Received through Net Galley and this is a past and present story of what these two had to deal with during the war and after! Trying to understand why these horrible things were happening and why they had to be in the middle of it all! Thinking back to the war and how this mother and daughter survived and so many didnt! France got hit so hard with living conditions,no food,spies not knowing who to trust especially being a single mom! Very good read on survival!

With an abundance of WWII novels about women filling my feed/inbox/recommendations, I wasn't sure about this one, but I'm so glad I chose to read it. As the author herself explains, much has been written about the occupation of France, the plight of Jews and others in Paris, and the resistance, but not much has been written about the others, the people who were not resistance fighters, those just trying to survive.

Two alternate points in time and location, naturally. The characters were well-rounded, sympathetic, and thoughtful.

This is the first book I have read my Ellen Feldman. I really enjoyed her writing style and the story she crafted. This book deals shows how one woman, Charlotte, and her daughter built a life after living in occupied France. It unveils slowly. We learn through flashbacks what went on during the war and in the 1950's how Charlotte and Vivi deal with the past. A very good read that can easily have a sequel.

Thank you St, Martin's Press for an advance copy of this book. This is my honest review.

PARIS NEVER LEAVES YOU
BY ELLEN FELDMAN

This novel takes place with alternating timelines along with dual settings. The novel starts out with Charlotte raising her daughter Vivienne alone because she has been a widow from before World War Ii. They presently live in NYC and Charlotte works as an editor at her friend's publishing house. The book jumps back and forth in time and was a little unsettling at times because many times the narrative could be describing a time in Charlotte's life in the present and in the next paragraph without any identification skip backwards and start describing a past scene in Paris.

Charlotte was a native Parisian who was also living during the French resistance while the Germans occupied France. Everyone who has ever heard or read about the period of the French resistance during German occupied France knows that food was scarce and all it took was a minor infraction and one could be shuttled away to a German concentration camp.
Charlotte spends her days during the German occupation working in a bookstore. Julian who is dressed like a German officer is really a Jewish doctor hiding in plain sight from getting deported to a death camp himself. He starts frequently visiting the bookstore bringing food for Charlotte and her baby daughter Vivienne. At first Charlotte is repulsed by Julian because she doesn't know he is really Jewish and thinks he is the enemy. Little by little Julian gets Charlotte to warm up to him and they start an illicit love affair.

Remember that the French population towards the period when the allies entered France would root and murder anyone that they suspected collaborated with the Germans during the occupation and after. This makes it dangerous for Charlotte and Julian to be seen together. Even though Charlotte isn't reporting any of the Parisians or Jews to the Germans or supplying them with any information about the resistance she feels guilty by association for laying with Julian and they continue to do it.

This is a story that will stay with me for a long time. It is a quiet story that had me contemplating how much easier it is to forgive other people but when it comes to forgiving myself it is more difficult for me for some reason. I think Charlotte suffers from the same affliction and this story is among other things a quiet meditation on how self destructive it is to hold onto unearned guilt when which can quietly eat away at your soul. I did like this allegorical tale and I am still thinking about it. I think it will appeal to fans of literary historical fiction even though though the author who is an accomplished novelist drew her research from memoirs from the New York Institute.

Thank you to Net Galley, Ellen Feldman and the publisher for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

What would you do if you suffered with survivor’s guilt? Could you witness atrocity after atrocity and come out unscathed? What emotional and psychic scars mar the soul of witnesses? If you leave the site of those atrocities do you ever truly leave or are you forever tied to time and place?

Paris Never Leaves You is a careful, thoughtful examination of those questions, crafted with humanity in all its pain and survival.

Alternating between wartime Paris and 1950’s NYC, the novel tells the story of four such witnesses, each taking a bit of their past in to their present—perpetually grappling with it in search of healing and forgiveness.

The novel is a unique take on the on-lookers perspective (in particular) and offers a refreshing twist on the WWII hist fic genre.


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3099954334

**I received this books as an ARC from Netgalley in return for my honest review upon completion**

I am a huge World War II historical fiction fan and have read many books from the perspective of the Jewish families who have dealt with the atrocities of the Holocaust. This book told a very different story. This is the story of a Christian widow in Paris during the Occupation, she comes to depend upon a German soldier with a secret and he helps save her and her child from the Nazis.

I enjoyed the different take on the Occupation and the story was very well told and consistently kept my attention. I believe when released this story will do well amongst fans of the genre.

Set in Paris 1944 After Charlotte's husband death, she was working in a bookstore, fighting for her and her young daughter's life. The Germans were in control and it was very harsh conditions. A German Dr helps Charlotte and Vivi, her daughter and they are safely in New York City.
1954- Vivi is now 14 yrs old and Charlotte is working for Horace Field at his publishing co. Vivi has started asking questions about her father and her life.
Does Charlotte reveal her secrets to Vivi or keep her in the dark.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC

4.25 stars
Author Ellen Feldman’s impressive Paris Never Leaves You is a different type of WWII story. Set in both 1944 and 1954, we learn of Charlotte and her young daughter Vivi’s life during the war in Paris and ten years later when they are safely living in New York City. We know from the beginning of the book that Charlotte and her daughter survive the war but can Charlotte fully escape her secrets and guilt as her daughter starts asking questions about her heritage? This compelling story about survival and love shows that war is complex and not as simple as good versus evil. I recommend this book.

