This is another wonderful and very emotional book by Kristin Harmel. The author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars and The Winemaker's Wife. Both of which I read and loved. I highly recommend all three books.

Two women. Two pregnancies. A friendship that runs as deep as sisterhood.

Elise and Juliette meet in a park and become fast friends. Juliette was concerned when she saw Elise seemed to be experienced pain and was pregnant. Juliette was always one to help anyone or anything that was hurt. These two women became the best of friends. As close as sisters.

Elise is married to Olivier who is an artist. Elise is also an artist but Olivier talked her into trying wood carving. Elise seemed to excel at this. Soon they were expecting their first baby and both were over the moon with happiness.

Juliette was married to Paul who was the love of her life. They had a love that only comes once in a lifetime. They have a bookstore that everyone loves to visit and the children all love being a part of. They also had two children. Two little boys. Juliette was pregnant with their fourth child also. They had lost a baby girl shortly after it was born. Juliette blamed herself though the doctor told her there was nothing she could have done to stop it.

Elise and Juliette will take you through so much. Through a lot of ups and downs. Through a friendship that you will root for. There friendship is tested when the war breaks out. Elise's husband is arrested for speaking against the Nazis. She soon learns that he is dead and she has to go into hiding. Without her daughter Mathilde. It would be to dangerous to keep her three year old with her. She asks Juliette and Paul to take care of Mathilde until she can return and they readily agree. Juliette treats her as her own in many ways. She never expects Elise to return.

Then the unthinkable happens. A bomb is accidentally dropped in the neighborhood and hits the library. Juliette's life will never be the same. No ones life will be.

This book takes you from France to the US where you get a new look at Juliette, Elise, and Ruth's lives after the war. You get to know Ruth a Jewish woman who had to send her two children away and go into hiding. She was found and sent to a camp where her life was horrific. Treated less then human. Left to die. Ruth lets Juliette know that Elise is alive and wants to know what happened to her child Mathilde.

Things take a dramatic turn when Elise comes to the US and finds quite a few things that should not be the way they are. These women's lives again take a big turn. Some for the better and some not so great.

This book is full of such emotion. From love, happiness, family, and deep sadness. So much loss. It will have you weeping for one mother and possibly mad at the other. Though she did the best she could under the circumstances. It's just a very emotional look at what WW2 did to three families. What it was like living in that time and in Paris during the war. Two American women, Elise and Juliette, experienced it first hand. Ruth lived it.

Be sure and read the Author's Notes at the end. It's full of info that helps.

Thank you #NetGalley, #KristinHarmel, #GalleryBooks for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

FIVE huge stars and the highest recommendation possible. Have lots of tissues. You'll need them.

The Paris Daughter tells a story about hope, even in the darkest times. It is also a story about family, love and fate.
It is the fourth book by Kristin Harmel and I am still amazed of her story-telling abilities. She creates characters that feel real and writes in such a beautiful way that you cannot avoid to be fully trapped in the story and everything happening. In the same way you cannot avoid aching for the characters.
I really like Elise, and Juliette (at the beginning). And then things and circumstances changed and even when Juliette was different you could not help to feel for her, for her grief.
Regarding the plot twist, I saw it coming. I saw it coming and still was shocked when it came and I still wept when it happened. The only thing I did not love was the ending, it is just that I needed more of the story.
If you like Historical Fiction and heartfelt stories, be sure not to miss this one.

THE DEPTH OF A MOTHER’S LOVE

Kristin Harmel has written one of the most moving novels about the depth of a mother’s love. It is set in Paris during WWII and explores in detail what sacrifices mothers are willing to make to try and ensure their child’s or children’s freedom. It is heartbreaking and gut-wrenching to read this meticulously researched novel knowing how many times real-life incidences such as those described in these pages took place. While Harmel’s characters are fictional, they, too, are based on a lot of factual happenings. As you read this novel, you will notice these vital points: the forces of good vs. evil, contempt, people helping one another for the greater good, mothers sacrificing everything so their children might live, depravity, cruelty, insanity, and, in the end seeing that love does conquer all and a mother’s love is so deep and something that no one can ever forget.

