Member Reviews
This is a masterfully done work of historical fiction, alternating between World War 2 Paris, mainly in a Parisian bookstore, and 1950's New York City publishing.
The story centers on Charlotte and her daughter, Vivi, but the angle is one I hadn't thought much about, before reading this.
Quite enjoyable. Makes me want to track down the author's other novels.
I love WWII era books! This book didn't disappoint me. The story line was easy to follow and it had all the aspects of a historical fiction plus more.
After reading several reviews I believe I will be passing on this one. Several of my trusted friends have reviewed this and I know that I will be having the same opinions and will just look for future works by her to read.
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Review: The synopsis sold me, historical fiction, a story set in a book shop and a publishing house, it checked all the boxes. I really enjoyed Feldman’s writing style and found the alternating timeline was written well and came across clearly. The story was engaging, devastating, and hopeful, and the characters were interesting. I found some aspects of the story a bit much however, I don’t want to spoil the story. Overall, it was an interesting read, if you enjoy historical fiction / historical romance.
Working in a Paris bookstore during World War II, Charlotte is desperate to find enough food for her young daughter, Vivi, to survive. Will a chance encounter with a stranger change everything for the young mother?
Paris Never Leaves You meanders between two time periods: New York in the 1950's and the latter part of the war in Paris. The decisions that Charlotte makes at the end of the war directly affect her future, especially regarding the secrets that she keeps.
As far as the story goes, I was expecting a historical fiction about a woman trying to survive the horrors of war. Paris Never Leaves you was historical fiction because of the setting, but the aspects that hallmark the genre were largely absent. The way in which the story unfolded had barely a kernel of truth. The ways in which the characters interacted in the 1950's did not seem all that plausible as well. Overall, Paris Never Leaves You was a disappointing historical fiction, so I would not recommend it to other readers.
Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy by NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin. The choice to review Paris Never Leaves You was entirely my own.
There is no shortage of World War II novels, so I like to have the best ones in my TBR pile. Paris Never Leaves You was worthy of it's spot. Combining wartime Paris with a bookshop and the publishing industry was brilliant.
Charlotte is a young widow running her bookshop in Paris, with a toddler and a leftist father who is on the run. Flash forward to 1950s Manhattan and Charlotte is working for a publisher friend of her father. Through the back and forth between decades and countries, the reader gets to experience each character's secrets, their loyalties and betrayals, their survival. If you are a fan of historical fiction, Paris Never Leaves You is worth a look.
Ultimately this is one that I didn't connect with as a reader, but I definitely think there's an audience in my patrons who will completely eat this up. I liked the romance, and I liked the struggle between identity, being true to oneself, and what it takes to survive.
A beautifully written story that reminds the reader how each person is a product of their own life experiences. The plot was so engaging that I literally couldn’t put it down. You’ll have this book on your mind long after you’ve turned the last page.
Paris Never Leaves You is a historical novel set during the end of WWII and the years following. Charlotte and her daughter emigrate to America from France after spending a small time in a camp. The story alternates between the 1940s and 1950s and tell the story of Charlotte's life toward the end of the war and how she is dealing with the emotional aftermath of what she went through, all the while trying to help her teenage daughter Vivi understand who she is. I enjoyed the book very much; it provides a lot to ponder regarding survival, loyalty, family, and love. I hope there is a follow up novel focusing on Vivi as an adult. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel.
Paris Never Leaves you is a historical fiction set in WWII France and just after the war in America. Charlotte is a refugee who survived the war with her daughter and is trying to start over in America.
I was really interested in Charlotte’s story, however I soon found myself confused and lost within the plot. While I love a dual timeline, I would find myself reading a chapter and then all of a sudden we were back in the past. It was a bit too chaotic for me.
Her character was also very, not sure the word for it, but she didn’t have feelings. Like at all. Not even towards her daughter. It was awkward to read.
Anyway, I’m happy to have finished this one as it’s been on my TBR for a while.
💛 Thank you @stmartinspress for this e-book.