A tragic heartbreaking story of forbidden love and final redemption interwoven with the guilt and sorrow, There were so many horrific tragedies of war, but one must go on to live and try to forget.

Paris Never Leaves You
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The story has a dual timeframe, 1940’s Paris under German occupation and 1950’s New York City. The main protagonist, Charlotte works at a book shop in Paris and takes care of her young daughter Vivi. Times are hard, the city is under German control, food and medicine is scarce and every day is a struggle to survive. A German officer becomes a frequent visitor to the bookstore and eventually provides food, medicine for Charlotte and Vivi and companionship to Charlotte, who feels very guilty about her relationship with the enemy.
1950’s New York City. Charlotte and Vivi have been sponsored after the war by a friend of Charlotte father and they try to make a living in America. Vivi is now 14 years old an she is starting to ask questions about her father, her background and the war years. Charlotte had kept many secrets and is not easy for her to open up.
The novel is a definite page turner, especially the first two third. The last third to me felt rushed and fell apart, that’s one reason of taking away star. I found some of the back and forth between timeframes a little disjointed and e en some of the transitions within chapters were confusing. This might be fixed with the final edit. Some of the storylines are not followed through, such as Simone’s story.
Overall 3. 5 stars, rounded up.
Thanks NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and the author for the advanced copy.

Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman is a different look at people who survived the Nazi occupation of Paris. Charlotte’s husband died early in the war. She and her daughter Vivi are trying to survive during the occupation. Charlotte works in a small bookstore. A German doctor notices Vivi is not thriving & begins to bring them extra food. A relationship develops. He helps them escape by taking them to an internment camp just a few days before Paris is liberated. Charlotte ends up in New York working for a man her dad knew before the war . She suffers from guilt for what she did to survive. How all of this plays out shows the aftermath of war on civilians.

There is survival, then there is guilt, but when one feels guilty for surviving it could tear you apart. Many a holocaust survivor suffer from that guilt....why did they stay alive and others did not...why did their family members all die and why didn't they?
This story is set in occupied France during WWII and in America in the 1950's. Charlotte and her daughter Vivi have settled in New York having been sponsored by Horace and Hannah Field with Charlotte working for Horace in his publishing company reading manuscripts. Yet Paris is never far from her thoughts, the memories of the war years haunting her. Vivi, her 14 year old daughter has questions...questions about her father, about her relatives about her religion and its traditions. These questions, for Charlotte, are difficult to answer...the guilt of not only surviving the war, but how she survived. Will she tell Vivi about the German soldier, Julian, who with his compassion, was part of their survival? There are secrets she wishes to keep buried, but cannot as they are tearing her apart. Does her daughter have the right to know those secrets, to know the truth without judging her mother? Yet there is more as the subtlety of anti-semitism rears its ugly head here in America, a place where Charlotte sought refuge, a place where she never expected it.

This story, so emotionally heartbreaking, so wonderfully written, gives you a new perspective of man's inhumanity to man not only through the war years, but after. While there were those during that time who rose above the "fray" for the survivors there was guilt. This novel was unusual in the telling of a story that affected so many. I would have to say I'd call them the "walking wounded" because of the psychological impact it had on those that came out on the other side, the ones that remained alive but were forever "branded" mentally.

Bravo to the author, Ellen Feldman, for stepping into and writing a novel that few would undertake, that few might understand how it feels to be in Charlotte's shoes. For myself, while I have finished reading this novel, it will resonate within me for a long time.

Paris Never Leaves You is a somber read. Feldman showcases Charlotte who escaped France with her daughter and now is a book editor in New York City. Her daughter begins asking questions that Charlotte is uncomfortable asking. The narrative flips back to the war and the many reasons why she hides truths from her daughter, such as their identity and a clandestine relationship she had during the war. It was an Interesting read and written from a perspective that hasn't been often explored

Feldman (Terrible Virtue) moves seamlessly from World War II Paris to 1950s New York as one woman faces guilt for survival during the Nazi occupation of Paris. Charlotte works at a New York publishing house during the 1950s after immigrating to the U.S. from Paris with her young daughter Vivi. When she receives mail from South America, she is reminded of a man she knew in Paris.

After the death of her husband, Charlotte was barely surviving with her infant Vivi, working in her family’s bookstore when she met German officer Dr. Julian Bauer. Though Charlotte felt disdain towards Julian, she could not help being thankful for his compassion and the extra food he provided to her and her daughter. Though Julian claimed to be a doctor first and did not embrace his role as a Wehrmacht officer, Charlotte feared that any association with him would earn the hatred of her fellow Parisians and leave her with a sense of betrayal. But Charlotte could not help being drawn to Julian and the kindness he had exhibited towards her and Vivi, especially when he disclosed a secret that could threaten his life if revealed.

As Charlotte recalls her stolen moments with Julian, she must come to terms with her quest to survive the unrest in Paris and her subsequent travel to New York. When Vivi starts asking questions about her Jewish heritage, Charlotte unburdens herself by revealing to Vivi and friend and publisher Horace details about her past.

Feldman’s latest is a lyrical narrative, rich with emotion and resonating characters. She enlivens the occupation of Paris during World War II, staying true to the historical details while highlighting the moral and ethical choices that intertwined with the quest for survival.