I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Gallery Books and NetGalley. The opinions expressed are completely my own and without any influence.

Whoa! Unexpected circumstances this historical fiction! At least it didn’t dawn on me what happened until the ending of the storyline and it all started to make sense. WWII historical fiction is my favorite genre, but sometimes it gets too heavy for me to take in big chunks.

This book isn’t super heavy, but I did find myself needing to step away here and there to get my bearings. There are times when I get so overwhelmed with feelings and emotions that I need to switch to another genre or do something else entirely. There’s a ton of emotions in this but I’ll admit I didn’t let the tears fall until I was almost done with the book.

The Paris Daughter is a story of two American ladies who are married and pregnant in Paris. The meet each other at a park where Juliette is with her boys and sees Elise looking faint. Juliette takes Elise back to her home and bookstore where they become fast friends.

Both ladies give birth to little baby girls who also become the best of friends. Juliette’s oldest boy would sit in the children’s section of the bookstore and read to the younger children. Elise stopped in with her daughter at least once a week.

Elise is a wooden sculptor and her husband a painter, who has been creating political pieces that eventually gets him killed. Elise is told she should evacuate. Her husband’s art dealer has documents for her to evacuate south, away from those who are looking for her and her little girl. Except she can’t take her bay with her. So she leaves her beloved daughter with Juliette to raise as her own because taking her daughter will risk both of them being killed.

But the bombing s get closer and closer to the bookstore and Juliette’s home. They do many practice runs to the bomb shelter. Except there was one that they only received 30 seconds warning and Juliette’s family perished. just one little girl survived. Her surviving daughter who she treasured was still alive! Once they recovered from their injuries, Juliette relocated to America and assumed Elise had perished as well.

Except Elise was alive and well she returned to find Juliette’s bookshop demolished and spent years looking for Juliette after she heard Juliette might still be alive and have a little girl with her. Elise just wanted to know what happened to her daughter and had many questions about how lived she was before the bombing.

Will Elise ever find Juliette? Will she get the answers she’s looking for? Kristin Harmel books paint a very vivid picture for readers to feel like they’re right there experiencing everything. I give this book 5 out of 5 tiaras. I highly recommend it!

What does it mean to give up your child/children because you believe they have a better chance at survival? How does a mother go on after doing so? How do you recover from the death of a child? How do you move forward when war destroys all that you know, need, and love? How do you mourn all the losses and move on? Three mothers deal with these questions in Kristin Harmel’s The Paris Daughter. This book delves deep into mothers’ love.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the Netgalley! I am a big Harmel fan. I enjoyed this book, although her prior book still rings as my favorite book, and one of my top 5 favorite books of all time! I struggled with the character Juliette, but I suppose that is due to Harmel's excellent writing....as the reader is supposed to struggle with her. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Oh my goodness. I am not okay. I am not okay. I am not okay. Once again Kristin Harmel writes a historical fiction masterpiece set during the German occupation of France. The setting and characters came alive through her writing.. these mothers and what they did for their families and children! Devastating, haunting and beautiful. The story starts out following three mothers in France who befriend each other under the backdrop of war. Some of them have to make horrific decisions to keep their children safe, some of which set them on a long and winding course through grief and tragedy. We get to see how war changed families for generations and how women needed to persevere to help each other and try to create new lives after heartbreak.

I loved the theme of artwork as a symbol of courage and love throughout the book. The way Harmel used this as a theme and connection point between characters moved me immensely.

