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Die Buchhändlerin von Paris: Roman
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.
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.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 4, 2020
642 people are currently reading
13559 people want to read
About the author
Ellen Feldman
23 books382 followersEllen Feldman is an American writer. She grew up in New Jersey and attended Bryn Mawr College, and graduated with B.A. and an M.A. in modern history. She also worked for a publishing firm in New York City and continued with graduate studies at Columbia University.
Feldman currently lives in New York City and East Hampton, New York.
Feldman currently lives in New York City and East Hampton, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 745 reviews
January 31, 2020
2 stars. Completely missed its mark with me.
A WWII novel with a book shop and a publishing house storyline? This book sounded right up my alley as far as historical fiction novels go. Sadly, my initial connection and excitement disappeared a couple chapters in. I wasn’t invested in the characters or storylines and was skim reading by the end.
My main issue was the forced romance that felt awkward and unnecessary. This felt more historical romance than historical fiction. The main character has two romantic situations, neither of which felt authentic or passionate. Additionally, the dual storylines felt disjointed and lacked flow. I didn’t feel the timelines pulling together or complimenting each other and they often were hard to distinguish between as they weren’t clearly outlined.
This simply wasn’t a good fit for me, but there are some positive reviews out there, so please check those out!
Thank you to Edelweiss for providing me with an ARC.
A WWII novel with a book shop and a publishing house storyline? This book sounded right up my alley as far as historical fiction novels go. Sadly, my initial connection and excitement disappeared a couple chapters in. I wasn’t invested in the characters or storylines and was skim reading by the end.
My main issue was the forced romance that felt awkward and unnecessary. This felt more historical romance than historical fiction. The main character has two romantic situations, neither of which felt authentic or passionate. Additionally, the dual storylines felt disjointed and lacked flow. I didn’t feel the timelines pulling together or complimenting each other and they often were hard to distinguish between as they weren’t clearly outlined.
This simply wasn’t a good fit for me, but there are some positive reviews out there, so please check those out!
Thank you to Edelweiss for providing me with an ARC.
January 31, 2020
Started this one with Lindsay, she finished and I am leaving Paris in these pages before it never leaves me.
This just wasn't the right book in the bookshop for me. The two timelines didn't weave together well for me and the story felt disconnected along with the characters. After Lindsay finished this one I decided not to. My rating is based on when I was reading it. So please take my review of what I read lightly and reads a few more.
I received a copy on NetGalley.
This just wasn't the right book in the bookshop for me. The two timelines didn't weave together well for me and the story felt disconnected along with the characters. After Lindsay finished this one I decided not to. My rating is based on when I was reading it. So please take my review of what I read lightly and reads a few more.
I received a copy on NetGalley.
July 17, 2020
Paris Never Leaves You may sound like some sort of romance novel, but it’s actually more a story about identity and survival. Charlotte and her daughter, Vivi, survive most of WWII in Paris. Their time in a camp was limited to right before liberation. Yes, there is a romance involved but it is crucial to her survival.
The book alternates between their time during the war and the years afterward in NYC. Charlotte never considered herself a Jew. “Hitler made me a Jew” she tells her daughter more than once. She comes to the US thinking she can once again blend in. But now her daughter is experiencing prejudice for the first time and wants to learn more about her religion. The antisemitism of the US is obviously of a different caliber than Germany’s, but it’s still a given.
This is a well done historical fiction. Feldman does a good job of making you feel a part of both time periods. While there have been numerous books that take place in occupied Paris, I still felt I learned things about the time. Maybe because this wasn’t about the resistance. Charlotte’s guilt and fear made her a sympathetic character. While Julian didn’t come across as fleshed out as I would liked, Horace certainly did.
I recommend this for readers who enjoyed Martha Hall Kelly’s books.
My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advnace copy of this book
The book alternates between their time during the war and the years afterward in NYC. Charlotte never considered herself a Jew. “Hitler made me a Jew” she tells her daughter more than once. She comes to the US thinking she can once again blend in. But now her daughter is experiencing prejudice for the first time and wants to learn more about her religion. The antisemitism of the US is obviously of a different caliber than Germany’s, but it’s still a given.
This is a well done historical fiction. Feldman does a good job of making you feel a part of both time periods. While there have been numerous books that take place in occupied Paris, I still felt I learned things about the time. Maybe because this wasn’t about the resistance. Charlotte’s guilt and fear made her a sympathetic character. While Julian didn’t come across as fleshed out as I would liked, Horace certainly did.
I recommend this for readers who enjoyed Martha Hall Kelly’s books.
My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advnace copy of this book
March 5, 2020
I won this ARC in a GoodReads Giveaway; many thanks to GoodReads and the publisher for this opportunity.
This book was written with a little different perspective from my usual WWII reads. I found myself reading it obsessively all day and into the early evening because I could not put it down. Charlotte's harrowing experiences mixed with her combined self-loathing, survivor's guilt and determination to protect her daughter at all cost was compelling and gut-wrenching. All in all a very satisfying, moving read.
This book was written with a little different perspective from my usual WWII reads. I found myself reading it obsessively all day and into the early evening because I could not put it down. Charlotte's harrowing experiences mixed with her combined self-loathing, survivor's guilt and determination to protect her daughter at all cost was compelling and gut-wrenching. All in all a very satisfying, moving read.
June 12, 2023
Occupied France, Charlotte Foret is a young french widow and she has an eighteen month old daughter called Vivienne. Charlotte and her friend Simone run a bookshop together, they both have young children, they take it in turns watching the shop, waiting in line for food and it's never enough.
Life in Paris during the Second World War is difficult, food is scarce, everyone is hungry, people are scared, no one want's to be associated with the hated Boche and to be seen as a collaborator. A German officer starts visiting the bookstore, Charlotte is a nervous wreck when he's in the shop, the Germans have a list of banned books, it's called the Otto list and with so many books in the shop it's possible for one of these to be still on the shelves or someone wanting revenge could plant one?
Julian Bauer's is a Wehrmacht officer, he's also a doctor, he notices Vivi is very small for her age, he starts giving Charlotte food and despite her obvious concerns, of course she accepts it.
The book has a dual timeline, it goes between wartime in occupied France and New York in the 1950's. It works really well and I had no trouble with following the story.
New York 1950's, Charlotte is now living in the America, she has been sponsored by Horace and Hannah Field. Horace owns a publishing company, he's a returned soldier and Charlotte works for his company reading book manuscripts. Vivi is now fourteen, she's doing well at school, she has friends and looks like your typical American teenager. But, Charlotte is struggling, her daughter has started asking questions about her dad, do they have any relatives living in France, why don't they celebrate traditional Jewish customs and holidays? Charlotte is a nervous wreck, she has her secrets about what she did during the war to survive, years later she still doesn't feel safe and she still constantly worries about her daughters health. All four major characters in the story have secrets, Charlotte, Julian, Horace and Hannah.
Paris Never Leaves You is a story about the Second world War, choices, love, sacrifice, motherhood and survival! I loved the book, the story sets a great pace, it's never boring and keeps you guessing right until the very end. If you like to read WW II historical fiction, I suggest reading Paris Never Leaves You and I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I did. Thank so much to Edelweiss and St. Martin's Press for my copy in exchange for an honest review and five stars from me.
Life in Paris during the Second World War is difficult, food is scarce, everyone is hungry, people are scared, no one want's to be associated with the hated Boche and to be seen as a collaborator. A German officer starts visiting the bookstore, Charlotte is a nervous wreck when he's in the shop, the Germans have a list of banned books, it's called the Otto list and with so many books in the shop it's possible for one of these to be still on the shelves or someone wanting revenge could plant one?
Julian Bauer's is a Wehrmacht officer, he's also a doctor, he notices Vivi is very small for her age, he starts giving Charlotte food and despite her obvious concerns, of course she accepts it.
