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.

When the Nazis arrive in Paris, Charlotte Foret finds herself barely able to survive. Her husband Laurent is dead. She has a young infant, Vivienne (Vivi), and she is holding down a small bookstore for a friend of her father’s (her father, a publisher with questionable alliances, has already fled Paris). She only has her Jewish (rebellious) friend Simone, to help her, with the store and Vivi. But soon Simone is arrested as well. Charlotte is alone with Vivi. She promises her infant daughter she will do whatever it takes to survive.

Flash ahead 10 years, and Charlotte and Vivi are living in Manhattan. Charlotte now has new challenges facing her. She receives a letter from Buenos Ares asking about Julian Bauer. Can she vouch for his activities during the war? Also Vivi is an adolescent with loads of questions about their heritage. So far, Charlotte has not spoken to Vivi abut the war and how they survived. When Charlotte arrived in NY, she tried to leave the War in the past. But now, the past is haunting her.

This book is about how people survive the #trauma of war, and the consequences of surviving, including, #PTSD and #survivorsguilt. It does not matter if a person was on the frontline, or just struggling to get by as a civilian in an occupied city, the horrors of war are haunting and never leave you. Author @ellenfeldman’s #parisneverleavesyou is all about trying to accept the past, in order to be able to move forward in life. This book 📚 is a great read! Thank you 🙏🏻 @NetGalley and @stmartinspress (and Beatrice Jason) for the early digital copy. for my honest review. #5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #summerreads #bookoftheday #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #beachreads #summer2020

Charlotte is working in a bookstore in Paris with her daughter Vivi in Paris. This novel goes between World War II and the 1950’s. It is about how she is able to survive. Well worth reading.

Paris Never Leaves You is historical/romantic fiction set in two timelines: Paris during the final months of WWII and New York in the 1950s. Charlotte Foret and her daughter, Vivi, managed to escape death during WWII and then fled to New York once they were released from a camp. In order to survive that period in occupied Paris, Charlotte made various sacrifices and compromises. She lives with that regret bottled inside until her daughter, Vivi, begins to ask questions about her Jewish identity.

This book took awhile to take hold, but I enjoyed it (especially once I neared the mid-point). I enjoyed that the story was not a typical one with respect to telling the tale of a survivor. Although some readers did not enjoy the focus on the romances in each timeline, I was not put out by them. It seemed that Charlotte had been so focused on surviving that she sealed all of her feelings very tightly. I thought that the romances were less important on their own and more integral to forcing Charlotte to properly evaluate the choices she made and whether she (and others) could ever allow for forgiveness. Not a perfect book, but an interesting one.

Thanks to St. Martins Press, the author, NetGalley, and Beatrice Jason for an opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

A friend recommended this book and I am so glad that she did. Reading another WWII book was not on my radar as I have had an overload of those recently but this book was a refreshingly wonderful take on the era and I found myself being pulled into the story as soon as I started it.

The book features Charlotte and her daughter Viv and alternates between wartime Paris and New York in the 1950's. I don't always appreciate this type of writing with the back and forth but it definitely worked in this case and I found myself understanding and loving the connections and similarities.

Author Ellen Feldman skillfully allows the reader to be a part of the lives of these lovely characters and of course the bookstore setting is another thing I absolutely love in a book.

No spoilers from me but suffice it to say that this is a book that will stick with me for awhile and one I may want to revisit in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance review copy.

Reading the blurb of this one makes it sound lovely. And the writing is lovely. However, I'm 25 percent of the way into the book and I'm just not engaged with the story. There's supposedly a dual timeline here. However, it's not clearly defined, at all, and I sincerely cannot follow it. Also, it's not compelling in the slightest. I'd really love to love this book but I just can't. I'm abandoning it because there are too many other books out there to waste my time here. I appreciate the offer to read this ARC but it's just not for me.

Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman is a heart-breaking story of Paris during its occupation by the Nazis. It is the story of people who were survivors, having not survived in ways, which made people respect them. It is also the aftermath of the survival: not always pretty. People tend to think that the cruelties were all about concentration camps. Sadly, this is not the case. Rampant cruelty took place on the streets and behind closed doors. It happened to men, to women, to children. People survived as best they could, often betraying themselves in order to survive. People lied to save others, too. It was a ghastly time.
Charlotte was a young mother managing a bookstore for a friend. Working with her was her friend, Simone who is not only Jewish, but also outspoken and radical. It wasn't long before she had been arrested. A young German officer, a doctor, began visiting the bookstore. He was an eclectic reader...odd for a Nazi. He brought food for her and Vivi. Eventually they became lovers. He saved their lives...it is a complicated story. This story is told in flashbacks. The real story takes place in New York City, ten years after the war. Charlotte is working in a publishing house, run by Horace, a publishing contact of her father's from Europe before the war. He also sponsored her and Vivi's entry into the United States. He and his wife, Hannah, were her landlords. They lived in the top floor of Horace and Hannah's brownstone. Life was good, but the war was always there, in the background. Then, the letter arrived. The letter that brought it all back.

Relationships are complicated. Lies make them worse. Her relationship with Vivi was not the same as Vivi's with Hannah. Sometimes Hannah was more of a mother than Charlotte was. Of course, she didn't know the whole story. Vivi was a young teenager, searching for her identity. Charlotte was also searching for hers. Some of the lies had to be revealed. Horace and Hannah had a good marriage, or so it seemed. Cracks appeared. It was so exhilarating and so tragic at the same time. The characters were phenomenal...so complex...so interesting...so mired in lies. This is a heartbreaking and a heart-warming book. It is a love story, several love stories. The author did a wonderful job bringing these characters to life, including the back-stories that made them who they were. I highly recommend it.

I received a free ARC of Paris Never Leaves You from Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #parisneverleavesyou

What place, area, country, city, vacation spot are you wishing you were right now?

Now more than ever books give us traveler miles from our very own comfortable reading spot.

The number one ☝🏽 destination on my reading wishlist is always Paris. I love getting wrapped up in a great book that is even partly placed in Paris.

That leads me to my last read, PARIS NEVER LEAVES YOU by #ellenfeldman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Out now!

I am so honored and excited to be on the #blogtour for this great book! Thank you #netgalley and #stmartinspress for the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

In PNLY, we follow Charlotte a recent widow. Set both in Paris and New York in the 1950’s , we get a glimpse into the daily struggles of Charlotte and Vivi, Charlottes daughter.

Charlotte would do anything to ensure that her and Vivi will survive. The idea of surviving and all that we will do for our family is woven through both timelines.

There was a romance in the book, but it was one more for survival than for love. And I appreciated that because it made the story feel more authentic and realistic.

I really enjoyed a glimpse into this part of #Paris history. I think you will too.

It’s so hard for me to turn down a story set in Paris. There’s a reason that Paris is called the city of romance and I simply love it and can hardly pass it up when a book comes around set in Paris, especially war time Paris.

This one sounded so incredibly promising that saying yes to it was easy. I love duel timeline narratives and this one sounded like it would be such a fun escape read.

This is a new to me author but she has written a few other books that I had heard of and I was eager to pick this one up and start reading.

Summary
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. (summary from Goodreads)

Review
While the summary for this one might have been short, I thought it added to the mystery and allure of this book. Charlotte sounded like a tough as nails character just from the basic short description and I was eager to read her story and find out what had happened to her.

I was so eager to read the duel narrative but I felt like the emphasis was on the war time portions rather than the aftermath and I thought the was a little limiting in some ways. I would have liked to have seen the author explore the aftermath of the war and the choices that Charlotte made in greater detail. For me I liked the war time pieces better because of this and found the New York parts to be almost distracting.

This novel also packed more of an emotional punch than I was expecting and it had a lot more plot twists that I was expecting as well. I sympathized with Charlotte and her situation and who knows what I would have done or sacrificed if I were in her same position. There were clearly no easy answers for her character and I thought that added a lot to the story and made it interesting.

While I thought that it was a worthwhile read and enjoyable, I don’t know that it lived up to my expectations. I hoped it would have been a little more balanced when it came to the duel narrative. Sometimes duel narrative doesn’t work as well as one had hoped. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but I just thought the New York parts could have been more fully realized and explored in the ways that the war time parts were. In the end I was glad that I read it and am looking forward to reading more by this author.

Book Info and Rating
Paperback, 368 pages
Expected publication: August 4th 2020 by St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN 1250622778 (ISBN13: 9781250622778)
Free review copy provided by publisher, St Martin’s, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influnced.
Rating: 3 stars
Genre: historical fiction

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 choice.