I cried so many times. So. Many. Times. I loved this book. Wow. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I have enjoyed other Kristin Harmel books, so I was eager to read The Paris Daughter. Now that I have, I have mixed feelings about this book. There certainly was a lot of historical information, an original story of love, loss and suffering (for me, too much suffering) and most of all "Mother's Love for their Children". While my emotions were definitely engaged in this story, I found it to be overly melodramatic and predictable. Juliette really got on my nerves at some point, I thought the way she treated her daughter, husband and friends was unconscionable. I would recommend the book, it just was a bit of a miss for me.

I received an ARC for free, but give my honest opinion voluntarily.

This is a beautiful but also a sad story about two mothers.
Two mothers who would do anything to protect their children during the war.
This author’s books alway tug at your heartstrings. She makes you feel each character’s emotions. It’s another really good book. I don’t think I was quite ready for it to end.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Absolutely Loved The Paris Daughter. It's beautifully written, heartbreaking and so moving. A story of friendship, family, found family and survival during one of the most tragic moments in History!

The Paris Daughter
by Kristen Harmel
This is the story of artist Elise LeClair and bookshop owner Juliette Foulon, both Americans living in Paris right before WWII. Their lives become intertwined after a chance meeting in the park; both women are pregnant, and they quickly become like family. Their daughters are like sisters, and happily married Juliette is a constant support to Elise as her husband becomes more involved in communism. Paris is becoming more dangerous for Jews and dissenters, and they must watch many friends leave.
After Elise’s is forced to flee Paris and leave her daughter behind, Juliette and her family take in Mathilde. Tragedy strikes when aircraft drop hundreds of bombs on Paris.
When Elise returns after the war, she struggles with what she finds in Paris. She must piece her life back together and find her friend, who has moved to NYC. What she finds will change everything.
There are many characters in this book that are strong beyond measure, and this novel contrasts the lives of the two main characters before and after the war.

In the author’s note, Harmel speaks about the value of historical fiction and its reminder of our resilience in trying times

#netgalley

Once again Kristin Harmel has written another gut-wrenching and heartwarming WWII novel. The Paris Daughter tells the story of parents needing to flee Nazi-occupied Paris and safeguard and protect their children by entrusting those families who were not a threat to the Nazis to keep their children alive. I found it difficult to read at times through my tears. There is sadness and devastation, as well as hope and good prevailing among the evil and difficult circumstance. Be sure to read the author's note. Ms. Harmel's research was thorough and right on target. Thanks to NetGalley and Kristin Harmel for the ARC!

In 1939 Americans, Elise and Juliette, are living in Paris with their husbands. Elise and Olivier are artists although she is more in the background. Juliette is running a bookstore with her loving husband and two boys. The two meet in the park when Juliette is walking her children and encounters Elise feeling unwell. They bond over their pregnancies and become best friends and their daughters are close in age. Elise's husband, Olivier, is working with the resistance and when he is killed Elise and Mathilde are in danger. Elise makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her daughter with Juliette to keep her safe and she escapes promising to come back for her after the war. This shows us another part of the war and how easy it was to be noticed by the Germans and the aftermath of the war. Mothers had to make heartbreaking decisions in order to try to keep their children safe. It is so easy to just focus on the victims of the Holocaust but this shows what happens to innocent people just trying to get by.

This author has not disappointed me and this book is no exception. As I neared the end I couldn't read fast enough to see what was going to happen and would recommend this especially if you liked Ms. Harmel's previous books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery books for providing me with a digital copy.

When reading a book by Kristin Harmel, I know I will ALWAYS enjoy the story, and this one is no exception. The characters in this story come alive with Harmel’s style of writing. I loved every bit of the story!!! I fell in love with Elise and her intense love for her daughter. This is a must-read!

The Paris Daughter surrounded me with many different feelings, from joy to sadness, hope to grief, but above all resilience. Elise and Juliette's stories intertwine and join in the most critical and necessary ways. As a mother, I could not imagine the bravery their lives required as their hearts and minds were filled with fear. I felt completely connected to all of the characters throughout, especially Elise. A beautiful story woven together with the magical storytelling always provided by Kristin Harmel.