The book has a dual timeline, it goes between wartime in occupied France and New York in the 1950's. It works really well and I had no trouble with following the story.
New York 1950's, Charlotte is now living in the America, she has been sponsored by Horace and Hannah Field. Horace owns a publishing company, he's a returned soldier and Charlotte works for his company reading book manuscripts. Vivi is now fourteen, she's doing well at school, she has friends and looks like your typical American teenager. But, Charlotte is struggling, her daughter has started asking questions about her dad, do they have any relatives living in France, why don't they celebrate traditional Jewish customs and holidays? Charlotte is a nervous wreck, she has her secrets about what she did during the war to survive, years later she still doesn't feel safe and she still constantly worries about her daughters health. All four major characters in the story have secrets, Charlotte, Julian, Horace and Hannah.
Paris Never Leaves You is a story about the Second world War, choices, love, sacrifice, motherhood and survival! I loved the book, the story sets a great pace, it's never boring and keeps you guessing right until the very end. If you like to read WW II historical fiction, I suggest reading Paris Never Leaves You and I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I did. Thank so much to Edelweiss and St. Martin's Press for my copy in exchange for an honest review and five stars from me.
January 7, 2020
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Beatrice Jason for an egalley of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Alternating between New York in the 1950's and Paris in the 1940's, Paris Never Leaves You was a compelling story about a bookseller, Charlotte and her baby daughter, Vivienne, who survive occupation during the war and are sponsored by acquaintances to find a new life in the United States. But as Vivienne grows older she is asking for more information about her family history. Can Charlotte overcome her guilt and finally open up to her daughter about the past?
Again, I felt myself flipping the pages and wanting to see where Ellen Feldman was going to take us. I have read other WWII books that feature children questioning what happened to their families during the war and this book was different in invoking many different types of feelings and questions in me as I read. I should probably leave some of my thoughts on certain characters until after the publication date. Half because I wish to not spoil anything for any other readers and also because one character has me percolating a bit over some of her actions and words(Hint: it's not Charlotte or Vivi). I did enjoy it though!
Goodreads review published 05/01/20
Publication Date 02 /06/20
Alternating between New York in the 1950's and Paris in the 1940's, Paris Never Leaves You was a compelling story about a bookseller, Charlotte and her baby daughter, Vivienne, who survive occupation during the war and are sponsored by acquaintances to find a new life in the United States. But as Vivienne grows older she is asking for more information about her family history. Can Charlotte overcome her guilt and finally open up to her daughter about the past?
Again, I felt myself flipping the pages and wanting to see where Ellen Feldman was going to take us. I have read other WWII books that feature children questioning what happened to their families during the war and this book was different in invoking many different types of feelings and questions in me as I read. I should probably leave some of my thoughts on certain characters until after the publication date. Half because I wish to not spoil anything for any other readers and also because one character has me percolating a bit over some of her actions and words(Hint: it's not Charlotte or Vivi). I did enjoy it though!
Goodreads review published 05/01/20
Publication Date 02 /06/20
June 18, 2020
I had some issues with this book but I am thankful I read it. The author chose to show the main character's life during the war and after the war and I thought it enhanced the story tremendously. For whatever reason, most historical fiction writers only focus on World War 2 when in my opinion there is still so much to be written about the aftermath.
Charlotte is the mother of a young girl and is working in a Paris bookstore during World War 2. The story will alternate between that part of her life as well as in the 1950s when she is living in New York and works for a publishing house. Occasionally the story will feature a different character but for the most part the focus is on Charlotte. One of my criticisms of the book is it was jarring when all of the sudden the action would shift to a new character. The author waited way too long to start having these random character appearances in the story. Either have this story be told from multiple perspectives from the beginning or don't do it at all. I hate to say it but it felt like lazy writing in that it moved the story along but in the easiest way possible.
Antisemitism was prevalent in the 1950s in the United States and yet it doesn't get written much about in historical fiction books. It wouldn’t have been realistic if the author ignored it completely as it is something a character like Charlotte or her daughter would have faced during that time period. While the storyline of a girl not being invited to a party might seem like such a simple thing, it added a complex layer to the story which gave it more depth.
Charlotte was an interesting character but I'm going to have to pretty much leave it at that so I don't get into spoilers. I will say there was something very surprising in the story to the point in which my jaw dropped while reading. If I was in a book club it would be the very first thing I would want to talk about so I could find out everyone's opinion on it. Even though the writing is a bit uneven there are quite a few things to discuss about the story and characters. A book doesn't have to be perfect in order for it to be thought provoking. There is some substance here even if the execution is a bit off.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
Charlotte is the mother of a young girl and is working in a Paris bookstore during World War 2. The story will alternate between that part of her life as well as in the 1950s when she is living in New York and works for a publishing house. Occasionally the story will feature a different character but for the most part the focus is on Charlotte. One of my criticisms of the book is it was jarring when all of the sudden the action would shift to a new character. The author waited way too long to start having these random character appearances in the story. Either have this story be told from multiple perspectives from the beginning or don't do it at all. I hate to say it but it felt like lazy writing in that it moved the story along but in the easiest way possible.
Antisemitism was prevalent in the 1950s in the United States and yet it doesn't get written much about in historical fiction books. It wouldn’t have been realistic if the author ignored it completely as it is something a character like Charlotte or her daughter would have faced during that time period. While the storyline of a girl not being invited to a party might seem like such a simple thing, it added a complex layer to the story which gave it more depth.
Charlotte was an interesting character but I'm going to have to pretty much leave it at that so I don't get into spoilers. I will say there was something very surprising in the story to the point in which my jaw dropped while reading. If I was in a book club it would be the very first thing I would want to talk about so I could find out everyone's opinion on it. Even though the writing is a bit uneven there are quite a few things to discuss about the story and characters. A book doesn't have to be perfect in order for it to be thought provoking. There is some substance here even if the execution is a bit off.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 21, 2020
It appears that I have, by chance, read several WWII novels this year and Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman is at the top of the list with five well-deserved stars. During the four-year German occupation of Paris, the lives of the citizens were turned upside down. They had to learn to live with hunger, terror, fear, cruelty and mistrust. Charlotte managed a bookshop and cared for her infant daughter, Vivi. When the German troops were finally pushed out, Charlotte and child emigrated to New York where she found work and friendship in the publishing world. But her memories of the war were ruining her new life. The story alternates between the forties in Europe and the fifties in America. What happened to Charlotte during the war that is haunting her still? Will her daughter be told the truth? This novel has interesting characters and a well-developed storyline. Highly recommended. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and Ellen Feldman for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 29, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction/Women’s Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: June 2, 2020
When did Women’s Fiction morph into Romance Fiction? Or is it just me who feels the shift? Traditional women's fiction focuses on a woman's lifetime journey. There is frequently a love interest. A romance novel focuses entirely on a woman’s romantic relationships and usually has a happy ending. This novel has two timelines: during and post WWII. Our heroine has a romance going on in both—just not necessary. One love interest is understandable. The survival of her child and herself depended on it. The other feels like an add-on simply to keep romance readers happy.
During the war, the woman has an eighteen-month-old baby. She works in a tiny bookstore in occupied Paris. In the next decade, her daughter is a young teen and she works in a NYC publishing house. Although unhappy with the feel of a romance novel, there were parts of the story that I did enjoy. As a reader, I was delighted to find myself reading a book about books. I read to learn and to be entertained simultaneously, which is why historical fiction is my favorite genre. I applaud the author’s research. I did learn something new regarding WWII German soldiers. I cannot say more for it would be a spoiler. I thought she did a good job of showing the impossible choices the mother needed to make, during the war, to keep her child alive. As well as capturing the woman’s overwhelming sense of survivor’s guilt once she was safely living in the States.
