Charlotte is struggling to run a bookshop and look after her baby daughter Vivi in wartime Paris. Food is hard to come by and her baby is undernourished so when Julian a German officer starts to come into her shop and try to befriend her she is torn, he is one of the enemy who killed her husband but he is also a doctor and can help her precious daughter. In 1954 Charlotte is in New York working for a publishing house and bringing Vivi up as a happy American girl but can she ever come to terms with her past of being accused of being a collaborator?

I really enjoyed this book showing a slightly different angle of wartime Paris, it worked well in the two timelines so that you can see the result of her actions in Paris and how she still struggles to come to terms with it. A book that definitely makes you think and stays with you after you have finished it

While there are authors out there like Ellen Feldman, I will never grow tired of reading historical fiction based on WWII. Feldman looks through the history glass from a different angle with this story. Charlotte runs a book shop in occupied France while raising her young daughter Vivi. Sadly, she lost her husband to the war and is bitter, hating the Germans, like everyone else, understandably so. Her days are a sad blur of hunger, marching boots, and a sickly young baby to care for.
A German officer begins frequenting her bookstore. Charlotte refuses to look him in the eye or show him any consideration, but she draws the line at being rude for fear of her or her daughter’s life. One day, she returns from hours standing in the food line and finds that her best friend Simone has been arrested. Worse than that, her little baby is in the arms of the German officer, who is calming her and rocking her to sleep. Over the following weeks, the officer, Julian, uses extreme patience and care to win over Charlotte, to help with Vivi, and to be a part of her life, however secretly they’re forced to keep their relationship. Julian shares a dark secret about himself, and Charlotte knows he does this to share in the danger one poses for the other.
Flash forward to 1954, Charlotte is living in New York working at a publishing company, raising Vivi in much safer and sanitary conditions thanks to her employer Horace and his wife Hannah. Horace, a friend of her father’s, agreed to sponsor Charlotte at the end of the war so she could move to America. In a bit of a twist, Horace is in love with Charlotte and isn’t ashamed to let her know. And again, with slow reserve and fear of emotion, Charlotte slowly lets him into her world.
Flashing back and forth between the two times, a view of the life of the Parisians during the German occupation is exposed. Some scenes are ugly, some are compassionate. Charlotte’s current life in America isn’t without perils, but nothing compared to the war she has survived.
This is a beautiful story about a non-Jewish widow woman who is struggling to raise a baby in the middle of one of the most blood-thirsty eras of humankind. The repercussions, the lasting scars, and the desire to heal and learn to love again is the basic story, but thanks to the author’s writing style, the details of this woman’s life are so mesmerizing, you can’t help but feel her pain and emotions as if they’re your own.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

The premise caught my attention - a woman who became a collaborator to survive. A question of moral and survival; one that we cannot judge until we're in that situation.

We have two timelines in two different places - 40s Paris and 50s NYC. Paris held Charlotte's past which she hoped to stay in the past, NYC is where Charlotte was an editor in a publishing house, living in an apartment with her daughter, Vivi.

So I was expecting a strong female character, one that I'd root for. I honestly tried to like Charlotte. But found it so difficult. I'm not sure is it because of the style of writing, or the way the book was structured, or that was how Charlotte was. Yes, she was struggling between moving on and forgiving herself for what she did many years ago and at the same time trying to raise her daughter. But I just couldn't empathize with her tried as I had. She felt so distant.

And, is it me or there's like a disconnect between her and her daughter? Is it because of Charlotte's struggle to free herself from her past that was keeping her from being more emotional?

Also, I might be a little biased in my review, as I was expecting a little more history than romance. Give this a try if the premise interests you or if you're one for romance.

And the timelines did get abit confusing at times.

BUT I did enjoy reading about the publishing industry during that time! Looks like some of the challenges might be still relevant today!

This really had such a promising premise, but regrettably either the structure or the characters didnt work for me...

I know some of my historical fiction/romance friends might enjoy this though!

Thank you St Martin's Press ans Netgalley for the invitation to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

The story of Charlotte & how the choices she made while ensuring the survival of her daughter during the Nazi occupation in Paris, still haunt her a decade later, regardless of how far she's traveled to escape the past.
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I enjoyed the dual timeline of wartime Paris and 1950's New York. With a decade and an ocean apart, it was interesting to note how different life could be in the postwar era. One place held the peril of persecution and death even after the war, while the other promised a new beginning.
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Though the narrative flashes back & unfolds from Charlotte's perspective, I still struggled to connect with her. I expected sincere empathy while trying to fathom the guilt she had to grapple with as her now teenage daughter questioned the past. However, Charlotte's voice and actions were somewhat cold and because she is central to the story, this detracted from it.

