An American in Paris is a sweeping tale of love and loss, the impacts of WWII on people and the resilience of some to take a stand. The book is written from two perspectives, following dual timelines, on set in the time from 1937 - 1945 and the other in the present day which in the book is the year 2018.

In the present day part we are introduced to Sage who is on an emotional spiral and messes up her public persona while trying to deal with the grief of her mother's passing. As she tries to deal with the aftermath of her scandalous viral videos, she receives an email that may just change her life and give her the answers that her mother may have once searched for.

As the story progresses, the reader is also introduced to Florence, an American dancer who comes to Paris in 1937. The author treats us to two different stories, one of Florence who finds love and laughter, a purpose in life until the war begins and starts to affect France, and that of Sage who embarks on a journey of discovery.

Though Sage is featured in the book, I feel that her character and that of Sam were just to provide perspective and a connection to the past. The main focus is on Florence and her story. It is one of strength, bravery and the will to fight back as well as of enduing love and faith. It is both heart warming and heart-breaking to read, but will draw the reader in completely until the very end. The author does a wonderful job in painting a picture of war torn France, the impact it had on the people and how they were treated. A lot of research has definitely gone into the historical facts as many of them could be verified as well. 

The plot flows well starting from the beginning and going on until the end of the war and the aftermath. The characters are relatable and their experiences harrowing to say the least. Since I have visited Paris many times, it was wonderful for me to read about Florence's emotions while discovering Montmartre and Musée du Louvre as well as my personal favourite, the bookstore Shakespeare and Company.

Be prepared for an emotional roller-coaster and a story that will cause the reader to pause and think. This book is well worth the read and I highly recommend it!

Florence and Otto’s love story is heart-warming and heart breaking, but it was her determination, inner strength and ability to survive, even when at her emotionally lowest, that had me hooked. From her solo voyage across the Atlantic, to creating a life for herself in Paris and doing all she could, despite the dangers, to resist the Nazis, Florence was an inspiration. I feared for Otto from the start, a Jew and an immigrant, arriving in Paris at the right time to meet Florence, but at completely the wrong time historically, but the bond between them was poetic and beautiful.

This is not just a gripping wartime drama that will have your heart in your mouth as you read about Florence’s extraordinary life, it is also a book with a second storyline, in a separate time period, that I was equally captivated with. We meet Sage, Instagram influencer who has lost her way and her creative zing, her life ruled by the brands who pay her and the followers who worship her. Sage has it all; the income, the lifestyle and access to the events that matter, but she is not happy. One night her emotions (and alcohol) take over and she posts an honest video that causes a backlash of social media outrage and hatred directed at her, highlighting everything that is wrong, and anti-social, about social media. It is when she is at her lowest that a stranger from America gets in touch. Sam offers Sage a calm place to recover, answers to questions from her past and an opportunity to move forward for her future.

Sage and Florence were two very different women, but both of their journeys had me hoping for positive outcomes and happiness for characters I had come to care about. There was something refreshingly different about this book that really connected with me emotionally.

If you are looking for a New Year read that perfectly entwines the past and the present, with strong characters, passion and emotion, then An American in Paris will give you this and more.

I Love You, and I Forget the Rest

The love story of Otto, a Jewish artist and Florence, an American dancer in Paris during WWII was a heartwarming and heartbreaking story. That two people could have such a powerful love was so romantic. The work they did with the resistance, the trials they went through were nothing short of amazing.

The characters were so true to life and the descriptions of the buildings and the scenery and even the clothing worn was such I almost felt like I was there through reading the book. I could smell the crepes and see the leaves on the tree outside the window.

I cringed when it spoke of the Nazi's and their cruelty, but then it spoke of Klaus and I thought maybe, just maybe not all were quite so cruel. Betsy's story was very sad as was that of Otto and Florence. The Scene with Emil was different but very believable as was the actions taken afterwards.

I also enjoyed the story of the granddaughter Sage in another time period reading her grandmother's story, spending time on her farm and redeeming her life. It was special that she wanted to share her grandmother's story.

I enjoyed reading the story of Otto and Florence and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Siobhan Curham, Bookouture, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy in return for an honest review.

An American in Paris by Siobhan Curham is a beautifully written book about love and strength. Siobhan Curham does a lovely job of telling the story through a modern day character and a WWII era character. I enjoyed her writing style and her characters. I hope she continues writing historical fiction.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I absolutely loved this book, the way it switched back and forth between the World War II story and the modern story.

