** I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
WW II Historical fiction has become one of my favorite subgenres.. Throw in a bookstore and a woman trying to keep her and her baby alive in occupied France and I'm all in.
I wanted so much to love this book. However, I was unable to connect to these characters. They were flat and i often felt the story was told at me not to me. The idea of survivors guilt is such a ripe emotional landscape from this time period. So many people died.
This story was just not what I'd hoped it would be.

3 stars

Thank you to #netgalley #ellenfeldman and #stmartins for a complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoy historical fiction, although it is rarely my first choice of genre so maybe I'm not the best audience. But a book about a bookstore? Sign me up!

I thought the book was a little slow and the varying timeframes was a little confusing- it just didn't flow as well as I would have liked. At times it was too distracting. The romance felt a little forced and wasn't all that believable. It was a relatively fast read and not overwhelmed with too wordy of details.

Overall, I think people that love historical fiction or really love romance will appreciate this book more than I did. I still enjoyed it and respect the author and her work.

Sooo I love anything to do with Europe and Paris and this didn’t disappoint! It makes me want to visit Paris now, just to get a better feel of the characters and how they lived and everything.

While I always love reading about Paris, I was afraid that this story would be like so many of the World War II books currently being published. This books is different in that Ellen Feldman created a character who remained in Paris and was not actively working in any capacity for the war effort. The author painted a vivid picture of what it was like to live in Paris during the Nazi occupation and the aftermath of the liberation. The main character, Charlotte is a strong woman who tells herself that she is doing what she must to help her child survive while denying her own feelings and living with her guilt.

No Paris will never leave you!! What great characters, historical descriptions and emotional intrigue!

I am positive that this book will be the best book I will have read this year. Paris Will Never Leave You will also be my favorite read this year, and quite likely an all-time favorite.

The book received high praise from reviewers and writers who are far more talented and astute than me. But we all agree that this is a special book.

"Masterful. Magnificent. A passionate story of survival and a real page turner. This story will stay with me for a long time." —Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka's Journey

The main reason for my passion for this book is the main character, Charlotte. She is so lovely, tempered, proper, contained, and yet beguiling as well. She’s unforgettable. Her daughter Vivi is almost as appealing in her young and charming way. There are other characters in the book, but not too many to keep track of, and all of them bring something important to the story.

For readers who are experiencing a bit of World War II historical fiction fatigue, put those feelings aside. Yes, part of the story takes place during the war years in occupied Paris. The war times alternate with Charlotte’s life in America 10 year after the war. In this book, the war occupies a small stage- a bookstore in Paris. The real war story is the story of Charlotte and her choices, from the small everyday choices, to more nuanced and moral choices. She’s an ordinary woman, like many other ordinary people during the war. Or is she?

I won’t say anything about the plot, as I don’t want to reveal anything. While the writing is spare, it is also eloquent. The ideas are complex. I want to reread this book, because the ending surprised me, and I want to go back and see what I missed.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St, Martin’s Press for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

This book was definitely a hard look at what it was like in occupied Paris during World War II. I enjoyed the history , but it seemed like the book didn't really go anywhere to me. Maybe this isn't just my type of genre. If you really like historical fiction/romance, this might be the book for you.

I enjoyed this story of the occupation of Paris from a different point of view. Charlotte did what she felt was necessary for her and her baby daughter to survive and her life intersects with a German soldier doing the same. These interactions have profound impact on both their lives.

World War ll is raging and Charlotte is a young war widow with a young daughter in Paris during the Occupation. She manages a book store for the absent owner more as a way to spend her days than to earn money. There is very little money or anything to buy in Paris at that time. Even with ration cards there is little food to be had and she is very worried about her daughter Vivi’s health. Through no choice of her own, a young Nazi officer who frequents the shop grows fond of Vivi. He begins to smuggle food for Vivi and then for both mother and daughter. Charlotte is stricken with guilt for taking the gifts and is terrified that she has become a collaborator, though she has done nothing to help the Germans or harm her fellow citizens. However, in occupied France it is considered traitorous to even smile at a Nazi soldier.
With the aid of the officer, Charlotte and Vivi are saved from potential retribution by the French and also are able to emigrate to the United States after the war ends. Charlotte heavily carries her guilt and despite her success in America, peace alludes her. It is only through a confrontation with her now teenaged daughter that she can finally begin to forgive herself.
World War ll and the Holocaust were terrible times in world history. This novel serves to remind us how such hubris and hatred almost destroyed our world. How lucky we are to be alive now and not then so we only view that tragic time through a window and bow “Never again”.

Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman

Alternating between 1940s France during the German occupation and the comforts of the 1950s NYC, we see the two lives our protagonist, Charlotte Foret, has lived.

No decisions made for survival during the occupation were easy ones. When Parisians began turning on each other to report Jews being hidden or infractions of the laws, everyone becomes your enemy. A dilemma ultimately follows: What would you do to save your child?

Charlotte has to come to terms with her wartime decisions, but as daughter Vivi grows older, she demands answers to questions about her dead father. Charlotte explains that they have a great life in NY. Why revisit all the pain and turmoil of the war? Everyone has secrets, after all.

In addition, this fabulous story also sheds light on the pain of wartime relationships, even those that may have been forbidden. While there are no battle scenes, there are plenty of wounds. There is hate, but there is also compassion, a rare find in a story about WWII.

