The War Begins in Paris

by Theodore Wheeler

From the author of Kings of Broken Things and In Our Other Lives comes a provocative and stylish literary noir about two female war correspondents whose fates intertwine in Europe.

Paris, 1938. Two women meet: Mielle, a shy pacifist and shunned Mennonite who struggles to fit in with the elite cohort of foreign correspondents stationed around the city; the other, Jane, a brash, legendary American journalist, who is soon to become a fascist propagandist.

When World War II makes landfall in the City of Lights, Mielle falls under Jane’s spell, growing ever more intoxicated by her glamour, self-possession, and reckless confidence. But as this recklessness devolves into militarism and an utter lack of humanity, Mielle is seized by a series of visions that show her an inescapable truth: Jane Anderson must die, and Mielle must be the one to kill her.

Structured as a series of dispatches filed from around Europe and based on the misadventures of a real journalist-turned-Nazi mouthpiece, The War Begins in Paris is a cat-and-mouse suspense that examines the relentlessness of propaganda, the allure of power, and how far one woman will go for the sake of her morality.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adult, Historical, Audiobook, World War II

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 14, 2023

About the author

Theodore Wheeler is the author of three novels, most recently THE WAR BEGINS IN PARIS (Little Brown, 2023). He has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Nebraska Arts Council, and Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany. He worked for fourteen years as a journalist who covered law and politics, and his fiction is often influenced by real life and historical events. Wheeler and his family operate Dundee Book Company, an independent neighborhood bookshop, and he is a professor in the English Department at Creighton University. A native Iowan, he now lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

Reviews

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very pleasing book with strong female characters.

Correspondents who to travel through Europe during World War II, really touched my imagination.

The strength was the people and the characters that made this story different from others. Historically it seemed accurate from all my readings.

I recommend.

[Nora Currie]

I’m unfortunately going to DNF this book on page 78. Please read the trigger warnings in my review. I enjoyed reading about two women journalists right before World War II supporting opposite sides of the war yet both from America. As someone who minored in Journalism in college it’s interesting to read about other women journalists as well. I wrote for the technical college newspaper myself. It’s very hard to see women journalists being treated as Mielle is treated by other journalists in the field in this historical noir. Like Mielle, I grew up in the Midwest and spent most of the time at college reading vintage magazines in my college library. It makes me sad that I can’t continue reading this book due to too many triggers that upset me.

[Tory · Rating 3 out of 5]

[ARC] Oof. Almost irritatingly timely. (Irritating re: current events, not re: the book itself.) The rise of fascism hits DEEPLY, and seeing WWII propaganda exposed for what it is is gut-churningly upsetting. A prescient moral reminder.

"So the American people have gone to war to save Stalin and the international bankers. Joseph Stalin is that very same Red Antichrist who is beating Christian children black and blue for their religion.
...
Always remember, darlings, that progressive Americans eat Kellogg's Corn Flakes and listen to both sides of the story." 🤮🤮🤮🤮 Thanks Ted, I hate it.



(I personally thought the second sight conceit was unnecessary but that's just me)

[Serena Strouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was initially hard to get into. The beginning was choppy. The middle was okay, the ending is what made the book. It's a bit unbelievable that the FMC would get so far in her life being so meek like she is. It seemed random that she would accomplish and do all the things she did with the way she acted. Jane on the other hand was a wild character. She is believable and sneaky. This was a different view on WWII that I hadn't experienced and I did appreciate that, but the book seemed a bit far fetched. The FMC wasn't very likeable and her actions didn't seem to meet the definition of her character. I would give it 2.5/5 stars.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading The War Begins in Paris

War Begins in Paris by Theodore Wheeler maybe one of the best historical fictions I’ve ever read about WWII. Wheeler’s novel is not about the war, it’s about relationships. The situation is two women finding their way as they can after events that may or may not allow them to survive.

Living in Germany for 10 years, I read many books about WWII. I became sicken by the true events of WWII, and actually stopped reading about WWII. After I read so many stories, I discovered with WWII settings, it’s easy to set up good vs evil conflict to stick into any story. A novelist must be unique, masterful and clever not to be another story in the setting of WWII. Wheeler, a reporter by trade, uses his skills to give an unique perspective. And he uses true-life reporters that makes interesting believable characters.