I felt that the stories were so different, yet they had a connection.

Florence and Otto’s love story was heartbreaking, but an unbreakable love. The characters were also lovely.

Florence was so determined to make a difference in the war, ready for not having those in her life that supported the Nazis.

Sage, popular influencer, sick of living a fake life, wanting to figure out how he can be more real.

Recommend it.

I am a historical fiction nerd. This book has a dual timeline. And Even though i really enjoy dual timeline it Just did not work for Me in this book. I like the historie fiction part a lot. Following their Dreams, fight, love story and choices they made through their life. The today timeline Just made me mad. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

What happens if we were to mix Emily in Paris, The Nightingale and Anne of Green Gables? Well, we would have a wonderful and entertaining historical fiction novel that is very enjoyable! The author was able to pull in this book the right mix to keep you entertained and caught in the pages of this book since the beginning.

This book narrates the romantic and resilient story of Florence, an American in Paris during World War II, and also gives us a refreshing parallel story of Sage, an Instagram London influencer during 2018.

I would have loved more mystery around the connection between the two main characters however the way we are presented with their stories, dreams and challenges is beautiful and we soon come to know that they have a lot more in common than we would think.

In this book we also discover other interesting characters: Otto, a Jewish Austrian artist, a german police, Klaus, who reminded me a lot of Captain Beck from The Nightingale, Sam, an Arkansas farmer and Hunter a war veteran. For the lovers of The Lost Girls of Paris this is a wonderful opportunity to dive deeper into the lives of the brave women of the war, in a story that is hopeful, moving and very easy to read!

Thank you NetGalley and Siobhan Curham for the copy of this book!

1937: Florence Thornton has always wanted to live in Paris, when her friend Bessie offers her a job dancing at her club and of course Florence accepts. She arrives in Paris, tired, hot and sweaty and trying to find her way around the city and she doesn’t speak French. While climbing the steep streets of Montmartre, her suitcase comes undone and artist Otto Weiss comes to her rescue. The following day Otto takes her to the museum and has to return home and he promises to meet her at the steps where they met on the same day the next year?

Florence loves Paris, dancing at the club and she’s starts writing a column for an American newspaper. Soon the threat of war has everyone talking, the French people are optimistic the Germans wouldn’t attack France and they have the Maginot Line to protect them. Eventually Otto flees to Paris, he’s Jewish and he had to leave his parents behind in Austria. Once the Germans invade, it’s not safe for Otto to go out and he’s stuck in the apartment. Otto becomes very disillusioned, he’s depressed and he takes risks. Florence has still been writing her newspaper articles, to help the allies she includes small facts about life in the occupied city and every little bit of information helps win a war.

An American in Paris has a dual timeline it goes between war times in Paris in the 1930’s and London and America in the present time of 2018.

2018: Sage Segal opens her eyes, after a night of over indulging and she’s very worried about what she’s done? She's an influence, she uses social media; she has an agent and earns a lot of money. Sage has to keep up the perfect image she’s created, getting drunk and posting what she honestly thinks about her job has disastrous consequences. Just as she’s coping it from her boss, irate fans and mothers of girls that she could have possibly led astray by her drunken night on the town. She receives an email from a man in Arkansas Sam Clancy; he’s her long lost uncle and a half brother her deceased mum Elizabeth didn’t know existed. Sam invites her to visit his ranch, Sage needs a break and she makes the right decision to go to the America. While at the ranch Sage reads a manuscript written by her grandmother Florence, she realizes how brave she was and solves the mystery surrounding her mother’s birth.

I enjoyed reading An American in Paris it’s a story about WW II, two brave people, taking risks, enduring danger, falling in love, heartbreak, loss and Florence being an incredibly strong woman. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, I highly recommend reading it if you like stories with a dual timeline and five stars from me.

An American in Paris by Siobhan Curham is one of my new favorite World War II novels.

Florence moves to Paris in 1937 to dance and meets Otto. Florence and Otto have an instant connection and agree to meet the next year. Will Otto show up and will things be different between them? Florence is an American and starts a newspaper column called “An American in Paris.” Sage is a famous influencer that wants a more authentic life so posts a video while she is drunk one night in 2018. Both stories are of strong women fighting for what they believe in and overcoming obstacles.

