I've enjoyed several of Pam Jenoff's books and when I saw Last Twilight in Paris was available on NetGalley I knew I wanted to read it. Like her other novels, this one didn't disappoint. The book is written from two different points of view. One is Louise, a housewife living outside London after World War II. She struggles with her life and living with her husband, who returned from the war with what we would now call PTSD. She works part-time in a junk shop when she finds a necklace in the bottom of a carton of donations. This particular necklace is a Jewish Mizpah pendant - the kind where two pendants put together form a saying - she recognizes the necklace and that plunges her into a past she never thought she'd revisit. Louise had worked with the Red Cross during WWII and had delivered care packages to German camps. The necklace had been given to her friend, Franny, by a prisoner in one of the camps just before her friend was killed. Did the necklace have something to do with Franny's death? The other part of the story is told by a Jewish Parisian named Helaine. Helaine is held prisoner in a department store called Lévitan. The Nazi's used the store to sell the luxury items they were stealing from the Jewish homes as they were arresting the residents. Helaine was the necklace's owner. How does the necklace get from a camp in Paris to post-war London?

Thank you so much for the electronic copy. I enjoy Pam’s writing and the WWII era. I fell in love with the characters and the story, although it felt a little unbelievable how it all fell together..

I have been a long time fan of Pam Jenoff, so getting approved for this ARC was really wonderful to me. It was medium paced for me and alternating viewpoints helped keep me engaged. Both stories of Helaine and Louise intertwined in the most remarkable of ways. Alternating viewpoints of Louise in London (1953) and her past experience of working for the Red Cross in Europe, under occupied Nazis. To later discovering the mystery of Louise uncovering a necklace in a crate from a second hand shop and determined to find the owner and history. Unpacking her own elusive past, her emotions, and the loss of some of those that are closest to her connects the necklace and Louise. There was depth to Louise's character as she was discovering the mystery and unpacking her emotional past helped me empathize and created emotional depth to her character. The other alternative point of view, Helaine (Jewish) and her husband Gabriel (a cello player, non Jewish man) in the journey of their life, of young love, discovering each other, all while Nazis are taking control of the area around them and enforcing rules for Jewish people. This in turn had an effect on Helaine and ties Pam Jenoff's "gasp" that she pulls into her historical fiction stories. Both Louise and Helaine are remarkable humans that have endured heartbreak, suffering, and have learned to cope with the aftermath of war.

Perhaps one of the most interesting and heartbreaking things about this book was the real life Levitan, where the Jewish were imprisoned and forced to sort, display, and "sell" objects plundered from Jewish homes to German officers. This piece of history helped Pam Jenoff construct her story around Helaine. The Levitan was shared as a department store in this novel, but in real life was a furniture store; nonetheless, imprisoning Jewish laves that were taken from their homes and forced into labor- an alternative to a concentration camp. yet completely real and awful.

I highly recommend this book to those that enjoy WWII historical fiction, a good mystery, and a story that will leave a resounding perspective to those that suffered and how we can honor and respect those who went through suffering in history, to not repeat it,

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley and Pam Jenoff for this ARC, I am so grateful!

Two women with very different experiences of World War II, the hidden history of a Paris landmark, and the locket that connects them all, Last Twilight in Paris manages to be both suspenseful and warm. There is enough mystery to keep you turning pages, and an uplifting, satisfying ending to make you glad that you did. I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Publisher's Weekly's Grab a Galley promotion and it came at the perfect time for me to enjoy a story that has both substance and hope.

This novel is based on the real drama of the Lévitan department store during the German occupation of Paris. I wasn't aware of this piece of history prior to reading the book, so I was a bit captivated!

I found it fascinating how the author kept focus on the two halves of a Mizpah necklace while also writing from two different character's pov (Louise and Helaine) in slightly different timelines, rather than completely different periods, then blended them together into the present at the conclusion. This is my first book from Jenoff, and now i must go through her backlog!

Last Twilight in Paris is about tragedy and perseverance during one of history’s most devastating wars. The publication date is February 4th! Thank you for this galley @netgalley // @harlequinbooks

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a historical fiction set it WWII France with split timeline (1944 and 1953). This was a fantastic read and loved the characters especially Helaine and Gabriel. I don't want to do a plot spoiler but the plot twists at the end were excellent! I wish we had more info on Helaines Dad and Ian to wrap up the story. Well written and researched about a part of history I didn't know about before. 5 stars!!!