Paris Never Leaves You is a slow burn; it’s a story that slowly drags you in and there’s a moment when you can’t stop reading.
It was emotional and memorable.
If you like to read WWII historical fiction I recommend this book to you, I’m sure you’ll love it, this story is beautiful and moving.
.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

http://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeepleasemx

“The world isn’t black and white. It’s a gray and shadowy landscape out there.”

Let me start by saying that this book is not about a Resistance Fighter, this is not about the camps. But this is about survival. This is about a woman in Occupied Paris, doing whatever she can to survive. And to keep her very young toddler alive. She accepted the food and the assistance of a German soldier/physician occupying Paris. Their relationship grew. And as it grew, so did her desperation to survive as the War came to an end with the impending liberation of Paris.

“Survival never comes with a clear conscience.”

Many women were shamed for what they did, even murdered in the end. Called a “Collabo Horizontale” But can we fault someone for doing what was needed to survive? All’s fair in love and war, right?

“Hitler made me a Jew”

While this book does an excellent job giving the background story/context of her time during the War, it is more heavily about Charlottes’s life afterwards, over a decade later in NYC. And the downstream effects her choices during the War made in her life. Her secrets that she so badly does not want to relive or remember, as her daughter, now a young teenager, tries to understand where she comes from and her identity. Charlotte grows to realize that the only way to truly move on is to face the decisions that were made during the worst parts of her life.

I’m a major WWII hist fic junkie & most stories I end up reading are about individuals either in the camp or Resistance. All doing what they can to survive. This one was still a story of survival. There were many women just like Charlotte in the war and I think it’s important that their stories are also told.

My only gripe with this book is that there was not any major indication for when the timelines changed from Past to Present. It made things a little confusing until I came to the realization of WHEN I was a few paragraphs in. Additionally, I would’ve liked to know roughly the year they were in as the story went on. It always seemed like an obscure passing of time.

As much as I’m a lover of historical fiction, I hate to say that this one was a miss for me. I loved the characters and story idea. It was too disconnected and no idea when it was before and then present day in the story. I know some books for one are perfect for another and would still recommend this book to other fans of historical fiction or even book clubs. There’s lots of great pieces that could make for terrific discussion.

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 written 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.

What does it mean to be Jewish? After World War II , the widow, Charlotte Foret, moves to New York City with her teenage daughter Vivi. Charlotte is busy working as an editor in a publishing house and Vivi is attending a school with few Jewish students. When a letter arrives at her office from Bogata, Colombia she’s forced to remember how a Nazi officer helped her and Vivi survive. It puts a whole new spin on a wartime romance. Although initially confused in the beginning, but the story falls into place and the hallmarks of betrayal, loyalty and survival it turns into a satisfying story.

Paris Never Leaves You is Historical Fiction story set in WWII with a dual timeline and is a story about survival and the lengths people will go to protect those they love. It sounded perfect for me but unfortunately, this book didn't work for me for several reasons.

My biggest issue was the choppy, disjointed nature of the writing. The two timelines, set only 10 years apart, aren't distinctly separated on the page with no transition given to the reader. No page break, no symbol, nothing to differentiate the two eras. And the fact that Charlotte and her daughter Vivi are in both eras muddle things up even more.

The story begins with an emotional scene and setting but that emotion doesn't transfer to the rest of the book. There are some interesting issues addressed (Jewish identity, survival at all costs, rebuilding your life after extreme loss ..) but they aren't given much depth and for a book set in such an emotional and violent time, there's a decided lack of tension in the plot.

I'm going to chalk this one up to good premise but weak execution. I struggled to connect with the story and characters, so much so that I skimmed much of the last half of the book. With its uneven flow, a disconnect with the characters, awkward, unnecessary romances (one was quite cringey and questionable) and a plot without enough direction, this book didn't live up to its potential.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to St Martin's Press for providing me with a complimentary eBook copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Not only is this book my favorite of the many, many fictional portrayals of World War II that I've read -- it's the most satisfying novel I've finished in a very long time.

On thing that sets Paris Never Leaves You apart from other books about that place and time is the contrast between the harshness of Charlotte's life with her young child Vivienne in German-occupied France and 10 years later, with a comfortable life in New York.