I loved An American in Paris. I loved how it switched back and forth between the World War II story and the modern story. The stories were so different but had a connection. Florence and Otto’s love story is heartbreaking, but their love is unbreakable. I loved the characters. Florence is so determined to make a difference in the war. She is personally offended and ready to cut anyone that supports the Nazis out of her life. Sage is a popular influencer that is sick of living a fake life and wants to figure out how to be more authentic. She is inspired to make a difference rather than say what she is paid to say.

I highly recommend An American in Paris to fans of World War II novels.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for An American in Paris.

What an incredibly emotional journey. So many twists and turn.
I’m not really on board with the ending but can see why it was done. Although I did cry...
This book is stunning but it should come with a warning that tears can develop. It was very fascinating and an interesting point of view to be reading from.
It’s well written so I would recommend this book to my friends and followers :)

This is a brilliant dual timeline story full of wonderful characters and the history of Paris in wartime. It took me a while to warm to the character of Saga to begin with, but as she learns more of Florence’s story and her bravery in such difficult times, you can begin to see Sage grow and develop as an individual. As we moved through Florence’s story, more mysteries are solved and it becomes a finding yourself tale alongside a heartwarming story of love and compassion.

This book made me fall in love with reading and with writing! The story weaves its away between Florence and Sage. Florence, an American who moved to Paris in the 30s and although she finds love she also faces the absolute horror of the Second World War where she is forced to find her strength to survive.
Sage is a modern day influencer who is getting increasingly disillusioned with her world, despite her huge income, fancy apartment and apparant fame. She gets drunk and literally tanks her career, by posting a drunken, but very honest video on Instagram. Her agents are sure that they can fix it - blame it on her Mother's death - but Sage has had enough. It all goes viral and herein lies the beauty of our connected world. Sage recieves a message from America, a man called Sam thinks he is related to her.
The story unfolds as Sage reads Florence's memoir and gains clarity and strength in her own life.
This was an absolutely delightful read and would have no compunction in urging anyone to go out and buy it.
A historical romance and lessons for today, all rolled into one!

The blurb of this story sounded really good. I enjoy reading WWII stories. What the blub didn’t say is that this is a book with a duo duo storyline. It not only follows the story of Florence in WWII Paris, but also the story of Sage taking place in 2018.

The storyline changes each chapter which didn’t work for me since I was just getting into the story of Florence and then it shifted back into Sage again. It didn’t give enough time to really tell the story of Florence and the how and why. I didn’t mind the duo story in itself but I would have prefered Florence's story to be told in one go when Sage finds out out her.

“To experience such love in the midst of such evil. It is like when you see a flower growing through concrete.”

This novel makes me want to call up my grandparents and ask them about their experiences in World War II.

An American in Paris is highly recommended for fans of:
The Maggie Hope series by Susan Elia MacNeal

Bletchley Circle television series on Amazon Prime

An American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and Siobhan Curham for this ARC in return for my honest review. I'm a big fan of historical fiction, especially books set during WW2 and a sucker for a dual timeline so I was delighted to have the opportunity to read this book. An American in Paris tells the stories of Sage and Florence. While the dramas surrounding Sage are trivial in comparison to what's happening in Paris leading up to and during WW2, Siobhan treats Sage's story with equal importance. Well written with both understanding and tenderness. While there is an abundance of WW2 books in recent years, especially since the success of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, I found this book to be read worthy and one that will be enjoyed by many. It was a quick read from me, read in one sitting on a rainy day off from work.

Loved this book! Yes, it is very similar to the plethora of WWII books released since The Nightingale. but I still enjoyed this book very much. My only issue was that I would have preferred there to have been more detail regarding Florence's time on the farm and her work with the resistance than was written, and I have mixed feelings about Elizabeth's conception and her abandonment. That being said, all this book was written well enough to get me right from the start.

A beautiful WWII story. The narrative jogs between WWII and 2018 with interconnection that it is easy to follow. Sage, a social influencer, throws it all away, but miraculously discovers a long lost relative. The relative has the key not to a special item, but the answers Sage seeks about her family history. She reads her grandmother Florence’s memoir. Florence’s story is the most compelling and interesting to read. Sage’s story was somewhat underdeveloped, but the bulk of the book is devoted to Florence. It’s a tale of love, resistance, devotion, and friendship.

I absolutely love historical fiction, and WWII fiction especially. An American In Paris did not disappoint.

In 1937, Florence moves from New York to Paris to dance in her best friend, Bessie’s, club. Upon arrival, as she tries to navigate the Parisian streets, she meets Otto. The book follows Florence throughout pre-war Paris and during the Nazi invasion.