Still, I do not think that “Paris” will pose any threat to other WWII historical fiction books. In the classic, “Sophie’s Choice,” the good versus evil smacks you in the face. In this novel, it feels colorless. There are scenes showing the horrors committed against the Jews, but the brutalities are not as pronounced. Your jaw will not drop from shock. Possibly this was the author’s intention since the story revolves more around the main character’s personal journey than war crimes. The character Sophie also has a romance when she is out of Nazi Germany and is living in Brooklyn, NY. Hers is a violent relationship, which she accepts due to her posttraumatic stress from the war years. Unlike this novel, that romance enhanced Sophie’s tale.
Maybe I was expecting too much. Ellen Feldman is a 2009 Guggenheim fellow, which lead me to believe I would be reading a literary novel. The book held my interest for the author’s moral analysis of her characters. The mother struggles with what is right and wrong in both of her love affairs. Her male characters are also wrestling with their consciousnesses. Feldman creates further tension with her daughter. The mother never tells her teenage daughter secrets from their past causing a rift between them. However, I am simply not a fan of contemporary romance. If you are, and you enjoy historical fiction this one is for you.
I received this Advance Review Copy (ARC) novel from the publisher at no cost in exchange for an honest review.
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Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: June 2, 2020
When did Women’s Fiction morph into Romance Fiction? Or is it just me who feels the shift? Traditional women's fiction focuses on a woman's lifetime journey. There is frequently a love interest. A romance novel focuses entirely on a woman’s romantic relationships and usually has a happy ending. This novel has two timelines: during and post WWII. Our heroine has a romance going on in both—just not necessary. One love interest is understandable. The survival of her child and herself depended on it. The other feels like an add-on simply to keep romance readers happy.
During the war, the woman has an eighteen-month-old baby. She works in a tiny bookstore in occupied Paris. In the next decade, her daughter is a young teen and she works in a NYC publishing house. Although unhappy with the feel of a romance novel, there were parts of the story that I did enjoy. As a reader, I was delighted to find myself reading a book about books. I read to learn and to be entertained simultaneously, which is why historical fiction is my favorite genre. I applaud the author’s research. I did learn something new regarding WWII German soldiers. I cannot say more for it would be a spoiler. I thought she did a good job of showing the impossible choices the mother needed to make, during the war, to keep her child alive. As well as capturing the woman’s overwhelming sense of survivor’s guilt once she was safely living in the States.
Still, I do not think that “Paris” will pose any threat to other WWII historical fiction books. In the classic, “Sophie’s Choice,” the good versus evil smacks you in the face. In this novel, it feels colorless. There are scenes showing the horrors committed against the Jews, but the brutalities are not as pronounced. Your jaw will not drop from shock. Possibly this was the author’s intention since the story revolves more around the main character’s personal journey than war crimes. The character Sophie also has a romance when she is out of Nazi Germany and is living in Brooklyn, NY. Hers is a violent relationship, which she accepts due to her posttraumatic stress from the war years. Unlike this novel, that romance enhanced Sophie’s tale.
Maybe I was expecting too much. Ellen Feldman is a 2009 Guggenheim fellow, which lead me to believe I would be reading a literary novel. The book held my interest for the author’s moral analysis of her characters. The mother struggles with what is right and wrong in both of her love affairs. Her male characters are also wrestling with their consciousnesses. Feldman creates further tension with her daughter. The mother never tells her teenage daughter secrets from their past causing a rift between them. However, I am simply not a fan of contemporary romance. If you are, and you enjoy historical fiction this one is for you.
I received this Advance Review Copy (ARC) novel from the publisher at no cost in exchange for an honest review.
Find all my book reviews at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
https://books6259.wordpress.com/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review...
https://www.facebook.com/martie.neesr...
https://www.instagram.com/martie6947/
https://www.pinterest.com/martienreco...\
https://www.amazon.com/
https://twitter.com/NeesRecord
January 4, 2020
War is hell. I often find that reading books about war is the same. I do my best to avoid them. The premise of Paris Never Leaves You is that it was post WWII, however, that isn't totally accurate. Set in a dual timeline, the story alternates between the 1950s in NYC where we find Charlotte and her daughter living post-war and the 1940s in France and what Charlotte had to do to survive the war to get to that point. Charlotte lives with the guilt as so many survivors do.
In the past year there have been numerous books set during WWII, many of which were based on a one sided view of what happened during the war. After all, how books about the Russians during WWII have you read? It was a traumatic awful time for those in France particularly and most of the books reflect that. Paris Never Leaves You is the same. I found myself skimming pages more often than not and this is a very short book so there were not a lot of pages to skim. I never fully connected to the characters, didn't really care about them. I suspect that reflects more on me than the book itself. However, there are tremendously well written books that deal with the war and the people who endured it. I just don't think Paris Never Leaves You is one of those books.
In the past year there have been numerous books set during WWII, many of which were based on a one sided view of what happened during the war. After all, how books about the Russians during WWII have you read? It was a traumatic awful time for those in France particularly and most of the books reflect that. Paris Never Leaves You is the same. I found myself skimming pages more often than not and this is a very short book so there were not a lot of pages to skim. I never fully connected to the characters, didn't really care about them. I suspect that reflects more on me than the book itself. However, there are tremendously well written books that deal with the war and the people who endured it. I just don't think Paris Never Leaves You is one of those books.
August 30, 2020
The title seems to hint at a love story - maybe even a tragic one. This is however a story of secrets and survival set in alternating cities and times.
Charlotte works in a bookstore in 40's occupied Paris. Food is very scarce and Bosche soldiers are everywhere. Fear is the only thing in abundance. Charlotte struggle to keep the bookstore open, keep very young daughter Vivi fed and herself out of a concentration camp.
Charlotte works as a manuscript reader in a publishing house in 1950's New York. Charlotte and Vivi had been sponsored by Hannah and Horace Field and are living in an apartment in their own house.
Life seems so much better. But there are secrets. Vivi is asking about Paris, her father, her religion - Charlotte has to come to terms with the past. Of course there are current issues too.
For me the story lacked tension and didn't hold my attention, Issues were resolved easily. Suffering seemed superficial. The dual storylines did not seem to involve each other. Chapters seemed to be randomly placed. The chapters were flat.
I received an advance copt of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #ParisNeverLeavesYou
Charlotte works in a bookstore in 40's occupied Paris. Food is very scarce and Bosche soldiers are everywhere. Fear is the only thing in abundance. Charlotte struggle to keep the bookstore open, keep very young daughter Vivi fed and herself out of a concentration camp.
Charlotte works as a manuscript reader in a publishing house in 1950's New York. Charlotte and Vivi had been sponsored by Hannah and Horace Field and are living in an apartment in their own house.
Life seems so much better. But there are secrets. Vivi is asking about Paris, her father, her religion - Charlotte has to come to terms with the past. Of course there are current issues too.
For me the story lacked tension and didn't hold my attention, Issues were resolved easily. Suffering seemed superficial. The dual storylines did not seem to involve each other. Chapters seemed to be randomly placed. The chapters were flat.
I received an advance copt of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #ParisNeverLeavesYou
May 23, 2023
In occupied France, Charlotte Foret, is a young widow and she has an eighteen month old daughter called Vivienne. Charlotte and her best friend Simone run a bookshop together, both have young children, they take it in turns watching the children and shop, and waiting in the endless lines for food. Life in Paris during WW II is extremely difficult, food is scarce, and everyone is hungry and scared of the German soldiers.
A German doctor Julian Bauer starts visiting the bookstore, Charlotte is a nervous wreck when he's in the shop, the Germans have a list of banned books, it's called the Otto list and with so many books in the shop it's possible for one of the books to be still on the shelves or someone wanting revenge could plant one?
The book has a dual timeline; it goes between wartime in occupied France and New York in the 1950's. It works really well and I had no trouble with following the story.