The atmosphere Webber creates in his novel book reminds me of a nasty taste or smell. The backdrop is haunting, tension filled and fermented smell of death/evil. From the scene in Iowa to the end, the brewing tension engages and doesn’t die down the pacing except when the characters slow down but still there is something hiding so foul only people who belong in hell could breathe it in and exhale.

The protagonist, Mielle writes about fashion in Europe even though she is not fashion minded; in-fact, she is the opposite. She’s a poor, struggling, lost, grieving woman-child from the Mennonite world that betrays her because she was raped then due to their beliefs, she was ostracized. She escapes to college then to Paris by taking a low paying job as a fashion reporter. This book is about Women’s rights and how to survive when the world is using you for your looks or abilities to reproduce.

At first, Mielle was intrigued by Jean Anderson, antagonist, for her beauty, stories and status. Briefly, Mielle experiences the Parisian party life with Jean, a real-life self-appointed propagandist for fascism. Their relationship grows as Jean, a narcissist, drags Mielle around like an unwilling side kick. Eventually, Mielle can see who Jane truly is, but she is too entangled to get away.

Through Mielle’ eyes Webber paints his characters to fit into the story of a grand farce that the Nazis and fascists were in their blue, black, brown, and grey shirts as buffoons, bullies and evil thugs. Mielle is the perfect character to be a wall flower watching all these murderous, thieves ruin the world and the low-life people who came to feast on the ruins. The scenes are vivid, it would be a cinematographers dream to film.

Mielle struggles to stay in the background but her “sight” focuses her to participate in the acts outside her nature. Mielle has a restrained love interest in Alden who pushes her to go to Jane in the center of the devil’s den where her life is endangered.

In some places in the novel, I was annoyed by the focus about and on clothes, appearances and fashion. I think Webber must have known that this theme was an ideal juxtaposition from the fashion world to the real world of the most hideous crimes of recorded history. Webber hits it on the head bringing contrast into clarity on page 195 that says it so well, “They looked all the more deformed in dress clothes that were stolen for this occasion. Pale and wrinkled in ill-fitted finery.” To me the perfect metaphor for ill-gotten gains, the worst of humanity wearing the nice clothes of their victims. Victory to the Nazis was to celebrate their destroying the world, robbing and killing innocent people for the most ignorant of reasons, greed, envy and hatred.

[Kay Adelin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book left me with mixed feelings… I’ll try to explain them below.

Things I liked:
- The concept of an American reporter actually siding with the Nazis is unique and interesting.
- Alden’s character. I enjoyed how he was half-Jewish and hiding it and was a spy too.
- The historical details. I did learn a few things from this book, and that’s the only reason I gave this book 3 stars instead of 2.

Things I disliked:
- The execution of the concept. It was very confusing and slow. The first 80 pages, I still couldn’t get into it. I got into it briefly during the middle of the book when the Mc was given a spy mission, but I felt it fell short and didn’t live up to the expectations I had for it. Like, the entire spy thing seemed unnecessary in the end. Nothing got accomplished by it.
- Certain scenes were unnecessary. They portrayed Jane (who was like the villain) over and over again like a drunk and druggie and having very loose morals. They never went into detail, but it got repetitious and unnecessary. The book could have been more succinct and more interesting if those had been removed. Some things were just plain weird too.
- The MC. Her weak will sort of annoyed me. I get it kinda helped her out in the end, but still, her just allowing herself to be dragged around and not getting a backbone really annoyed me, especially when she knew she shouldn’t do stuff but still let herself get roped into doing it.

Would I recommend this book to a friend? If I knew a person who was super into WW2 and war reporters, yes. Otherwise, probably not.

I got this book in the Goodreads Giveaway.

[Becky Ginther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall - interesting, and some unique concepts, but probably could have been executed a bit better.

Positives for me:
* A different side to the WWII stories than what I've read about before - following female American reporters in Europe during the war
* Love the idea of an American in Europe choosing to side with the Nazis, and her friend having to come to terms with that.
* Narrator for the audiobook was good.

Negatives:
* There is a fantastical element that, to me, just seems unnecessary. It takes the book out of reality and it don't think it had to.
* The characters COULD have been really well developed and emotionally moving, but they fell a bit flat. At times Jane seemed like a caricature, and if you made her a more sympathetic figure you really could have been grappling as the reader with what you wanted to happen. And Mielle was often just boring.
* It was pretty slow to start and get into initially, though the second half picked up.

