Title: Paris Never Leaves YouAuthor: Ellen Feldman
Published by: St. Martin's Press on Aug. 4, 2020
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback, ARC
Source: St. Martin's Press
Book Rating: 8/10
Living through WWII working in a Paris bookstore with her young daughter, Vivi, and fighting for her life, Charlotte is no victim, she is a survivor. But can she survive the next chapter of her life?
Alternating between wartime Paris and 1950s New York publishing, Paris Never Leaves You is an extraordinary story of resilience, love, and impossible choices, exploring how survival never comes without a cost.
The war is over, but the past is never past.
Review:
Nuanced, pensive, and intriguing!
Paris Never Leaves You is an atmospheric, compelling story set in Manhattan in the 1950s, as well as Paris during WWII that takes you into the life of Charlotte Foret, a young widow who spent the majority of the war running a bookshop, protecting her infant daughter, hiding an enormous secret, and befriending a German Officer who had the means to provide the much-needed food and safety she needed for survival.
The prose is precise and vivid. The characters are complex, secretive, and vulnerable. And the plot using a past/present, back-and-forth style is an engaging tale about life, loss, war, heartbreak, guilt, betrayal, loyalty, forbidden love, and desperation.
Overall, Paris Never Leaves You is an immersive, gritty, satisfying tale by Feldman that does a lovely job of blending historical events, intense emotion, and thought-provoking suspense.
This novel is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Ellen Feldman
Ellen Feldman, a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow in fiction, is the author of Scottsboro, which was shortlisted for the UK’s prestigious Orange Prize, Next to Love, The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank, which was translated into nine languages, Terrible Virtue, The Unwitting, and Lucy.
In addition to her novels, she writes articles on social history and has published numerous book reviews and blogs. She has lectured extensively around the country and in Germany and England.
She grew up in northern New Jersey and attended Bryn Mawr College, from which she holds a B.A. and an M.A. in modern history. After further graduate studies at Columbia University, she worked for a New York publishing house.
She lives in New York City and Amagansett, New York, with her husband and rescue terrier Charlie.
Photograph by Laura Mozes.
Carly Bloom began her writing career as a family humor columnist and blogger, a pursuit she abandoned when her children grew old enough to literally die from embarrassment. To save their delicate lives, Carly turned to penning steamy, contemporary romance. The kind with bare chests on the covers.