What does it take to survive a war and how much will it cost? Charlotte is a widow with a young daughter working in a bookshop in Paris. Besides constant uncertainty and fear, there is never enough food. When a German officer and doctor helps her get more food, how can she say no? She has to think of her daughter Vivienne even though she will be viewed as a German ally if this fact comes to light.
Paris Never Leaves You follows Charlotte in two timelines. Her time during the war and her time in America when she and Vivienne left the war behind to start over. But as the title implies, what happened in Paris is never far from Charlotte's mind and as her daughter starts asking more questions, many secrets come to light.
Historical fiction is not my go-to genre, but when a book captures my interest, I am happy to step out of my reading box. It is a story that made me think about how much suffering we humans will cause one another in the name of being right. The sad fact is we never seem to learn from the past. For me, this wouldn't work as a beach read and I didn't race through it, I savored Charlotte's tale. Heartbreaking and very well written.

Paris Never Leaves You is a wonderful dual time book that transports the reader to lovely Paris and magical New York. I read the book in one sitting and did not want it to end.

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.

Paris Never Leaves You is as much historical romance as historical fiction or women's fiction, which works for this story. The storyline is emotional, and it's impossible to read about Charlotte's determination to survive and protect her daughter without feeling the emotion of the story. Ellen Feldman did a great job of showing Charlotte's survivor's guilt as well as her relationship with her daughter. The story moves between two timelines, and while the switch was sometimes a bit abrupt, both timelines were interesting. The story is easy to follow, and the characters are well-drawn and made me want to see how things would come out for them. All in all, Paris Never Leaves You is an engaging historical romance from Ellen Feldman. It's well written, and I would check out other books by this author.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Ellen Feldman, and St. Martin's Press - Griffin. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. This was an enjoyable, slow-paced book with a simple storyline and emotional without too much angst. There are several other books by this author, new to me, that will entice me later. I am pleased to recommend Ellen Feldman to my historical fiction loving friends and family.

Charlotte is a young French widow with a baby, Vivi - Vivienne Gabrielle Foret - who is suffering greatly with the deprivations of wartime Paris. The child needs real meals and lots more vitamins than their diet can provide. Charlotte runs a book store, keeping Vivi with her.

A German Medical doctor, Julian Bauer, stationed in Paris, often shops at her bookstore, and eventually begins slipping fruit and meat for the baby into his medical bad to pass off to Charlotte and Vivi. Eventually, a relationship forms between Julian and Charlotte, and it is obvious that he adores Vivi as well. But as the war begins to wind down and the German roundups increase, Charlotte is desperate to get to the United States, hopefully before it is discovered that she has been collaborating with the enemy. Julian, a Jew drafted into the German military before the war and with excellent forged Christian identification, alters Charlotte's identity papers to hide them in the mass of displaced French Jewish citizenry and drops them off at Drancy from where she and the baby were able to become refugees in New York City, but lose all contact with Julian.

Horace Field, an old American friend of Charlotte's father, sponsors Charlotte and Vivi, employs her at his publishing house, and he and his wife Hannah set them up in an apartment in their upper floor, where Vivi thrives and Charlotte, her own worst enemy, keeps herself laced up in solitude as punishment for her sins of the past for the next many years.

Julian eventually winds up in Bogota and Charlotte, traced through the group who helped her find refuge in the US is contacted by a Rabbi from there, wanting a character reference before he will sponsor Julian because of his military years of service to Germany. Of course, she can, and only then does she admit that she loved Julian, and that he was a good man. Is that the first step in forgiving herself? Is she going to be able to move past her Paris affair and find a happy place? And is she ever going to be able to explain to Vivi why she has refused to answer her questions about religion and any remaining family left in France?

This book is told in two parts, Wartime Paris and 1950s New York. The story is told by Charlotte and we learn what it was like to live in Paris during the Nazi regime. The detail that encompasses this book was unreal and I felt like I had stepped back in time when Charlotte flashes back to those times.