[Rachael Dixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story follows War reporters during WW2. I haven’t read a book about war reporters before and it was interesting to be introduced to this new group of people. That is the extent of what I liked about this book. Would have given up about half way through but pushed through since I got this arc in a giveaway. Second half was definitely better than the first but it didn’t redeem the book for me. It felt like there was no ultimate point to the book. I didn’t get anything out of reading this book.

[Rhoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I stumbled upon after hearing that one of the main characters in the book was a Mennonite woman from Iowa and a very unlikely Mennonite she was.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wheeler brings the chaos of the 1930s and the terror of the 1940s to life in this fascinating historical fiction novel. Readers follow Mielle and Jane, two Americans from very different worlds, over the buildup of World War II and the German occupation of France and ask the same questions of loyalty, trust, and motive that Mielle and Jane consistently ask themselves. Jane is a complex American journalist who works with the Nazi party, but the extent of her loyalty to the party is unknown to readers and Mielle, while Mielle is a shy American journalist from a Mennonite community on her first trip across the pond and is starstruck by Jane’s forceful presence. Mielle must, following the occupation, make her own decisions about loyalty to her friend and loyalty to her country -- an increasingly difficult decision in the thick of World War II. Wheeler’s characters are the driving force of this book, and the complex loyalties and relationships are incredibly fascinating and make this novel a compelling read. By highlighting the media aspect of World War II, Wheeler uses a fascinating cast of major and minor characters to carry his narrative and ideas forward in The War Begins in Paris, a novel that historical fiction fans and World War II aficionados are sure to enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the advance copy.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short review: Boy does a book about trying to ignore your friends descent into fascist politics hit different in 2024!

Long review: What a beautiful evocation of the way we use others to build the versions of ourselves we want to be. Marthe aka Mielle leaves behind her Mennonite past and finds herself adrift in pre-war Paris, not fitting in as a correspondent, not fitting in as an expat and not fitting in at all. She feels adrift until she mieets Jane Anderson, an actual historical figure, swept up in her fading glamour and riotous ways she is able to forge a new version of herself untethered to her past and becomes intoxicated with this new identity even as she starts to realize the woman who helps her attain is not someone to idolize.

From this seed an interesting and morally foggy World War II story emerges. You'd think every single corner of this conflict has been plumbed for material by this point but I don't know if we've had a "what were the US Nazi Collaboraters like" book as good as this one before. Very well researched and written. Highly recommended!

[Maine Colonial · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a free advance digital review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

We start with the interesting premise of a young woman who has left her Mennonite community and chooses to make her way to Paris in 1938 and attempt to become a journalist. She ekes out a living as a stringer, but feels she is always on the margins of the in-group of more sophisticated journalists. Then she meets Jane Anderson, a famous journalist who takes our main character, Marthe, under her wing and re-dubs her Mielle. Jane Anderson was on the right-wing side in the Spanish Civil War and is sympathetic to the Nazis and other fascists. She herself is now shunned by most other journalists for her views and because she seems to be increasingly drunk, drugged and mentally unstable. For a short, whirlwind period, Mielle is mesmerized by Jane, and joins her in wild sprees.

In the book’s next part, the war comes, Jane goes to Germany to become a propagandist for the Nazis, France is conquered and Mielle and other Americans are interned in a German hotel, waiting to be swapped for German journalists held by the US. But before that day can come, Jane and Mielle fatefully meet again.

Wheeler shows the appeal of authoritarianism for some people, but also the moral compromises that converts end up making. He deftly describes the feeling of unreality in Paris before war broke, and the vast gulf in late-war Germany between the Nazi elite and everyone else. There is an unsettled feeling throughout the book; not surprising considering the time and places.

While I think the premise of the book is interesting and Wheeler can set a scene and atmosphere, the Mielle character is problematic for me. I understand the author wanting the character to be naïve to start with, but she is so extremely unworldly and mousy that she’s not believable as someone who would head off to Europe on her own and work to make her own career as a journalist. She becomes more credible as the book goes on, and you see her learning and maturing.