London - 1953

Louise is trying to adjust to her new role in life as a wife and mother in post-war England. Her husband, an Army veteran, is valiantly avoiding discussing his years away, and Louise hasn't been entirely upfront about what she did during the war. Working part-time at a local secondhand shop, she comes across a necklace in a box labeled with the name of a Paris department store. What makes this necklace so intriguing is that Louise is positive that she saw it during the war while working for the Red Cross in Europe. And even more important, it is something linking her to her friend Franny who died there under mysterious circumstances.

Hoping to solve the burning question of Franny's death, Louise journeys to Paris to meet up with Ian, a friend she worked with in the Red Cross, and he is also someone she had a brief romance with. Their research includes a visit to Levitan, the name of the store on the box where Louise found the necklace. At the store, now an office building, she discovers that the Nazis used the store as a camp for Jews whose job it was to sort through articles from the homes of fellow Jews, sending the items on to Germany. Louise learns of a young Jewish woman called Helaine who was imprisoned there, and it is apparent that the necklace belonged to her. Her husband had been captured by the Germans.

With every turn, Louise is convinced that there is a link between Helaine, her husband, and Franny's tragic death. But there are so many unanswered questions and a lot of roadblocks thrown up in front of her that Louise wonders just how important this necklace really is.

Based on the true story of Levitan and its use by the Nazis, LAST TWILIGHT IN PARIS is a riveting, page-turning tale with a very interesting finale. It's a Perfect 10 in my eyes.

It looks like I am an outlier. Perhaps my prior knowledge of the Levitan Department Store during WWII was a disadvantage as I read this book. I never found myself fully engaged with the characters. Am I glad I read this? Yes. Did it have the usual impact WWII fiction has on me? Not really. Will I continue to read Pam Jenoff? Of course!

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

Thus is my first time reading anything by this author and I'm so glad I did because the author did amazing job bring to live a part of history I had no idea about and that why I love reading either nonfiction or historical fiction especially if its based on ture events that took place doing WW2 . And even though The Last Twilight in Paris is historical fiction, it brings to live how the Germans went and uesed a department store ( the Lévitan) and turned it a concentration camp in World War II. How they made their Prisoners work there and it also brings to live how one woman wanted to learning more about her friends life and death . It's told in 2 different time periods one doing the WW 2 and one after it ended . It brings to life the Struggles of both of the main character's and how their lives was doing both time lines .

Pam Jenoff is a hit or miss author for me, but Last Twilight in Paris is a hit with an original setting of a department store turned concentration camp in World War II Paris. Sharp readers will piece the connections together easily but will also appreciate a dual timeline story in which one of the protagonists is an “ordinary” 1950s housewife with unresolved issues from her wartime experience. Engaging and highly readable!

Thank you to NetGalley and Park Row for the ARC of Last Twilight in Paris.

Historical fiction, is outside of my comfort zone, however I have to say this book was amazing! I will have to read more of Pam Jenoff in the near future. There were a few things I was not aware that happened during WWII and was surprised. I will definitely be looking to read the books that inspired Jenoff to write this book.

Pub date: February 4th

Thank you once again for the ARC, I got out of my comfort zone!

It took me a bit to really get into this book, but once I did, WOW is all I can say. You have 2 POV- during WW2 and after. I don't want to give any spoilers, If you like historical fiction, give this book a try. I enjoyed everything that I have read from Pam Jenoff. I feel like this is another great book! Thank you Netgalley!

Thank you to Pam Jenoff, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for trusting me with this ARC.

My first read of 2025, and I am not disappointed! What a great read to start off the new year!! You know that feeling after you finish a phenomenal book, where you want to write down your thoughts but just can’t think through them all because you have too many?! That was my feeling after this book! It was so so good!
This book had my attention from the first chapter. It’s amazing how I am so different from the main characters Louise and Helaine but Pam Jenoff wrote them in a way that I felt a connection to them and their stories. I didn’t know about Jews being held prisoner in department stores during the war, and I like how Jenoff included other books to look into if you want to learn the true history.
The point of view switches between Helaine during the war, then to Louise in her current life in 1953, and back to Louise during the war. The mystery of the necklace and what happened during the war to all the characters comes to light gradually through the different points of view. The mystery and wanting to know what happened to the characters was so good I couldn’t put it down!