She currently lives in New York with her boss. He was a friend of her father and he took her and her daughter in when they fled from France. The relationship between the two of them is delicate and unique and has you questioning it throughout the whole book. The dynamics were definitely eyebrow raising.

Parts of this book were hard to read and even though this is a work of fiction, the things this book describes absolutely took place. Sometimes it is hard to wrap your head around everything, but that's the truth in wartime history. This will be a great story to read for those of you who enjoy World War II fiction.

I did find it hard to follow along in parts of the book as suddenly it would jump scenes without a break. Once I figured out what was happening I could get back into the reading, but it did make it a little more difficult for me. There is a romance story line, which is a little odd at first, but everything weaves together and makes much more sense in the end.

4 stars. The tale this tells of Charlotte and her adventure to safe herself and her daughter is one that I didn't quite see coming. As a mother, I don't blame her in the least for what she did and I wish she saw things the same way.

Enjoyable read! 4 out of 5 stars.

Charlotte, a young widow working in a Paris book store with her infant child, Vivienne, during WWII. She befriends a German soldier and is able to escape from the hellish realities of her life. The novel alternates between Paris during WWII and post-war in NYC, where Charlotte is a survivor and has escaped but is still haunted by her past.

I'm not a typical reader of historical fiction, but I enjoyed this book as it is a blend of historical fiction & romance! The timelines were a bit hard to follow as they jump from WWII in Paris to post-war in NYC.

Thank you Ellen Feldman, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. #NetGalley #ParisNeverLeavesYou

Charlotte survived occupied Paris, managing to protect her child because of choices she made. Those choices resurface years after she and her daughter moved to America. Feelings of shame return as a letter brings about memories of a time she wants to forget. The theme of survivor’s guilt runs through the novel – not just for Charlotte but also the man she works for in New York. They both learn lessons of forgiveness, acceptance, and finding the courage to move forward in life. I think because half of the book is about Charlotte’s life in New York, Paris Never Leaves You is different from other WWII novels I’ve read. Ultimately, it’s an emotional story that I’m glad I had the chance to read.

A heart gripping historical novel. Charlotte, is minding the family Bookstore in Nazi occupied Paris. After her father escapes from Paris, she is alone, widowed and with her young daughter she is helped by a girlfriend. Together they make ends me, but life is terrifying. The Nazi’s have banded my books and she can’t be found caring any of them. Everyone in Paris is watching each other which ads an additional level of fear. Then a Nazi soldier enters her shop. A book lover, but all is not what it seems. Charlotte must make serious choices. The health and safety of her young daughter, her own survival, loyalty to the France she loves. This novel dies a terrific job putting the reader in Charlottes shoes. What choices would YOU make. The danger she faces is truly terrifying, but she is a woman who will take a life or death risk when necessary. The story toggles between Paris and New York City after the war. Charlotte is confronted with her long ago choices and the guilt associated with those choices. She struggles to find redemption and the ability to retain her daughters love. I would like to thank Net galley and ST. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

Paris Never Leaves You alternates between WWII in France and 1950s New York. I usually enjoy anything written about WWII so I was looking forward to this book. However, It didn’t really capture my interest the way the description promised it would.

Charlotte and her infant daughter survived wartime France but some of her choices to do that cost her dearly. Now working in publishing in 1950s New York Charlotte seems to have survived the wartime horrors and made a good life for herself and her teenage daughter. However, things aren’t as smooth as they seem. Charlotte lives in the past a lot and she and her daughter don’t seem that close and are isolated from others.

I read in the author’s notes that because we always seem to read about the extraordinary heroes her goal was to write about an ordinary woman instead, the average person just caught up in things. Unfortunately, even though Charlotte really isn’t ordinary, she’s also not very interesting or likable. She seems to have slid into her choices more than intentionally made them, doesn’t seem happy, and is often curt or sarcastic with her daughter. She is a woman shrouded in secrets but the jumping back and forth in time didn’t make me particularly sympathetic to her or want to learn what the secrets were. You never get a feel of the fear and danger and horrors of the war, or of her struggles in New York. None of the characters are very compelling.