3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Ted Wheeler enriches his story with a hook (no spoiler here) in the second-to-last sentence of the prologue that teases,“Mielle would be plagued by visions and would one day cross the border into Germany with the intention of killing her friend Jane.”
Mielle is one of the two women Wheeler throws together in Paris in 1938 just as the Nazi jackboots are beginning their march across Europe. Her given name is Marthe Hess. She is an Iowa farm girl shunned by her Mennonite community, who escapes to pre-WWII Paris to follow her dream of becoming a foreign correspondent. She is meek, colorless, without experience and nearly invisible to the huddle of foreign journalists living in Paris. As the result of a childhood accident that left her stiffly impaired, Mielle moves “like a stork stuck in the mud.”
Her friend – or in she Mielle’s foil – is the notorious Jane Anderson, a real-life figure. As flamboyant as Mielle is drab, Jane is as accomplished a journalist as Mielle is green. She manipulates and maneuvers to make herself always the center of gravity. These different women are intimately bound to one another; the relationship between the two propels the story forward as the German occupation throttles Paris.
This is Wheeler’s fourth book, the third novel, by a long-time reporter, now a creative writing teacher at Creighton University, who until earlier 2024 was also owner of an independent bookstore in Omaha.
The prologue is the lure, and it’s a good guess you’re going to want to bite – for the thrill and discovery. Does what Mielle intends eventually occur? Jump in for the answer; enjoy the pleasure of a rousing read.

[David Mc · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a history buff, I was drawn to this book; however, I had mixed emotions about it. On the positive side, I enjoyed getting a glimpse into Paris and Germany just before and during WWII. Also, the story was enriched with the addition of various famous figures (i.e., William Shirer, Edmund R. Murrow, Joseph Goebbels, William Joyce, etc.) passing in the background throughout the novel. Finally, following some very slow chapters in the beginning, the story later kicked into high gear when the two main characters found themselves stranded in Nazi Germany.

However, on the down side, I found the protagonist to be a “flat” character with almost no personality, which made it a complete mystery as to why several of the characters were drawn to her. Indeed, it was a bit of a drudge to have to follow this drab protagonist through the the story, even though there were some monumental events occurring around her. To sum things up, the book was interesting, but could have been better polished to remove the highs and lows of the overall story, as well as finding a different lead character.

[Chris Poore · Rating 5 out of 5]

The War Begins in Paris is the story of two women who meet in Paris in the late 1930s and become inextricably linked for the duration of World War II. This book is a story in two parts. The first part is a character profile of the two women — Marthe Hess, an Iowa farm girl cast out of her Mennonite community, and Jane Anderson, a real-life journalist who was sympathetic to the Nazi movement. The second half of the book leads us on an action adventure as the former woman pursues the latter across Europe, driven by a vision to kill, by plunging a sword through Jane’s chest. I was enraptured by both parts of the book. It is a fascinating look into the people, places, and times that were Europe during World War II. I particularly enjoyed Wheeler’s characterization of the Nazis as the worst of humanity, despite their proclamations of creating the master human race. It’s a lesson I suspect many of today’s fascists have failed to learn. As for the book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel centers on two American women news reporters in Paris at the beginning of WWII. They become friends though they are quite different in beliefs and temperament. The older one is an avowed Fascist who believes the Fascists will help preserve the Christian order to Europe in opposition to the growing liberal/socialist trends. The younger is a pacifist Mennonite from Iowa. While the war is unfolding, the elder woman feels protected by her politics and works with the Nazis in recording broadcasts in support of Fascism and critical of the U.S. Their lives become intertwined with the younger eventually realizing her friendship with the elder woman has put her life at risk and she comes to believe she needs to kill the other woman. Both become unwanted by the Nazi's as the book moves to tense ending.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through a goodreads giveaway. I liked the last third of the book much more than the first 2/3 of the book. I thought that the first part of the book had some pacing issues. I also thought that the way the story was narrated was a bit confusing. Sometimes it was told by a person observing what was happening and at other times it was being told by the main character. I did enjoy the radio transcripts, and newspaper clippings but the parts where Marthe narrate seem to go out of first person narration and 3rd person. The last third of the book definitely picks up the pace, just like the war did. The intrigue really ramped up and I enjoyed that part of the book a lot!

(This book won't be published until November 14, 2023)

[Barbara Weaver · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this one. I felt it was terribly two dimensional. I kept waiting for relationships to develop but was left hanging over and over. I felt like I was slowly sledding down a hill expecting to stop for a show but I just slid past a photograph that faded in to the background before I could focus on it.
Any discussion of the war or fascism seemed trivial and inconsequential.
The relationship between the two main female characters gave me the feeling that the author had never met a real woman in his life. It was stiff and didn’t feel the least bit real.
I’m really not sure how I made it through the book and was disappointed by the ending; the true parts as well as the fiction.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so fascinated with world war two. So when I saw that this book was set there I knew I just had to pick it up.

