‘Outwardly Paris was still Paris, her beauty largely untouched by war. But her gay, bright, defiant spirit - her joie de vivre - had been stolen. The City of Light had turned drab and gray - and afraid.’

The Black Swan of Paris is historical fiction at its best, fabulous WWII reading. Set in Paris during Nazi occupation, you live the life of famed singer Genevieve Dumont who uses her position to acquire critical information from high ranking Nazis to pass onto the Resistance. Then, when her mother is captured Genevieve and those around her, must go to great lengths to save her from a ruthless enemy.

‘... she loved her country. Because she had this gift of song, and she could use it to help in the battle against the horror that was the Third Reich.’

This is a book that has a little of everything - war and romance, intrigue and espionage. It is well researched providing fascinating details especially concerning life in Paris, but as it was for the Nazis - life at the Ritz was a definite eye opener. Then there were the facts surrounding the allies landing in Normandy, which again, was well done.

‘Champagne and caviar had been passed around the shelter by the Ritz’s attentive staff, the gas masks had been used as pillows by the especially sleepy, or inebriated, and the atmosphere in the cellar as they waited for the All Clear had been almost that of a party.’

I found the writing to be very engaging with a solid range of characters that provided a real depth to this tale. The plot was truly compelling, especially towards the end, when it had me on the edge of my seat. It is a long read but the climactic ending to the main story made it well worth it. I was a little disappointed with how the story as a whole was so quickly tied together after I had invested so much in each of the characters.

“My first allegiance had to be to my country, and this was, and is, a fight for her life. For the life of civilization as we know it. You were the perfect vehicle to take the network I was building where it needed to go.”

Overall this is an action packed and emotional journey that succeeded in taking me to a different time and place. A place where you become a part of each character's journey in this tumultuous and highly volatile period in history.

‘As she’d already learned to her cost, there were no guarantees in life, no guarantees that the person you loved would be there from one day to the next, no guarantees about anything at all. And this was war. Death waited around every corner. It came rocketing out of the sky, zipping through the air, blasting out of the ground. It came with no notice, no warning, no chance to say good-bye.’

The Black Swans of Paris is one of those books that draws you in more and more the further you read and by the time I had reached the halfway mark I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Set mostly in Paris during the Nazi occupation this story starkly highlights the dangerous work of the French resistance and the network of spies operating throughout France to bring down the Nazis. Trust and betrayal are themes that flow through the book as Genevieve Dumont, the beautiful and talented Black Swan, walks the fine line between playing up to the Nazis to get information and making a wrong step that might get her or Max, her manager killed. Time and time again I felt the fear and danger that Genevieve was feeling and worried that she wouldn’t survive, yet somehow and mostly thanks to Max, she did. This book was so full of twists and turns that I had no idea what would happen next, or how a situation could possibly get worse. Thankfully it did reach a satisfactory conclusion leaving me both relieved and happy. This has been an absolutely superb story and one I plan again before too long.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Australia and Karen Robards for my copy of The Black Swan of Paris.
Paris 1944, Genevieve Dumont is a beautiful cabaret singer and most of her audience is made up of German soldiers and one of her admirers is the nasty general Claus Von Wagner, she puts on quite a performance on and off the stage. Like most Parisians she hates the Germans, due to her fame, her chauffeur can drive her home at night without being stopped and her car being searched. While the civilian population starves, the German soldiers eat, drink and are having a great time in Paris. The handsome Max Bonet is her manager; despite the obvious attraction between them they keep their relationship strictly professional. Both she and Max have secrets, they keep their true identities hidden from each other as it’s hard to know who you can trust at such a dangerous time and in a city controlled by the enemy.

Genevieve is French, she had a fall out with her family years before, she has changed her name and she has no idea what her parents or sister Emmanuelle is doing? Her parents are both involved in the resistance, her mother Lillian the Baroness de Rocheford has been captured by the Germans, she is being kept alive until she can talk and once the Germans have no use for her she faces being executed. Everyone had code names, they limited how much information each operative knew, because if caught the less they knew the less they could tell the Germans while being subjected to awful forms of torture they used. This is very hard to read about, but it did happen and it helps you understand how dangerous it was to be a member of a resistance cell or to be a secret agent during WW II in France.
Towards the end of the war, the Germans wanted to take down as many members of the resistance as they could and they also shot innocent civilians. They knew the Allies planned to launch an invasion somewhere along the French coast and any information they could obtain about the date, time or place the Germans were desperate to discover. Claus Von Wagner is sure Lillian de Rocheford knows where the Allies will land and will Genevieve share her past and real name with Max so he and others in his resistance network can help her save her mother?
The Black Swan of Paris is a story about secrets, espionage, danger, loyalty, family, love and war. Perfect for readers who enjoy a long book and are interested in life in Paris during WW II and the planning that went into organizing code name Utah Beach one of the five sectors used in the invasion of Normandy.
I loved the book and five stars from me.