To say much more would introduce spoilers. Perhaps there are just too many WWII stories out there now or too many of them are focusing more on historical romance than historical fiction and I need to just take a break. Others may very well thoroughly enjoy this story. It just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Publishing Group for providing an advance copy via NetGalley for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

A few years back my book group got tired of reading books on World War 2 - it seems every time we turned around someone had a new book on the topic. I never really grew weary of them, and I found each one has a different point of view - Paris Never Leaves You is different from other World War 2 books I have read. Charlotte and her daughter have escaped Paris and resettled in New York City; the war has been over 10 years, and Charlotte's daughter Vivi is now a teenager. The story of what happened to Charlotte and Vivi during the years of Paris under the four years of Germany's occupation of the city is told in flashback segments from Charlotte's memories.

Charlotte is a very private reserved person, and her daughter is being brought up American and does not understand her mother's secretive nature. A series of events open Vivi's eyes, and Charlotte struggles with overcoming her past. We hear stories of Parisian citizens and their pride in resisting the Nazi influence, mixed in with the terror of being branded a Jew (Juif), a collaborator, or of even being too prominent in any walk of life. Charlotte shows that life did continue on, and sometimes help can come from unlikely sources. It was true for Charlotte and Vivi even during their escape to New York.

I really enjoyed this book - I hated for it to end,honestly. I would like to know more of the story and what happens to the characters in the next phase of life.

I love WWII books and overall I liked the plot of this book. I enjoyed the back and forth between time periods, slowly revealing what happened to Charlotte and why she left Paris at the end of WWII. The scenes in 1954 NYC were entertaining and kept my interest, even if they weren't entirely believable. I doubt a woman in the 1950s would have such a prominent job in a big publishing house...it's more likely that Charlotte would be a secretary.

My main issue is with the character of Charlotte. I don't think the reader gets to know her well enough because some her actions don't make a lot of sense. She makes a choice in Paris so she and her daughter will survive and it makes sense to the reader. But when she gets to NYC she makes another choice that is really surprising and I just couldn't understand the motivation.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This is the story of a young mother in Paris during WW2 who is befriended by a German officer who brings food and medicine for her and her baby girl. The officer then helps them to escape. Years later, the teenager and her mother are living in NY. The mother is working as an editor for her brother in law, and living in one of his apartments with her daughter. The daughter wants to know who her father is and the mother wonders about the officer...

There are plenty of books to choose from in the historical fiction/WWII genre but this one is done a little differently than many I've read. The story focuses on Charlotte, a French woman, and the choices she makes to keep herself and her young daughter alive. She carries the guilt of one of these choices with her beyond the war and this is the story of how she handles that guilt and her eventual unburdening of the secret, interspersed with flashbacks to the war that actually tell the story of what happened.
I felt this was a little bit slow to start, but once I got into it I was hooked. It made my heart hurt for Charlotte that she carried so much guilt with her and that she even had to feel guilt for it in the first place. I can't even imagine being alive in that time and having to make the choices that many had to make, and then carrying the fear for so long afterward. I really enjoyed this different perspective on the time.

Told in alternating timelines of Paris during the ‘40s, and New York in the ‘50s, we follow Charlotte's unwavering protection of her daughter, Vivi, during the war and her desire to protect her from the past a decade later Those who worked with the Germans faced harsh repercussions from their fellow man. Charlotte is doing what she thinks is best to feed her daughter, who is withering away by the time that part of the story starts. But it’s a dangerous business working with a German officer, no matter how good that man’s intentions may seem.

In the book’s present-day, Charlotte doesn’t want to face the past and what she did. She hides in shame for her actions. Actions we might not see as shameful but weren't in her position to judge. Vivi is a good daughter, and she’s incredibly smart. She desires to know more about her father who lost his life to the war. She wants to know more about her heritage, which her mother would rather keep buried.

I enjoyed this one more than others, and perhaps it’s because I read a lot of WW2 historical fiction that I’m able to enjoy Charlotte’s unique voice. Feldman gave us Charlotte’s life during the war, which didn’t wholly reflect that of others. It doesn’t show fully what is happening to the Jews, and that’s okay. The big story here is a mother’s fierce protection of their child and living with the guilt that comes with Charlotte’s situation. I find her guilt raw and honest. Part historical, part romance, this is a well-written, enjoyable read. Thank you, St. Martin's, for sending this along!

I am a big fan of historical fiction and am drawn to stories related to the holocaust bc of family ties. Paris Never Leaves You has a twist to it that I’ve never come across before. In some cases I think I would have been mad at the protagonist for their choice but in this case I felt for them and would have done the same.