New York 1950's, Charlotte is now living in the America, she has been sponsored by Horace and Hannah Field. Horace owns a publishing company, he's a returned soldier and Charlotte works for his company reading book manuscripts. Vivi is now fourteen, she's doing well at school, she has friends, and she’s healthy and looks like your typical American teenager. But, Charlotte is struggling, her daughter has started asking questions about her dad Laurent, do they have any relatives living in France, why don't they celebrate traditional Jewish customs and holidays? Charlotte is worried, she did things during the war to survive, due to the food shortage she's concerned about the impact it’s had on her daughter’s health and years later she still doesn't feel safe.
All four major characters in the story have secrets, Charlotte, Julian, Horace and Hannah. Paris Never Leaves You is a story about choices a mother made so she and her daughter survived WW II and at the she had very few options. I loved the book, the story is well paced and it kept me guessing right until the very end. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
A German doctor Julian Bauer starts visiting the bookstore, Charlotte is a nervous wreck when he's in the shop, the Germans have a list of banned books, it's called the Otto list and with so many books in the shop it's possible for one of the books to be still on the shelves or someone wanting revenge could plant one?
The book has a dual timeline; it goes between wartime in occupied France and New York in the 1950's. It works really well and I had no trouble with following the story.
New York 1950's, Charlotte is now living in the America, she has been sponsored by Horace and Hannah Field. Horace owns a publishing company, he's a returned soldier and Charlotte works for his company reading book manuscripts. Vivi is now fourteen, she's doing well at school, she has friends, and she’s healthy and looks like your typical American teenager. But, Charlotte is struggling, her daughter has started asking questions about her dad Laurent, do they have any relatives living in France, why don't they celebrate traditional Jewish customs and holidays? Charlotte is worried, she did things during the war to survive, due to the food shortage she's concerned about the impact it’s had on her daughter’s health and years later she still doesn't feel safe.
All four major characters in the story have secrets, Charlotte, Julian, Horace and Hannah. Paris Never Leaves You is a story about choices a mother made so she and her daughter survived WW II and at the she had very few options. I loved the book, the story is well paced and it kept me guessing right until the very end. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
August 7, 2020
Favorite Quotes:
I hope her grandmother rots in that special circle of hell reserved for bigots…
She doesn’t know if she blames him or pities him, hates him or loves him. All she knows is there is enough shame to go around.
She’s his training analyst. Makes her sound like a pair of wheels on the back of a bike, if you ask me.
“I told Mr. Rosenblum I wasn’t Jewish… I thought I ought to tell him. I mean, after the business with the menorah and everything.” “What did he say?” “That nobody’s perfect.”
My Review:
This was an intense yet gripping read with storylines steeped in angst, despair, and human and inhuman tragedy (which don’t rank among my favorite things), yet the quality of the writing was phenomenal and kept me engrossed and fully engaged. I was hooked - I was starving, I was tense, I was cold, I felt unwashed, I was THERE!
Ms. Feldman’s uniquely evocative arrangements of words were powerful, emotive, poignant, transportive, and thoughtfully plotted. This epic tale involved multiple storylines that laced together toward an entirely unexpected and somewhat indeterminate ending. Each thread as tautly written, mysteriously secretive, and anxiously risky of perilous discovery as the next. Her characters were enigmatic, deeply flawed, profoundly insightful, and entirely human. I was pulled into their edgy vortex of imminent danger and impending doom, not just from the brutal cruelty of the Nazi invaders, but more disturbingly, from the unrepentant savagery of the French citizenry as they turned on each other amidst the escalating tensions and unrelenting subjugation of their occupation as well as the aftermath.
There were several instances that required I put my Kindle down, walk away, and seek solace in a vat of wine… the most ruinous was near the end when I found myself totally devastated by a particular loss, and of the most unexpected of characters. Ms. Feldman has strong word voodoo and a new fangirl.
I hope her grandmother rots in that special circle of hell reserved for bigots…
She doesn’t know if she blames him or pities him, hates him or loves him. All she knows is there is enough shame to go around.
She’s his training analyst. Makes her sound like a pair of wheels on the back of a bike, if you ask me.
“I told Mr. Rosenblum I wasn’t Jewish… I thought I ought to tell him. I mean, after the business with the menorah and everything.” “What did he say?” “That nobody’s perfect.”
My Review:
This was an intense yet gripping read with storylines steeped in angst, despair, and human and inhuman tragedy (which don’t rank among my favorite things), yet the quality of the writing was phenomenal and kept me engrossed and fully engaged. I was hooked - I was starving, I was tense, I was cold, I felt unwashed, I was THERE!
Ms. Feldman’s uniquely evocative arrangements of words were powerful, emotive, poignant, transportive, and thoughtfully plotted. This epic tale involved multiple storylines that laced together toward an entirely unexpected and somewhat indeterminate ending. Each thread as tautly written, mysteriously secretive, and anxiously risky of perilous discovery as the next. Her characters were enigmatic, deeply flawed, profoundly insightful, and entirely human. I was pulled into their edgy vortex of imminent danger and impending doom, not just from the brutal cruelty of the Nazi invaders, but more disturbingly, from the unrepentant savagery of the French citizenry as they turned on each other amidst the escalating tensions and unrelenting subjugation of their occupation as well as the aftermath.
There were several instances that required I put my Kindle down, walk away, and seek solace in a vat of wine… the most ruinous was near the end when I found myself totally devastated by a particular loss, and of the most unexpected of characters. Ms. Feldman has strong word voodoo and a new fangirl.
June 29, 2023
This book was not my cup of tea ☕. I'm really disappointed because it had all the makings of a really wonderful book. Sadly, it fell short of all my expectations. It was very confusing,it was supposed to be a duel timeline, which it was, only it made no sense. It felt forced, like the author just wanted to make a wonderful story out of nothing.
Warning ⚠️ there's explicit sexual scenes through out the story which were definitely not needed and I hurriedly skipped over. Ugh.😫
Onto better books than this one!! Too many books,too little time to waste on books like this!!
Warning ⚠️ there's explicit sexual scenes through out the story which were definitely not needed and I hurriedly skipped over. Ugh.😫
Onto better books than this one!! Too many books,too little time to waste on books like this!!
October 24, 2023
I thought this book was interesting as it was told from a different perspective than what I'm used to. However, there is something in the writing style that left me feeling a bit disconnected from the characters. The scenes from France were heartbreaking and there was concern for the characters on some level, yet the characters themselves felt a little flat. Still, I thought it was a decent story overall.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a free electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a free electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.
August 4, 2020
This is a difficult review for me to write, as I really wanted to like this book, but there were just too many things wrong with it, to the point that the negatives ended up outweighing the few positives. I was initially drawn to this book because of the premise and also the genre of historical fiction being one of my favorites. The first chapter actually started off okay, but unfortunately, the more I read, the more I found it difficult to get into the story – my attention would start to wander and next thing I knew, I was skimming pages rather than actually reading.
The biggest problem I had with the story was its structure. Going into this, I was expecting an alternating timeline between wartime Paris and 1950s New York as mentioned in the premise. I’m fine with alternating timelines, as I read a lot of historical fiction and am used to seeing that with the genre. Usually, with dual timelines, there is an identifier that clearly differentiates the past from the present – be it separate chapters with the timeframe indicated at the start, or, if within the same chapter, a marker of some sort or even a transition sentence or two. For some reason, none of that existed in this book, at least not in the copy I received. There was no clear delineation whatsoever between the two timelines, no transition or anything – each chapter seemed to start in the present, but then a few paragraphs in, it would seemingly jump to the past and then later jump back to the present. For example – there would be a scene where the main character Charlotte is talking to her daughter Vivi, who is 14 years old in the present (1950s New York), about something, then in the next paragraph, Vivi is described as being asleep in the back room of a store while there is some drama going on in the front room...it took me a bit to realize that paragraph was actually describing something that occurred 10 years ago when Charlotte was still in Paris and Vivi was only 4 years old. There was no transition sentence or even a few words to indicate that Charlotte was thinking of a past memory – in fact, the entire sequence would be written in the same present tense voice, which made it feel like everything was happening in the same timeline when they obviously weren’t. This made the story very confusing and extremely hard to follow. Not only that, it also made it hard for me to connect with any of the characters, as I was too distracted trying to sort out the timelines and ended up not paying as much attention to what was happening with the characters.