A very good story about surviving WWII in Paris and life in New York in the following decade. Good characters and enjoyable story. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.
While I typically enjoy a WWII drama with a female lead, this one missed the mark for me. I struggled with the story and didn't connect at all with Charlotte. This is a historical romance, but it felt forced and unauthentic.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin, for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Wow! This book was everything I look for in a historical read and more. Beautifully written and very detailed description put me right in the book! If you are a loved of WW2 reads this is a must read book for you! Perfect dual timeline that was in sync with each page and left me loving these characters. Beautiful!
As a lover of WWII historical fiction, I knew this book would be one I connected with. I adored Charlotte's character and the dual timeline. This was a unique and new take on an over-saturated genre.
A good historical fiction book. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. It didn’t disappoint and I couldn’t put it down.
A WW2 story with a book store and characters in publishing? Sign me up! PARIS NEVER LEAVES YOU pulled at my heart strings. Charlotte was an extremely emotional character, with her survivor’s guilt and desire to save her child. I felt that the war chapters were, of course, more emotional than the NYC chapters. My only critique was that the New York chapters felt a little lackluster in comparison. Overall, I’d recommend reading this book. It’s an emotional story that you’ll be thinking about.
Wow how do I put my feelings about what happened in this book into actual sentences that do this book justice.
So many things I will hopefully never have to live through were represented in this book.
I was unsure about the ending but really liked this book and what the love of a mother will do and overcome to protect their child.
In Paris as WWII ended, a young woman and her child ripped off the yellow stars and fled the scene of retaliation against the collaborators horizontale. The book was riveting and complex, and this scene foretold its story.
The writing had a great sense of place, and the characters were well developed. The story was based on difficulties of people who found themselves in complicated situations, yet somehow drew from within themselves the ability to survive. But with the survival came guilt, which was the underlying theme behind this book.
I highly recommend this to fans of historical fiction, WWII, Paris, the Resistance and especially to those interested in the role of everyday people during this painful time.
This ebook was provided by NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Typical WWII story. A woman with a child accepts help from a German. It was good, but absolutely nothing new. 3 stars.
Charlotte Foret has a steady and fulfilling job as an editor at a publishing company, an amazing teenager daughter (Vivienne (Vivi)), and is ten years and thousands of miles away from the horrors of wartime Paris. However, she cannot forgive herself what she did so that she and Vivi could survive. She was not a collaborator. She did not inform on family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers; she was not responsible for anyone being injured or killed; she did not share secrets with the Nazis, warn them about Resistance activities, or otherwise assist the German war effort. In fact, had it not been for the war and her own conscience, there would have been nothing wrong with what she did. However, her past is not staying in the past; a man from her past, who knows what she did, is reaching out to her, and she is afraid of what he could do with that knowledge. Charlotte's daughter, Vivi, is also starting to ask more questions about her father, a soldier who died in WWII, and about being Jewish, as she is beginning to experience prejudice and discrimination as a result of classmates and their families knowing that she is Jewish, and her attitude is that if people are going to hate her for who she is, she ought to now more about Judaism. However, being Jewish is something that Charlotte has long hidden and was never really part of her life until the war -- "Hitler made me a Jew." Add to the mix the complicated relationship between Charlotte and Horace and Hannah Field, her American sponsors, her landlords, and her boss and former acquaintance of her father (Horace).
The author does a great job of building up the suspense and obscuring the truth until it is the right time to reveal it. The book alternates between the present (1954 New York) and wartime Paris (1944). The reader knows from the beginning of the book that someone from Charlotte's past has information about her that could be harmful, but the reader will likely draw the wrong assumptions about the nature of the threat (as I did). The author does a good job at dealing with the moral ambiguity that can result from life in a war zone. She also addresses the burden of survivor's guilt, which is an issue for multiple characters in the story, as well as how perception is not reality but can alter things such that it becomes a form of reality. "Paris Never Leaves You" is a powerful, thought-provoking book, and well worth reading.
I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.