Sage is a social media influencer who, in 2018, has a spectacular fall from stardom and is left questioning what she is doing with her life.

An American in Paris switches between Florence’s and Sage’s stories. It speaks of the choices we make, courage, and the importance of being true to yourself.

I absolutely loved this book. I was hooked very early on, and couldn’t wait to find out more about Florence and her time in Paris, and how Sage’s story may be linked. Definitely a book I recommend everyone read!

An American in Paris is the WWII book split between 2 time periods and 2 women's stories. Sage, a young woman who is a social media influencer has her life turned upside down in the blink of an eye after a particularly hard day. On the brink of losing her life as she knows it, her world changes after receiving a message that changes everything.

Florence, relocates to Paris at the beginning of WWII to chase her dreams of being a dancer and also run from her problems. While in Paris, she meets the love of her life, Otto, who ends up getting captured by the Nazi's for defacing their property. Florence then joins the resistance to fight back and try to reclaim her life and spirit.

While I am a big fan of WWII Historical Books, I am definitely a little burned out of the dual storylines. It seems like every book has a dual storyline similar to this one, and I find myself only enjoying one of them. I had a hard time relating to Sage's story, as it felt out of place and honestly, a little petty, in comparison to Florence's trials and struggles. This was a quick read and I did enjoy the majority of it, I would just like to see something a little different in Historical Fiction authors in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my review and honest opinions. I will post my review to Twitter as well as several online Book Clubs, Amazon and Goodreads once it is published.

Masterfully combining intrigue and heart-wrenching scenes of love and loss, Shiobhan Curham in ‘An American In Paris’ writes an enthralling story that puts readers in the middle of the chaos surrounding World War Two. With twenty years of writing contemporary fiction behind her, Curham’s historical fiction debut showcases the epic journey of a courageous woman in an unforgettable tale of wartime sacrifice and the power of steadfast love.

'An American In Paris' follows a young woman, Florence Thornton from Arkansas, who, fearing for her life, escapes from New York to join a dance troupe in Paris. Upon arriving in Montmartre, Florence meets Otto Weiss, a Jewish Austrian, and she soon finds herself abandoning her youthful dream and joining the resistance to fight against Nazi Germany.

In this dual timeline, readers are also introduced to Sage Segal, who, in 2018, has taken London by storm as a social media influencer. Unfortunately, having recently lost her mother to cancer, Sage’s life is in turmoil as she has inadvertently caused her own demise and is at a crossroads in her life. A fan leaves a comment on her Instagram feed that leads Sage to believe he knows about her grandmother; a woman neither Sage nor her mother has ever met. Like Florence, Sage runs, not from things, but to things. She leaves London for Arkansas to see if she can heal her past in an effort to move forward with her future.

Without knowing how countless innocent people lived through some of the most harrowing times in history, we can’t possibly, as a society, expect to move forward in the ways we feel are necessary and in a manner that truly matters. In fact, some of the best depictions of what life was like during WW2 are those that occur far from the front lines of battle and focus on regular people trying to live their lives as normally as possible under the dire circumstances. Curham has portrayed a clear picture of ordinary people who are forced to set aside their hopes and dreams to fight and gain a sense of purpose in their ever-changing world. We can see how resilient and resourceful humans can be when faced with the unthinkable.

Sprinkled with references to eagles and trees, Curham’s writing also highlights the works of the American poet, Walt Whitman. Her university focus in English literature is evident in her unique writing style which pays tribute to Whitman through her characters’ love of nature. In a recent interview, Curham reveals that she pinned a line from Robert Frost on her desk while she wrote. “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” It’s clear that Curham worked by this motto because her story evokes surprise and tears. What makes this debut historical fiction a spectacular read is Curham’s meticulous research. She has masterfully captured the nuance and danger of the resistance movement as well as life in occupied France. Deftly integrating obscure facts from her research, Curham has woven in the experience of a female undercover operative who parachuted and landed in a tree as well as a desperate man who escaped from a train full of Jews using a sweater and urine to create a story that grabs readers from the beginning and won’t let them go until they finish the last page.

I loved absolutely everything about this novel and won’t hesitate to claim it as my favourite historical fiction read of 2020. I’m excited to discover that this is the first of a two-book deal Curham has agreed to write for her publisher. This means that we have another delightful book to look forward to next year!

Thank you to Shiobhan Curham, Bookouture and NetGalley for this binge-worthy advance copy in exchange for an honest review.