Speaking of the characters....as if the timeline thing wasn’t confusing enough, the way some of the characters were written was a bit all over the place. There were some sections where a character would be referred to by their first name, but had not been introduced or mentioned previously, making it feel like the character was randomly dropped into the story without explanation of who they were – a few times I actually had to go back and re-read previous sections to see if I may have missed something. Interestingly enough, there were also some sections where the opposite occurred – there would be paragraph upon paragraph describing someone doing something or interacting with someone else, but the entire time, only the gender pronoun (he or she) would be used and no name would be mentioned.
I also had an issue with the way the historical elements were incorporated into the story. In some of the chapters, a historical situation would be brought up and the description of it would go on for pages and pages, sometimes to the point that it felt disconnected from the rest of the plot. Basically, the historical elements didn’t blend well into the story, which made me feel at times that I was reading a fictional story with random history lessons haphazardly inserted in places where it didn’t make sense. But then in other sections, there would be no historical element at all, just some soap opera-ish drama and/or back-and-forth dialogue between some of the characters.
Overall, this book was a chore to read, as the serious flaws with the execution made it mostly not work for me. Unfortunately, the basic structural issues were too overwhelming and therefore hard for me to ignore, which is a shame, as I felt the story did have potential. With that said, I’m a bit of an outlier here, since there are plenty of positive reviews for this book, so I would suggest checking those out as well for a more balanced perspective.
Received ARC from St. Martin’s Griffin via Edelweiss.
The biggest problem I had with the story was its structure. Going into this, I was expecting an alternating timeline between wartime Paris and 1950s New York as mentioned in the premise. I’m fine with alternating timelines, as I read a lot of historical fiction and am used to seeing that with the genre. Usually, with dual timelines, there is an identifier that clearly differentiates the past from the present – be it separate chapters with the timeframe indicated at the start, or, if within the same chapter, a marker of some sort or even a transition sentence or two. For some reason, none of that existed in this book, at least not in the copy I received. There was no clear delineation whatsoever between the two timelines, no transition or anything – each chapter seemed to start in the present, but then a few paragraphs in, it would seemingly jump to the past and then later jump back to the present. For example – there would be a scene where the main character Charlotte is talking to her daughter Vivi, who is 14 years old in the present (1950s New York), about something, then in the next paragraph, Vivi is described as being asleep in the back room of a store while there is some drama going on in the front room...it took me a bit to realize that paragraph was actually describing something that occurred 10 years ago when Charlotte was still in Paris and Vivi was only 4 years old. There was no transition sentence or even a few words to indicate that Charlotte was thinking of a past memory – in fact, the entire sequence would be written in the same present tense voice, which made it feel like everything was happening in the same timeline when they obviously weren’t. This made the story very confusing and extremely hard to follow. Not only that, it also made it hard for me to connect with any of the characters, as I was too distracted trying to sort out the timelines and ended up not paying as much attention to what was happening with the characters.
Speaking of the characters....as if the timeline thing wasn’t confusing enough, the way some of the characters were written was a bit all over the place. There were some sections where a character would be referred to by their first name, but had not been introduced or mentioned previously, making it feel like the character was randomly dropped into the story without explanation of who they were – a few times I actually had to go back and re-read previous sections to see if I may have missed something. Interestingly enough, there were also some sections where the opposite occurred – there would be paragraph upon paragraph describing someone doing something or interacting with someone else, but the entire time, only the gender pronoun (he or she) would be used and no name would be mentioned.
I also had an issue with the way the historical elements were incorporated into the story. In some of the chapters, a historical situation would be brought up and the description of it would go on for pages and pages, sometimes to the point that it felt disconnected from the rest of the plot. Basically, the historical elements didn’t blend well into the story, which made me feel at times that I was reading a fictional story with random history lessons haphazardly inserted in places where it didn’t make sense. But then in other sections, there would be no historical element at all, just some soap opera-ish drama and/or back-and-forth dialogue between some of the characters.
Overall, this book was a chore to read, as the serious flaws with the execution made it mostly not work for me. Unfortunately, the basic structural issues were too overwhelming and therefore hard for me to ignore, which is a shame, as I felt the story did have potential. With that said, I’m a bit of an outlier here, since there are plenty of positive reviews for this book, so I would suggest checking those out as well for a more balanced perspective.
Received ARC from St. Martin’s Griffin via Edelweiss.
August 4, 2020
Happy Publication Day! Thank you to St. Martin's Press for allowing me to be part of the book tour for this novel.
The central theme of Paris Never Leaves You is survivor’s guilt. The book looks at three characters and how they dealt with what happened to them during and the aftermath of World War II. These are ordinary people who are thrust into the horrors of war. The main character is Charlotte Foret, who was a widowed mother during the German occupation of Paris. She manages her father’s bookstore after he fled the country. In the prologue of the novel, it is 1944. Charlotte and her four-year-old daughter Vivi are in a Jewish POW camp about to be freed.
Ten years later, Charlotte and Vivi are living in New York City in an apartment upstairs in the home of Charlotte’s employer Horace Field. Horace and his wife sponsored Charlotte to come to America after the war. Horace, who owns a book publishing company, is in a wheelchair from his war injuries. He is denied the Congressional Medal of Honor simply because he is Jewish. He has his own way of dealing with the atrocities he experienced. Horace’s wife, Hannah, encourages 14-year-old Vivi to learn more about her Jewish past against Charlotte’s wishes. This creates a tension between mother and daughter, which forces Charlotte to reveal her secrets.
The third character is Julian Bauer. He is a German officer in occupied Paris who befriends Charlotte at the bookstore. Because he is an enemy, they have a complex relationship. Julian has to keep a secret in order to survive the war. Once the war is over, his life becomes extremely difficult.
The central theme of Paris Never Leaves You is survivor’s guilt. The book looks at three characters and how they dealt with what happened to them during and the aftermath of World War II. These are ordinary people who are thrust into the horrors of war. The main character is Charlotte Foret, who was a widowed mother during the German occupation of Paris. She manages her father’s bookstore after he fled the country. In the prologue of the novel, it is 1944. Charlotte and her four-year-old daughter Vivi are in a Jewish POW camp about to be freed.
Ten years later, Charlotte and Vivi are living in New York City in an apartment upstairs in the home of Charlotte’s employer Horace Field. Horace and his wife sponsored Charlotte to come to America after the war. Horace, who owns a book publishing company, is in a wheelchair from his war injuries. He is denied the Congressional Medal of Honor simply because he is Jewish. He has his own way of dealing with the atrocities he experienced. Horace’s wife, Hannah, encourages 14-year-old Vivi to learn more about her Jewish past against Charlotte’s wishes. This creates a tension between mother and daughter, which forces Charlotte to reveal her secrets.
The third character is Julian Bauer. He is a German officer in occupied Paris who befriends Charlotte at the bookstore. Because he is an enemy, they have a complex relationship. Julian has to keep a secret in order to survive the war. Once the war is over, his life becomes extremely difficult.