Ellen Feldman hits a perfect note in this historical novel, not only in the story itself, but in the gift of her writing style. It’s a five star review from this reviewer.

My sincere thanks to #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for an ARC for my review.

It’s amazing the will that people have to survive. The things that people, especially women had to endure during WW2 and the time afterward is hard to swallow sometimes. This book really puts you in the shoes of those people as you watch them struggle and overcome the pain of such a brutal war.

I will post my review to my blog and Goodreads closer to the release date.

I enjoy historical fiction, particularly WWII-era stories. I especially like when they take place in multiple settings, such as this one (New York and Paris). Love and survival are key themes, as is figuring out who you are. I've never read anything by this author, but I'm likely to check out future books, as I liked her writing style.. The characters were well-developed, and the scenes were descriptive. The reader may be left wondering what they would do if they were in the same position.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this copy of Paris Never Leaves You in exchange of a honest review.

This novel is everything I love about WWII stories —a main character, Charlotte, whom I did not agree with the many choices she made throughout the story, a woman far from perfect, a mother who does what she thinks is best for her child, who is ready to do anything to save them both. I woman I despised and grew fond of simultaneously. How could this be possible? I blame it on Ellen Feldman’s exquisite writing that kept me on my toes throughout. Her use of perfectly adequate words, her talent to throw us right into the next scene without lengthy, unnecessary introductions, her creation of intricate and imperfect characters you grow to love and accept despite their many imperfections.

This book was a piece of art that will definitely be on my 2020 Top 5. I am planning on reading it again right before its release, June 2, 2020 because I know I missed a lot of details, subtleties that will make me enjoy the story even more than I already have.
If you love atmospheric novels, historical fiction, and a good dramatic love story, this book is for you. Add it to your TBR right now!

3.5
Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman is a quick reading page-turner filled with conflicted characters who are damaged survivors of WWII.

In occupied Paris, Charlotte runs her family's book shop. A war widow, she struggles to keep her baby daughter Vivi alive. A German army doctor visits the shop and takes an interest in her baby daughter, secreting in food and medicine. Charlotte reluctantly accepts his gifts and trust and friendship grow, putting them both at risk.

Years later, Charlotte's choices come back to haunt her in her new life in New York City where she works for a publishing house. Teenaged Vivi is pressing to know more about her father and heritage. Charlotte's boss, a paraplegic, knows that war destroyed the enlightened man he had been. Charlotte has been trashing the unopened letters from the German doctor.

I appreciated how Feldman incorporated less known WWII history, including the privations of occupied France and post-war retaliation against collaborators. Her handling of the character's moral struggles was of special interest to me. There are several strong romance stories that will appeal to readers of women's fiction.

Surviving the war brings guilt for having survived, their decisions and actions kept secret. Admitting their shameful truths brings healing and the possibility of a new life

I was given a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Paris Never Leaves You is a story with a different perspective on surviving WWII in Paris . It's about a young mother and her daughter trying to survive . Ellen Feldman does a great job bringing the reader into the mother's life of hardships, love, and survival. This is the first book by Ellen Feldman that I have read but plan on reading more.

Paris Never Leaves You is the story of a French woman who survives the German occupation of Paris during WWII, doing everything she can to provide for her daughter, then has survivor's guilt for the things she did and for things she did not do. This novel is really close to being great, but just didn't quite reach that mark for me - just a little too jumbled. But it has great things to say about the cost of the choices we make, and learning to really live. I particularly enjoyed the look at life from the viewpoint of what others might call a "collabo/collaborator," as I have not read any others like that. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Griffin. 3.75 rounded up to 4 stars for originality.

I did not like this book at all and found it very poorly written. The book switches in time and place as do many books these days. This one does so very awkwardly. So much so that I had a lot of trouble figuring out what was going on! The main character and her small daughter ended up in Auschwitz - reason unclear! And then she ended up in the US - reason also unclear. I gave up on the book at about 80%. A very disappointing read! Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. I enjoyed this WWII era novel set in France with dual timelines. Unlike other books with dual timelines, this one is only ten years apart and is told through the main character. Survivor guilt is a main theme of this novel with several hidden secrets coming to light asthe main character keeps her daughter Vivi alive in Paris under Nazi regime. This novel was ok for me. The two timelines being so close and by same person was a bit hard to follow at places.

Beautiful cover! I always struggle with dual storylines in historical fiction. I always end up liking one more than the other or just feeling like the storylines don't flow, and that was the case with Paris Never Leaves You. At the end of the day, this is a story (WWII in France) that has been done to death and if you want to read about that, there are better choices out there.

A great way to refresh your vocabulary while learning about occupied Paris, France during WW2.

Charlotte Foret and her friend Simone run a bookstore. When the German army begin banning books and enforcing their rules, Simone, a Jew, likes to defy them in small ways. Charlotte has a 4 yr old daughter to feed and protect. She does her best to tolerate the German officer who frequents their store. As the occupation deepens, then the allies advance, the French turn on each other when there are no visible Jews to sacrifice. Charlotte & Vivienne manage to survive and land in NYC under the care of an old family friend, Horace Fields and his wife Hannah. Ten years after the end of the war old exploits are in demand and Charlotte finds herself facing her past, as now teenage Vivi wants to learn about her heritage.

A novel full of in-depth characters put in stressful and precarious situations. Research details at the end of the book are quite interesting.

The only criticism I have is the flipping between time periods: scenes were not clearly marked and sometimes I had to go back a page or two to confirm what era I was in.