I loved the setting for this book set in Europe as the Nazis came to power, through the war as well as a bit afterwards. I also enjoyed seeing how Mielle saw Jane in the beginning but as we realized Jane was no good she saw her for who she really was.

The book could be slow at times and also a little confusing for me at least. Also I didn't love our characters throughout the book. They just didn't catch any spark for me.

I definitely want to read more books set during world war two.

[Mark Moberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging novel of two American journalists whose careers and lives intersect before and during World War II, one an introspective woman from a sheltered religious background and the other an iconoclastic adventurer who became a Nazi propagandist. There are some glaring errors of fact that might come to the attention of historically-informed readers. But the characters are carefully drawn, and the story would appeal to anyone interested in how journalists reconciled their personal lives to the banality of evil that was Nazism.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I really enjoyed the storyline and the suspense, I was not a fan of one of the main characters, Mielle. The story of how she and Jane meet, become friends, and how Jane ends up on the wrong side of the war is truly a great story. This is a good historical fiction book. I did not like how naive Mielle seemed to be throughout most of the story. It just didn't feel very real to me and became slightly annoying. Even with that, I did enjoy the book. It's currently the Omaha Reads book with the Omaha Public Library.

[Stephanie Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoy historical fiction. This one did not disappoint and brought us through another side of the story most haven’t heard. It was a little dry in parts and quite a bit repetitive (which is why I did 3 instead of 4 stars). Over all the story was relatable, fantastical and engaging. You know the basic story of the war, but to be there as a reporter is a different twist.

One of my favorite parts was the audiobook reader. She really made this book for me with her accents, tones and easy character switches. Bravo!

[Mischa · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was not BAD, but I really missed any, and I mean ANY emotional tie to any of the characters in this book. All of them were annoying, I did not understand their actions, and thus I was not particularly interested in anything happening to them. Overall the story was also super realistic, but then the author suddenly throws in the "visions" or what it was. Unfortunately this book was just not for me, although I can see why would plenty of people enjoy it.

[Courtney Judson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always loved historical fiction, especially about World War 2, and as a journalist, this intrigued me. I found the book to be slow going in the beginning, but the pace did pick up quickly. I found the amount of facts both interesting and at the same time overwhelming as if too much information was tossed my way. The last 200 pages made me gasp audibly a few times. Would love to give this author another try soon.

[Eileen Breseman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story did not excite any interest. Two women, one an outcast Menonite and one an older glamour gal with a storied career and a passion for fascism meet in Paris just prior to WWII. Between socialite party excesses, the ambitious womanizing press agents, to the improbable spy action by the ex Menonite (with psychic future vision!) this story lost it's way.
I limped to the end and felt no better for sticking with it.

[Theresa Jehlik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the life of Jane Anderson, an American journalist who became a Nazi radio star, this book starts in 1938 Paris during the buildup to World War II. When Jane becomes enamored with Mielle (real name Marthe Hess), an Iowan Mennonite disowned by her community, the reader views European politics through both Jane's cynical eyes and Mielle's naive ones. Drawing on historical sources and real people, this novel is another look at World War II.

[Tom Langemo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t expecting to love the book but ended up not being able to put it down. After traveling to Poland last year piqued an interest in WW II and in humanity’s capacity to get lost and swept up in radical beliefs and experiences. If I would have read this NOT going to Poland, I may have thought differently. Even though it takes place mainly in France and Germany, its context is the terrible atrocities done to so many, including those in Poland.

[Teresa Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times this book was a bit slow. The story of mielle who was thrown out of her Mennonite home in Iowa. She meets Jane in Paris in 1938. There’s something she’s intrigued about her but she gets a vision she has to kill her. Jane is a traitor and goes on to broadcast on a German radio bad things about America. Mielle finds herself in Germany with Jane trapped.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating novel about a side of ww2 I’d never read about, what happened to members of the American press corp in Paris when the war broke out. It’s a slow burn but worth the read. The 2 main characters lead us into the belly of the nazi propaganda machine, I won’t soon forget the complicated relationship these women had.

[Lauren Thibodeaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It had a nice build up. Very interesting mix of characters. Definitely made you think about people’s perspectives and choices during WWII. I did not know much about American journalists in Europe during the war before reading this book. It was especially interesting to learn/get the perspective of female journalists.