September 12, 2020
Can you ever really leave your past behind? Do secrets ever remain hidden forever? Charlotte, a young widow, made hard choices in order to survive during her and her young daughter's time living in an occupied France during WWII. Alternating between past and present, Paris Never Leaves You is Charlotte's and Vivenne's story making their way in present day New York during the 1950's. Now age fourteen, Viv is asking questions about the father she never knew and their time living in occupied Paris. As Charlotte's memories of that time haunt her, readers learn about the dark time period and what a young widow did to assure her and her daughter's survival. She struggles with how to answer her daughter's questions while still guarding the secrets she carries. Charlotte fled Paris leaving everything and everyone behind her. Will she lose everything she's worked for if the truth comes out?
Paris Never Leaves You is a good historical read featuring people who consider themselves survivors, not victims. The transition between time periods is well-defined and easy to follow. The plight of the people moved to liberation camps for minor offences evokes empathy as does their journey to a new land and life. I had a difficult time fully connecting with the main characters. I wanted to feel more sympathy for Charlotte and her dilemma, but I couldn't find it. I could sympathize with her situation, but never connected with her emotionally. The introduction of some characters later in the story also broke my concentration making for a bit of a bumpy read. I think it's probably one of those cases of "it's me, not the book". Ultimately, Paris Never Leaves You is a story of survival, sacrifice, choices, what you can live with and what you can't. I encourage fans of historical fiction to give this one a shot!
*Thank you St. Martins Press for an arc of this book.
**Review posted at: Cross My Heart Reviews
Paris Never Leaves You is a good historical read featuring people who consider themselves survivors, not victims. The transition between time periods is well-defined and easy to follow. The plight of the people moved to liberation camps for minor offences evokes empathy as does their journey to a new land and life. I had a difficult time fully connecting with the main characters. I wanted to feel more sympathy for Charlotte and her dilemma, but I couldn't find it. I could sympathize with her situation, but never connected with her emotionally. The introduction of some characters later in the story also broke my concentration making for a bit of a bumpy read. I think it's probably one of those cases of "it's me, not the book". Ultimately, Paris Never Leaves You is a story of survival, sacrifice, choices, what you can live with and what you can't. I encourage fans of historical fiction to give this one a shot!
*Thank you St. Martins Press for an arc of this book.
**Review posted at: Cross My Heart Reviews
July 16, 2020
I have been avoiding books on WWII. There are just too many of them and I am overwhelmed. For some reason I ordered this one and I am glad I did. I really liked it and there were plenty of twists that made it more interesting.
Charlotte is working at a bookstore (this could be why I picked this book) during WWII and raising her young daughter, Vivi. I am thrilled there were bookstores open during the German occupation but wonder who had money to buy books. They couldn't afford food but bought books? Well, it would be a toss up for me. Her husband was already killed in action so she is on her own.
She falls into a relationship with a German officer who is a doctor and sneaks her food and medicine. There is a twist about him that I found unnecessary and just too much. I dropped my rating to 4 stars because of it. Charlotte is terrified someone will discover the relationship. Rightly so. The French didn't care for people carrying on with the enemy.
The story then jumps 12 or so years later. Charlotte and Vivi are now living in NYC where she works as a book editor. The owner of the publishing house was a friend of her fathers and sponsored her at the end of the War so she could come to America. He is also her landlord so he's into her business.
The story alternates between the two time periods. We discover what Charlotte did to survive in occupied Paris and it is really up to the reader to decide if she was justified. I have quite mixed feelings but that's what a good book does. It makes you think. Her boss has secrets about the War that are rather devastating. In the end I had second thoughts about all the characters and I loved that. It means the people became real to me.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.
Charlotte is working at a bookstore (this could be why I picked this book) during WWII and raising her young daughter, Vivi. I am thrilled there were bookstores open during the German occupation but wonder who had money to buy books. They couldn't afford food but bought books? Well, it would be a toss up for me. Her husband was already killed in action so she is on her own.
She falls into a relationship with a German officer who is a doctor and sneaks her food and medicine. There is a twist about him that I found unnecessary and just too much. I dropped my rating to 4 stars because of it. Charlotte is terrified someone will discover the relationship. Rightly so. The French didn't care for people carrying on with the enemy.
The story then jumps 12 or so years later. Charlotte and Vivi are now living in NYC where she works as a book editor. The owner of the publishing house was a friend of her fathers and sponsored her at the end of the War so she could come to America. He is also her landlord so he's into her business.
The story alternates between the two time periods. We discover what Charlotte did to survive in occupied Paris and it is really up to the reader to decide if she was justified. I have quite mixed feelings but that's what a good book does. It makes you think. Her boss has secrets about the War that are rather devastating. In the end I had second thoughts about all the characters and I loved that. It means the people became real to me.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.
February 21, 2020
The story begins in 1954 with Charlotte Foret as an editor at Gibbon and Field in NYC. Her and her daughter’s story is revealed through dual time line, going back to WWII.
Most of the past story is revealed through Charlotte’s thoughts, making it feel often as it goes abruptly from present to past and vice versa. I need a good structure for fluency purposes.
A lot of scenes are about Charlotte being in one place, but thinking about another event. There is too much jumping around with thoughts, instead of story progressing forward.
Charlotte’s daughter wanting to know about her father moves the story back in time again. It’s like the story is moving forward, but not really.
The secrecy about her life in Paris keeps building up and building up, thus slowing the pace a bit.
It seems as there is no clear path to the plot. It’s a little bit of the present and past, something continues to be missing. A good structure to connect it all.
For me the story had the strongest point, when it was alternating in time being separated by chapters. It had clarity.
The most interesting part of this story ended up being about the publishing world.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Most of the past story is revealed through Charlotte’s thoughts, making it feel often as it goes abruptly from present to past and vice versa. I need a good structure for fluency purposes.
A lot of scenes are about Charlotte being in one place, but thinking about another event. There is too much jumping around with thoughts, instead of story progressing forward.
Charlotte’s daughter wanting to know about her father moves the story back in time again. It’s like the story is moving forward, but not really.
The secrecy about her life in Paris keeps building up and building up, thus slowing the pace a bit.
It seems as there is no clear path to the plot. It’s a little bit of the present and past, something continues to be missing. A good structure to connect it all.
For me the story had the strongest point, when it was alternating in time being separated by chapters. It had clarity.
The most interesting part of this story ended up being about the publishing world.
Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 2, 2020
3 WWII stars
This one features Charlotte and her daughter Vivienne who are struggling to survive during the war in Paris and then alternates with another timeline about 10 years later in New York.
Here’s what I liked about this one – learning a bit more about what it was like to run a business in war-torn Paris. The premise seemed very promising, a bookstore in Paris during WWII and some Resistance mentions. I also enjoyed a peek into the publishing world in the 1950s.
There are a few things I struggled with – the popular dual storyline seemed a bit disjointed in this one. It might have been better to tell in chronological order. Maybe because Charlotte was reserved and secretive, I never warmed to her character. I never really got invested in the two love stories either.
At the end of the day, a book with a lot of promise that didn’t quite deliver for me as a reader. If historical fiction is your jam, I wouldn’t discourage you from reading it, but for my tastes there are a lot more compelling tales out there.
Thank you to NetGalley, Ellen Feldman, and St. Martin's Griffin for an early copy of the book to read in return for an honest review. This one is set to publish 8.4.2020.
This one features Charlotte and her daughter Vivienne who are struggling to survive during the war in Paris and then alternates with another timeline about 10 years later in New York.
Here’s what I liked about this one – learning a bit more about what it was like to run a business in war-torn Paris. The premise seemed very promising, a bookstore in Paris during WWII and some Resistance mentions. I also enjoyed a peek into the publishing world in the 1950s.
There are a few things I struggled with – the popular dual storyline seemed a bit disjointed in this one. It might have been better to tell in chronological order. Maybe because Charlotte was reserved and secretive, I never warmed to her character. I never really got invested in the two love stories either.
