Midwest Book Review wrote:
“An original work of truly impressive literary caliber, "Celine on Fire" is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking, as deftly crafted as it is provocatively insightful. Exceptionally well written, "Celine on Fire" showcases author Dale Allan Pelton's genuine flair for interweaving historical elements into a chronicle populated by vividly drawn characters. The result is a book that will linger in the mind long after it has been finished and set back upon the shelf. "Celine on Fire" is unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library collections.” Midwest Book Review.
Manhattan Book Review, Star Rating: 5/5, wrote:
“Celine on Fire “shows, through engaging discourse, how disparate events shape who we are today. We meet a colorful cast of characters, each with their own unique take on life, a book stuffed full of philosophical discourse applied to history and culture. Pelton's attention to historic detail is top-notch. This is a book that belongs in class curricula. It's the brilliance and beauty of chaos theory. Celine on Fire is a book that will make you stop and think, reminding me of Voltaire’s Candide. Pelton’s historical masterpiece is a sweeping drama and beautiful love story.”
KIRKUS BOOK REVIEW
Young people in postwar France yearn for love while talking about historical tragedies in this book of ideas. The most unusual aspect of Dale Allan Pelton’s three volume book is the way his deep dive into the catastrophes of history is revealed through the dialogue of dozens of characters.
Céline is a 14-year-old ballet student and budding intellectual in Part I, 1955 who matures to 21 in Part III, 1962. Along with her rigorous ballet training, she discovers Paris with her best friend French Algerian Yasmina Hamina and learns about French colonialism from her 28-year-old sister, Yvonne, a Sorbonne professor of history and philosophy. One night, they share a taxi in the rain with Giovanni, 23, a talented Italian-American trumpeter playing Paris clubs with an African-American jazz group. Giovanni falls in love with Yvonne who becomes his philosophical mentor.
When a terrible accident stills Yvonne’s voice, years of emotional turmoil ensue as Céline questions whether her passion for the trumpeter will ever be requited, and in his mourning, Giovanni wonders whether he can commit to anyone. On a jazz tour behind the Iron Curtain in 1959 during a time of de-Stalinization, he learns from his Budapest fans about the USSR’s savage repression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Marie Dvoracek, a Prague painter and member of an underground anti-Soviet women’s resistance group, reveals to him Nazi and Soviet atrocities during World War II.
After Giovanni abandons Céline to return to New York City, she begins studying history and foreign affairs at the University of Lausanne and dance under Tomás, a master flamenco dancer who tells her about the Spanish Civil War, the Korean War, and Wahhabi Islam. By blurring the line between romance and history, the author introduces some dissonances in theme, tone, and pacing into his intensive exploration of history. Along with the analysis of history, Pelton conjures up impressionist Parisian scenes (“the street sweepers were clearing the grand avenues, the rose and amber light of the false dawn glowing through dissolving remnants of clouds”) and colorful characters (“the photographer wore a crumpled mariner’s hat, and a long canvas coat that reached to his ankles, his long rust-colored beard festooned with an array of bread crumbs”) in clear, evocative prose.
Besides being a blossoming scholar, Céline is an athletic gamine, fending off a would-be rapist only to return to the dance floor the following day. From the leader of the jazz group, African American saxophonist Les Gordon, Giovanni learns about Jim Crow, lynching, and the suppression of black voters while Yvonne tells Céline about the consequences of colonialism in Africa and Asia, and informs Giovanni about the history of the Palestinians and Jews during the foundation of Israel. Giovanni learns about Amayadiya Islam and the history of Black music in America from drummer Mansur Hashim, and the story of the Armenian Genocide from avant-garde pianist Denis Bertrand. The numerous characters are polished lecturers, offering well-informed, cogent, readable accounts of everything from the creation of ballet slippers to French Renaissance King Henri III’s band of swordsmen/assassins during the Wars of Religion. Many readers will find an absorbing read here---an intriguing genre blending of history, philosophy and atmospheric romance.
