danielle Trussoni (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

A necessary read

Every woman needs to read this. This is what women face, no matter who you area, where you are from, rich or poor. May this story be a lesson of awareness to young women dreaming of marriage and to those who find themselves at a crossroads. Let the Fortress protect you from a horrific situation.

The narration was awful

I struggled with this book. It amazed me that someone did not step in to get another narrator. I know this is biographical but the narration was like listening to a high schooler read in front of the class. The prose was good but the narration made it feel forced and discordant. The story itself was okay but the writer's lack of chutzpah throughout was tough to listen to.

The healing therapy you needed but were afraid to face

If you’ve been through a painful divorce, know someone who has or are suffering in a horrid marriage and are contemplating divorce ~ this book will help you. Knowing you will survive when all hope is lost is the only thing you can hold onto sometimes. Seeing the same red flags she experienced completely resonated with me ~ although at the time we didn’t realize ~ is comforting when you are beating yourself up for getting involved with the person who is trying to destroy you. These stories will help others who may be experiencing these and may prevent major heartache. Her wisdom is a gift. Share this with your friends. Thank you, Danielle.