At the end of the day, a book with a lot of promise that didn’t quite deliver for me as a reader. If historical fiction is your jam, I wouldn’t discourage you from reading it, but for my tastes there are a lot more compelling tales out there.
Thank you to NetGalley, Ellen Feldman, and St. Martin's Griffin for an early copy of the book to read in return for an honest review. This one is set to publish 8.4.2020.
June 16, 2021
Quando pensamos em livros sobre a 2a Guerra, logo nos vêm à cabeça histórias que se passam nos campos de batalha ou em campos de concentração nazistas. Mas, no caso de “Paris é para sempre”, a autora cria uma narrativa mais focada nos traumas gerados pela guerra, isto é, em um período em que o conflito persiste apenas dentro das pessoas que vivenciaram dias tão violentos, o que faz da leitura muito interessante.
As personagens principais da obra são Charlotte e Vivi, mãe e filha que vivem em Nova York da década de 1950. Charlotte trabalha em uma editora e em seu dia a dia ainda surgem resquícios do tempo em que viveu na Paris de ocupação alemã. Vivi, por sua vez, nasceu logo antes de a 2a Guerra iniciar e, por ser filha de judeus, precisou ser criada em condições dificílimas, em que os recursos eram escassos. E para piorar, Charlotte teve que criar a filha sozinha, em virtude da morte do marido em combate, e fez de tudo para conseguir conciliar o seu trabalho em uma livraria parisiense com a segurança de Vivi.
E essa luta pela sobrevivência em tempos tão difíceis se torna ainda mais tumultuada com a chegada de um novo personagem nessa história, que passa a despertar sentimentos conflituosos em Charlotte. Até onde a culpa iria perseguir a personagem? E será que vale tudo quando o assunto é assegurar o bem-estar de um filho?
Alternando entre Nova York dos anos 50 e Paris ocupada pelos nazistas, Ellen Feldman constrói uma bonita e intensa história entre os impactos da guerra na vida de mãe e filha. É a história de pessoas comuns, e não heróis de guerra, que tentavam levar vidas normais depois de viverem traumas irreparáveis.
Apesar da tristeza dos dias retratados, “Paris é para sempre” é um livro muito gostoso de ler, que consegue envolver o leitor nos questionamentos apresentados pelos personagens. Por fim, vale dizer que senti um pouco de falta de aprofundamento nas relações amorosas criadas pela autora, o que dificultou em alguns momentos que eu me envolvesse com a narrativa. De toda forma, é um livro que vai agradar muitos leitores!
Nota 8,5/10
Leia mais resenhas em https://www.instagram.com/book.ster/
As personagens principais da obra são Charlotte e Vivi, mãe e filha que vivem em Nova York da década de 1950. Charlotte trabalha em uma editora e em seu dia a dia ainda surgem resquícios do tempo em que viveu na Paris de ocupação alemã. Vivi, por sua vez, nasceu logo antes de a 2a Guerra iniciar e, por ser filha de judeus, precisou ser criada em condições dificílimas, em que os recursos eram escassos. E para piorar, Charlotte teve que criar a filha sozinha, em virtude da morte do marido em combate, e fez de tudo para conseguir conciliar o seu trabalho em uma livraria parisiense com a segurança de Vivi.
E essa luta pela sobrevivência em tempos tão difíceis se torna ainda mais tumultuada com a chegada de um novo personagem nessa história, que passa a despertar sentimentos conflituosos em Charlotte. Até onde a culpa iria perseguir a personagem? E será que vale tudo quando o assunto é assegurar o bem-estar de um filho?
Alternando entre Nova York dos anos 50 e Paris ocupada pelos nazistas, Ellen Feldman constrói uma bonita e intensa história entre os impactos da guerra na vida de mãe e filha. É a história de pessoas comuns, e não heróis de guerra, que tentavam levar vidas normais depois de viverem traumas irreparáveis.
Apesar da tristeza dos dias retratados, “Paris é para sempre” é um livro muito gostoso de ler, que consegue envolver o leitor nos questionamentos apresentados pelos personagens. Por fim, vale dizer que senti um pouco de falta de aprofundamento nas relações amorosas criadas pela autora, o que dificultou em alguns momentos que eu me envolvesse com a narrativa. De toda forma, é um livro que vai agradar muitos leitores!
Nota 8,5/10
Leia mais resenhas em https://www.instagram.com/book.ster/
July 29, 2020
When we as human beings live through a time of extreme crisis, the moral choices that have to be made are not always clearly defined. Two people with identical backgrounds and beliefs can make totally different choices in the midst of war and chaos. Charlotte survived the German occupation of Paris along with her daughter Vivi. They were able to emigrate to New York City with help from a couple who sponsored them along with providing an apartment and a job. Why can't Charlotte move on? Is it the anti-semitism around her? What role do the mysterious letters coming from Colombia play in her unrest? If you had been in Charlotte's shoes, what would you have done? Ellen Feldman does a fantastic job of writing a story that leads to soul-searching for the reader. I will not soon forget Charlotte. How would her experience have been different had she been a woman of faith? That would be one of many issues a book group could discuss concerning this compelling set in WW II Paris and post-war New York City.
Thank you to St. Martins and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to St. Martins and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
December 27, 2020
Charlotte survived Nazi-occupied Paris. And she did what she had to do to feed and protect herself and her young daughter, Vivi. But sometimes survival is its own price to pay. Ten years later, now Charlotte and Vivi live in New York City. Charlotte works at a publishing house with good people who literally helped her escape Europe after she and Vivi were released from a concentration camp. She’s moved on—or at least she’s trying to. But when she receives a letter from someone from her past, from an officer she knew in Paris, Charlotte is thrown into a tailspin. Memories come flooding back, and she’s powerless to stop them. It doesn’t help that, at the same time, her daughter is asking all kinds of questions about their past, about their experiences in Paris, about who her father was, and why they are “self-hating Jews.” Charlotte is overwhelmed, but it’s clear she’s going to have to confront her past whether she wants to or not.
MY THOUGHTS
Paris Never Leaves You gets off to a slow start, but once I hit the 20% mark, wow, I was hooked. I don’t want to say too much, because secrets are revealed slowly throughout. But I absolutely love the relationships in this book—not the characters exactly, but more the way they bond themselves to each other. Charlotte by herself is cold and closed off (and understandably so), but when we see her interacting with different lovers, she becomes a full, whole, relatable, lovable person. The same is true for the men in this story, honestly. It’s like the characters on their own are incomplete, but when they come together…it’s life-giving.
Ultimately, this is a book about the power of connection, the inescapable pull of connection—how we’re wired for it, how we crave it, how it fulfills us and makes the unbearable survivable. Always, always, always, life goes on. And so long as we are breathing, connection—and the healing it brings—is possible. Such a beautiful sentiment, especially in times like these.
Big thank you to St. Martins and Net Galley for the ARC. See more of my reviews at www.bugbugbooks.com.
MY THOUGHTS
Paris Never Leaves You gets off to a slow start, but once I hit the 20% mark, wow, I was hooked. I don’t want to say too much, because secrets are revealed slowly throughout. But I absolutely love the relationships in this book—not the characters exactly, but more the way they bond themselves to each other. Charlotte by herself is cold and closed off (and understandably so), but when we see her interacting with different lovers, she becomes a full, whole, relatable, lovable person. The same is true for the men in this story, honestly. It’s like the characters on their own are incomplete, but when they come together…it’s life-giving.
Ultimately, this is a book about the power of connection, the inescapable pull of connection—how we’re wired for it, how we crave it, how it fulfills us and makes the unbearable survivable. Always, always, always, life goes on. And so long as we are breathing, connection—and the healing it brings—is possible. Such a beautiful sentiment, especially in times like these.