I will never stop appreciating the level of research Pam Jenoff puts into her books. She captures people, places, and eras with such detail and clarity that I feel fully immersed in the world she's created. I had never heard of the Levitan department store and the way the Nazis transformed it during the war so the history lover in me was thrilled to learn something new.

The story employs alternating perspectives and dual timelines, which I enjoy, but this could be an issue for some. Unlike other books by Jenoff, it took me a bit to really get into the story but once I was in, I couldn't stop reading.

I received an electronic ARC from Harlequin Trade Publishing through NetGalley.
Told in two time frames from two characters' POVs. Helaine is a Jewish woman living in Paris during World War II; Louise is a wife and mother living in the 1950's with flashback memories from her time during WWII also. Both are connected by a piece of jewelry that belonged to Helaine, and Louise remembers seeing while working with the Red Cross in POW camps in Germany.
I appreciate how Jenoff intertwines their stories while providing historical information about their locations and lives. Is it a deep history dive? No, but it offers readers a look at the very real human costs during that tragic time and the aftermath. The book begins slowly and the characters reveal more of themselves as the story progresses. The pace is a bit too slow for my taste but by the end, I was invested in both characters. There are a few twists along the way but the "villain" is obvious from early on.

“Last Twilight in Paris “(arc)
by Pam Jenoff

5⭐️

Such a impactful and powerful story!🥺🩵💛
I haven’t read a historical fiction book in a while and this heartbreaking , yet beautiful story did not disappoint!🩵
This book was set during the pre and post WW2 era , and it’s duel POV’s of two strong women . One who is going through the nightmare of surviving and one who going through the effects of post war trauma.
I really enjoyed reading this book and while this is fiction, the story does parallel some true occurrences. And I did learn some interesting facts about WW2 that I didn’t know before.
This story did leave an impactful mark on me and I highly recommend you check this book out! 🩵💛
Thank you Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for honest review.

In the middle of Paris, Nazis imprisoned hundreds of Jewish people in an old department store, where the prisoners sorted through items stolen from Jewish homes to be resold to the German officers.

The story is told from three different POV. Helaine was a Jewish French woman who was imprisoned in Lévitan. Louise was a British woman who volunteered for the Red Cross, first packing care packages and then delivering the packages to POW camps in France and Germany. The third perspective is also Louise, 10 years after the war when she finds a necklace that she feels like she had seen before during the war. She will stop at nothing to find out the story behind the necklace.

At first the different POVs were quite confusing, and the story was slow to progress. But once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down and I finished in in two days. I was not familiar with Lévitan, so this was especially interesting. I would definitely recommend this to those who love WWII historical fiction.

I received a digital ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers.

📖 Book Review 📖

📱 "Last Twilight in Paris" by Pam Jenoff

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Expected publication February 4, 2025

An interesting, a little slow in the beginning story about Paris in WWII.
A rather famous and extremely large Parisian department store Lévitan was turned into a German prison, that housed arrested Jews during the war. The imprisoned Jews sorted through stolen household items taken from Jewish homes when their owners were sent east to concentration camps. The Jewish prisoners were forced to display the
items for Nazi officials to buy. Dual timelines of during WWII and London in 1953 with Louise, a former Red Cross worker trying to figure out life after such misery and mass destruction. When Louise finds a unique necklace in a resale store in England, she swears she remembers this same necklace from her time with the Red Cross during the war in Germany. Louise asks her former boss Ian from the Red Cross for help and opens an entire can of worms. Helaine, the other main character is a young Jewish woman, born and raised with wealth in Paris. She was imprisoned at Lévitan, torn apart from her musician husband when the Germans invaded France. I did not know about the Jewish prison and how the Nazis sold Jewish items to fund the Reich. All the pieces of the story blend seamlessly together in the end and it shows the resilience of humanity.


Thank you @Netgalley and for the digital ARC

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Like all of Pam Jenoff’s books, this was another wonderful read! I love learning and this shared a story about something I didn’t know about WWII in Paris. There are still so many stories that have yet to be told and I hope one day all are brought to light.

Three women figure in this story. Louise, in post-war England, finds a necklace that brings back a wartime experience. One that resulted in the death of her friend, Franny. She decides to go to Paris to investigate. This leads to the Lévitan, a Paris department store for German occupiers staffed by Jewish prisoners. Here is where we find Helaine, the third woman in this story.