Another important distinction is the presence of guilt and blame, which are often missing in these fictional accounts. It added a layer of complexity that richly imbued both storylines. It seemed to me, as a child in the 1950s, that every person in my life who had any connection to that war struggled with guilt of some sort.

Now add a wonderfully inventive plot device to the mix, and you have a novel that will be impossible for me to forget.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance readers copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for "Paris Never Leaves You" by Ellen Feldman in exchange for my honest review!

Charlotte is living in Paris with her daughter Vivi when the occupation begins. As she continues to work in a bookstore and tries to keep her daughter alive, she is faced with a moral crossroad. What would you do to survive? As the story flashes between the past and Charlotte's future life in New York, Charlotte is struggling. Can she forgive herself for what she's done? Or will her past always haunt her?

Feldman's take on another perspective of WW2 was interesting, for certain. I love Charlotte and her life. Books and editing are honestly a dream, so she was an easy character to attach myself to. That being said, Charlotte is not without flaws. I think it's interesting to see her flaws in light of her relationship with her daughter and to see her flaws play out in a similar fashion in the past and the future.

I also find it interesting when the book delves into the issue of what is acceptable during war times. Do the standards change or are they the same? Often, we see this issue in books set in any war period. How bad is it to sleep with the enemy if it means food? How bad is it to accept food from the enemy? How bad is faking an identity? So many things that would ordinarily be unacceptable become questionable. 

This book also touches on forgiveness. Who do we offer our forgiveness to? And even more, can we forgive ourselves? Charlotte struggles with this. She can't forgive herself and because she never received what she thought she deserved, she can't move on. It's sad, but relatable to see.

Overall, I gave this book 4 stars. It kept my interest throughout and, while telling a similar story, gave me a new perspective to consider. Feldman is an excellent writer, so the prose flowed easy. If you like historical fiction, add this one to your list!

(3.5 / 5)

A story of survival at all costs and the aftermath of war and trauma, Paris Never Leaves You is told in alternating timelines. Charlotte survived occupied Paris and moved to America to start a new life, but the past is never quite in the past. One letter is all it takes to bring back a flood of memories and unravel Charlotte's life.

There's plenty to appreciate about this book, from the descriptions of life in occupied Paris to the very real trauma involved in later years. Charlotte's daughter deals with prejudice and strives to learn more about the heritage that has people hating her for no reason. I had no issues with the dual time periods, and appreciated seeing a different part of WWII than I've most often read about in books.

You may read some reviews where it mentions the romances in this book--one in each time period. Let's not kid ourselves--none of this is "romance." Charlotte's decisions in Paris are the kind where you can't really say what you'd do unless you're in the situation yourself. Her decisions in New York nearly ruined the book for me. There was no need for the relationship to happen the way it did (or at all, really), and I'm just not a fan of infidelity romance. Her reason for not getting off his lap when he gave her the wheelchair ride was a cop-out, plain and simple, and it went downhill from there, for me.

All that said, I am glad I read the book. It brings up a lot of moral quandaries, from start to finish. It can really make you think, questioning how you would act in that situation, both in Charlotte's shoes, but also in many other characters'. I do think that fans of historical fiction, especially WWII/Holocaust related fiction, will like this book. But steer clear if you don't like your heroines getting involved with married men. Also be aware, there is at least one slightly graphic physical encounter in the book, though fortunately not very much of it.

Paris Never Leaves you is a compelling book of the lengths people will go to for the ones they love. Charlotte is working in a bookstore during the height of WWII and is doing everything she can to take care of her daughter Vivi. She hates what is happening to her city and the people who running things, but perhaps one of them might have some redeeming qualities that could save them. Then again, Charlotte may let her pride get the best of her instead.

As the book alternates between Charlotte’s present and past, the truth about Charlotte and Vivi comes out. Will it completely turn their world upside down or will they survive this too?

I really enjoyed this book – first, for the obvious reason that I too love books and bookstores. Secondly, the inner battles Charlotte has with herself constantly really felt true to the time period; does one do what they have to to survive, or do they stick to their ethics and take whatever comes?

If you are a WWII historical fiction buff like me, like alternating timelines and tense moments, this is a book you’ll want to grab a copy of.

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.