Big thank you to St. Martins and Net Galley for the ARC. See more of my reviews at www.bugbugbooks.com.
August 4, 2020
**ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Paris Never Leaves You is a fast-paced, straight to the point historical fiction and is alternating between wartime Paris and 1950s New York. It is focusing on the same character in both time periods. Charlotte and her daughter Vivi have left after the war and are now living in New York City. Charlotte is an editor at a publishing house and doesn't like to talk about her past. As her daughter gets older and more curious, she wants to know where they came from and who her family is.Charlotte hasn't been completely truthful, honestly she just let people assume things. But when her daughter gets closer and closer to finding out the truth, she will have to be the one to come clean to her.
I enjoyed this book but I had a couple of issues with it. First of all I just couldn't fully connect to Charlotte. I just didn't know enough of her life, and that is because she is very secretive, especially in present time. I just needed more depth and details of what was going on. Also the transition from present to past and vice versa was a bit chaotic. There were a couple of times I was confused in which time period the scenes were taking place. The book was too short and rushed for it to have a big impact on me. Instead of a fully realized story I was getting snippets, and it just didn't feel complete. I just didn't have enough time to grow closer to the characters. Also the ending was a bit abrupt and left me unsatisfied.
Paris Never Leaves You is a fast-paced, straight to the point historical fiction and is alternating between wartime Paris and 1950s New York. It is focusing on the same character in both time periods. Charlotte and her daughter Vivi have left after the war and are now living in New York City. Charlotte is an editor at a publishing house and doesn't like to talk about her past. As her daughter gets older and more curious, she wants to know where they came from and who her family is.Charlotte hasn't been completely truthful, honestly she just let people assume things. But when her daughter gets closer and closer to finding out the truth, she will have to be the one to come clean to her.
I enjoyed this book but I had a couple of issues with it. First of all I just couldn't fully connect to Charlotte. I just didn't know enough of her life, and that is because she is very secretive, especially in present time. I just needed more depth and details of what was going on. Also the transition from present to past and vice versa was a bit chaotic. There were a couple of times I was confused in which time period the scenes were taking place. The book was too short and rushed for it to have a big impact on me. Instead of a fully realized story I was getting snippets, and it just didn't feel complete. I just didn't have enough time to grow closer to the characters. Also the ending was a bit abrupt and left me unsatisfied.
August 12, 2020
I was intrigued by the premise of Paris Never Leaves You and couldn't wait to dig in. In dual timelines we follow Charlotte and her daughter Vivienne. Part during WWII in Paris and part 1950's United States.
What I loved : 1)When reading historical fiction I hope to come away with something I didn't know and in this case it was how far reaching antisemitism was in WWII. 2) Bookshops, of course! 3) Vivienne was curious and authentic without being annoying.
What didn't gel with me: 1)The dual timelines were too much alike. I understand it's before and after, but the time periods almost bled together. 2) The romance didn't throw any sparks. 3) I hate to say this, but Charlotte. I like the voice Feldman gave, but it wasn't one that I thought about after finishing.
There wasn't a point that I didn't think I was going to finish. I did enjoy the time I spent and look forward to the next novel by Ellen Feldman.
Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the advance copy.
What I loved : 1)When reading historical fiction I hope to come away with something I didn't know and in this case it was how far reaching antisemitism was in WWII. 2) Bookshops, of course! 3) Vivienne was curious and authentic without being annoying.
What didn't gel with me: 1)The dual timelines were too much alike. I understand it's before and after, but the time periods almost bled together. 2) The romance didn't throw any sparks. 3) I hate to say this, but Charlotte. I like the voice Feldman gave, but it wasn't one that I thought about after finishing.
There wasn't a point that I didn't think I was going to finish. I did enjoy the time I spent and look forward to the next novel by Ellen Feldman.
Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for the advance copy.
June 1, 2020
A different take on the story of women's experiences during WWII--this time from a woman who reluctantly becomes 'a horizontal collaborator' to survive.
The story is set in two timelines and settings: Paris in the 40s and NYC in the 50s. During the war, Charlotte runs a bookstore while caring for her baby daughter, Vivi. One frequent customer visiting the store is a German officer named Julian Bauer who is a doctor. When Vivi becomes ill, he begins to bring food and medicine, and one thing leads to another...
After the war, Charlotte finds a sponsor to bring her and her daughter to NYC where she works for a large publishing house as an editor. But she carries a lot of baggage with her including some guilty secrets.
The focus of this story is quite narrow and more of a romance than I had expected. Perhaps not surprisingly, anti-semitism rears its ugly head even in 50s America.
I received an arc of this new novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks.
The story is set in two timelines and settings: Paris in the 40s and NYC in the 50s. During the war, Charlotte runs a bookstore while caring for her baby daughter, Vivi. One frequent customer visiting the store is a German officer named Julian Bauer who is a doctor. When Vivi becomes ill, he begins to bring food and medicine, and one thing leads to another...
After the war, Charlotte finds a sponsor to bring her and her daughter to NYC where she works for a large publishing house as an editor. But she carries a lot of baggage with her including some guilty secrets.
The focus of this story is quite narrow and more of a romance than I had expected. Perhaps not surprisingly, anti-semitism rears its ugly head even in 50s America.
I received an arc of this new novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks.
July 31, 2020
The book world seems to be experiencing a superfluity of WWII fiction right now. Much of it is good, but there are those moments when one wonders, Is there anything truly new to be done with this subject? The answer to that question is "yes," and that something new is Ellen Feldman's Paris Never Leaves You.
At the beginning, Paris Never Leaves You reads like a fair bit of WWII fiction. It's set in two times periods and moves between them. It recounts the deprivations of living in occupied Paris. It contains a doomed love story. But these settings and plot elements take on entirely new forms under Feldman's pen. This book surprises—again and again—and those surprises don't feel contrived; they feel intrinsic to the narrative and characters Feldman offers us.
Even if you think you've had enough of WWII fiction, add Paris Never Leaves You to your reading list. It will give you a satisfying, moving, new experience in a genre that's been pretty thoroughly explored.
At the beginning, Paris Never Leaves You reads like a fair bit of WWII fiction. It's set in two times periods and moves between them. It recounts the deprivations of living in occupied Paris. It contains a doomed love story. But these settings and plot elements take on entirely new forms under Feldman's pen. This book surprises—again and again—and those surprises don't feel contrived; they feel intrinsic to the narrative and characters Feldman offers us.
Even if you think you've had enough of WWII fiction, add Paris Never Leaves You to your reading list. It will give you a satisfying, moving, new experience in a genre that's been pretty thoroughly explored.
August 7, 2020
Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and I am always on a lookout for a book that will bring a new perspective to a piece of history that I have not yet explored. Paris Never Leaves You was one of these books. The story of survival, forbidden love, loss, and the unconditional love of a mother for her daughter, this novel was a heart breaking and emotional read for me. I enjoyed the author’s superb writing style and her ability to evoke in the reader deep feelings for the characters and the events in this story.
I recommend this book to all historical fiction fans, and I am looking forward to reading more books
by this author.
Thank you St. Martin’s press and Ellen Feldman for providing me with an ARC copy for this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I recommend this book to all historical fiction fans, and I am looking forward to reading more books
by this author.
Thank you St. Martin’s press and Ellen Feldman for providing me with an ARC copy for this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
July 29, 2020
What would you do to survive WWII? The courageous Charlotte emerges alive with her young daughter Vivi, but is left with crushing guilt for how she did so. The often heartbreaking, utterly real story splits between 1940s Paris and 1950s New York City, and offers a compelling twist on recent novels set during the war. To be read with an open heart, a goblet of burgundy and a big box of Kleenex.
5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 04 Aug 2020
Thanks to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.
#ParisNeverLeavesYou
5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 04 Aug 2020
Thanks to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.
#ParisNeverLeavesYou
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