In The Paris Daughter by Kristen Harmel, she transports you to Paris during WWII. She shows you the lives of two women, both who are expecting a child during the war. The two women become fast friends, when circumstances untangled them for life.
Kristen Harmel brings the story to life. She puts you right in the heartbreaking lives of Juliette and Elise. You feel their excitement, joy, fear, and sadness. Your heart breaks for them and with them.
I loved The Paris Daughter. It touched my heart as a mom, as I wondered how I would have acted if I were put in the situation that these women faced. The lives of these two woman and all of the woman and children, who were torn from their families during the war, will forever remain a part of me.
Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

Thank you to Gallery books and Netgalley for letting me read a copy of The Paris Daughter. I was lucky to get this book, I believe this is her best book. Kristin Harmel is a powerful author who writes historical fiction books that pulls at your heart and may cause you to lose sleep since you want to keep reading.
Elise and Juliet are some of the main characters that you fall in love with along with their daughters. This book is set in WW 2 but, a very emotional read. I advise you to read the end when Kristen Harmel gives her personal insights to the book.

My heart has been destroyed by one of the most amazing historical fiction books I have in quite some time. I never expect a swoon worthy happily ever after within the genre. With the conclusion of The Paris Daughter I was conflicted. There was great happiness for Elise, but my heart felt as if it had been stomped on by Juliette.

Now I can't stop thinking about the story. I became personally invested in the characters. As someone that can only look back at the past, I can't understand how so many lives were lost because of the beliefs on one man. Books like this one give me a greater understanding. I witnessed, through the words of the story, what some in Paris did in order to stand up to the Nazis. Many of those, including Elise's husband, lost their lives in defense of their freedoms.

With his death, Elise was at risk of arrest. Desperate times call for desperate measures. In order to save her and her daughter, Mathilde, they will have to split up. Her struggle to make the decision had me aching inside. My heart was already breaking over her friend, Ruth, having to make the same decisions. Knowing so many had to make the same decision have tears flowing. Elise's continuing struggles had my stomach churning.

Devouring the pages gave me so much more than any textbook. Chapter after addictive chapter, I increased my knowledge of the strength of those wanting to survive during the war. I gained glimpses into the lives of those that had to go on after those they loved no longer could. One could not gain respect for those affected by the war as they tried to pick up what was left of their lives and themselves.

Many, like my mother, refuse to talk about those years. Others try live honoring those that no longer breathe. Yet others talk about it, reminding us why we should never let it happen again. The Paris Daughter was an inspirational read that people could benefit from reading as a reminder.

The Paris Daughter was an extremely emotional read. Every emotion was worth it. The story flowed very well. I couldn't help but become invested in Elise's life. I couldn't wait for her to find a little piece of happiness. It was nice to see what would happen. It made all my tears worthwhile.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this amazing book and give my honest opinion. I have been a long time reader of Kristin Hamel. Reading the description made me immediately know I needed to read this book. It starts prior to the start of World War II and two American women who are both expecting babies. The Americans Juliette and Elise both had girls who were immediately bonded. Elise's husband was involved with the resistance (but was a Communist so I am confused). He is killed and the Germans are on the way to arrest Elise. Elise has to face placing her daughter with Juliette's family. This book takes so many twists and turns. It ends weirdly (like too quickly) but I loved it!

This is a wonderful historical fiction novel - just what I have come to expect from Kristin Harmel. The first part of the book deals with the events in France during WWII, and then it proceeds to tell the tale of the years afterward in the characters' lives. This part I enjoyed the most as the vast majority of novels do not take it past the war itself. It was heartbreaking to follow the continued trauma and PTSD these characters went through. You won't agree with all of their actions (sometimes I found myself actively trying to fight for different choices) but in the end you will understand where they came from and why. The ending took a twist I was genuinely not expecting and honestly pushed it over into a 5 star book for me. Well done again, Harmel!