I chose this book, based on the recommendation of a favourite author, but it did not do anything for me. I didn't engage with any of the characters nor the storyline, although I have ready several books about this era. I'm sorry to say I would not recommend it.

This is so not my sort of read but Paris sold me the read. That and my minor fascination with World War II. So I took a gamble with this dual timeline book and boy did it pay dividends.

Mim is running from her life, escaping to NYC to sort her late great aunt’s flat out. But she went on a voyage of discovery about herself, about history and about dance!

I was totally absorbed into Esther’s world in Paris, my imagination was ignited as I read of life in the Bal Tabarin. But then as war broke out, I felt the fear, the worry, all the emotions of the Parisians as the Germans took their hold on this beautiful and vibrant city.

Mim’s New York life is equally as eventful and insightful as I followed this young woman who is pushed so much out of her comfort zone. I points I wanted to slap her for her reactions but then I wanted to protect her from life and being hurt.

I was an emotional wreck by the end. Rayner pushed me through the mill and then back again. This read is so emotional, I was held in a tense emotion precipice throughout. I think one of the words that’s been used to describe this book is sumptuous which it is but not is a happy way. Rayner’s words just brought everything to life – the good and the bad from both Mim’s present and the past with Esther.

I definitely want to read more from Nicola Rayner. Whether it’s another historical based story or one of her psychological thrillers, this woman has a way with words to invoke a whole host of emotion and imagery.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria & Aries for this eCopy to review

I absolutely loved The Paris Dancer! The dual timelines were perfectly balanced, and the intertwining stories of Annie and Miriam were both heart-wrenching and inspiring. The historical backdrop of wartime Paris was vividly portrayed, and the courage and resilience of the characters were truly moving. The storytelling was beautiful, and the emotional depth of the novel made it unforgettable.

The novel transports us between the vibrant streets of pre-war Paris and modern-day New York. In 1938, a young Jewish woman named Annie Mayer arrives in Paris with dreams of becoming a renowned ballerina. However, as war looms and Paris falls under occupation, Annie must conceal her true identity. A chance partnership with a fellow dancer offers her a way to survive—together, they perform in ballrooms across Europe, secretly aiding the Resistance.

Fast forward to 2012, where Miriam is tasked with sorting through her great-aunt Esther's belongings in New York. Amidst the old letters and forgotten mementos, Miriam uncovers notebooks that reveal a hidden family history. She stumbles upon the story of Annie, a courageous dancer who used her art and fame to fight against oppression. As Miriam delves deeper, she finds herself piecing together a legacy of bravery and resilience.

A must-read for fans of historical fiction and anyone who appreciates a story of courage, friendship, and resistance

The Paris Dancer is inspired by the true story of a Jewish dancer, Florence Waren. This is historical fiction at its best set in dual time frames and points of view. In 2012, Mim arrives in New York to clear her great aunt Ester's home and finds notebooks dating from when her family lived in Paris during WW2. In 1938 Annie Meyer arrives in Paris from Canada with the intention of becoming a ballet dancer. She meets Esther and her family who are, like Annie, Jewish. But when the war begins Annie changes her name to Amelie and partners Antoine to ballroom dance as the French version of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The story is poignant and the writing of both Paris and New York immersive. Most enjoyable.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I thought this was a brilliant tale. An original way of working a new angle of ww2. Then to look into it and see it was based and researched so well from a real life woman I was even more enthralled and impressed. Once again the people of that time astound me. I'm always in awe whether it be a fictional read of the time or not.
The dual timelines creates a seamless and woven story of two woman fighting for their present both I'm very different ways. Both with their own haunts and hurts. I felt deeply for our earlier warrior and also for out later heroine who.found put secrets without being able to ask her family for answers. There is so much we do know but so much we don't from that time. And so many member of our families were and are still effected by it.

A very enjoyable piece of historical fiction inspired by the true story of Florence Waren, a Jewish dancer living and working in Paris during WWII. Miriam ‘Mim’ arrives in New York in 2012 to clear out her great-aunt Ester’s apartment where she finds notebooks that show the family was in Paris during the war, something they had always denied. Told in dual timeline and dual POV, Mim and Ester, this is an emotional and well written book, compulsive reading.

Briefly, in 2012 Mim was running from life when she arrived in New York. She met Lucky on the plane and they arrange to meet up whilst Mim is there to go to dance classes. Between the classes and reading the notebooks Mim starts to clear Ester’s home. In Paris 1938 Canadian Annie Mayer arrives in Paris hoping to become a ballet dancer. Meanwhile she joins a cabaret show and when the Nazis invade Paris she becomes one half of Amelie and Antoine, a ballroom duo, which allows them the freedom to help the Resistance.

Although both stories tugged at the heartstrings it was the earlier one that really got me! I think the fact that it was based on a true story, albeit tenuously, made it even more emotive. What a very brave woman Annie was. Mim and Ester’s stories had their similarities which made it clear why Ester wanted Mim to see her notebooks. A wonderful story of friendship, family, courage, love and the exploration of self. Very entertaining. 4,5

The Paris Dancer is set over two different timelines, Paris during World War II and New York in 2012, connecting the lives of Annie Mayer a dancer in a cabaret theatre in Paris and Miriam (Mim) her great niece.

When Miriam travels to New York to sort out the affairs of her great-aunt Esther she finds some old exercise books in which her Aunt has written her life story. The dual timelines are seemlessly intertwined to produce a very well researched compelling story with richly developed characters. It is the story of family, friends, love, loss and new beginnings and it will appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction especially World War II Europe.

In 1938 Annie arrives in France, from Canada to be a ballerina at Bel Tabarin, run by Sandrini and Esther’s whole family works there. In 2012 Miriam arrives in New York from London to sort out her Great Aunt Esther’s estate. She’s grieving the loss of her friend Frankie. She finds her Aunt’s exercise book where she writes about her time in Paris during the war and a friend who is a ballerina at the Bel Tabarin. They’re both Jewish and she writes about living through and surviving that time. Mim is eager to learn more about that time and experiences since her grandma never talked much about that time.


This was a beautiful story of friendship, family, and survival during the war. The timeline during the war was more interesting to me. Miriam was a bit annoying, although it was understandable based on what she went through. The points of view were a little confusing to me. Although it was mostly from Esther and Miriam’s point of view, there was a lot about Annie and her experiences as a dancer. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to perform, hiding who you were, during the war in front of an audience of German soldiers. I look forward to reading more by this author.


Thanks to @ariasandarie, @rachelsrandomresources, @netgalley, and the author for this arc.

1938, Paris: Annie arrives in France from Canada and dreams of becoming a ballerina, the only job she can find is dancing at a cabaret Bal Tabarin and it’s owned by Pierre Sandrini and where Esther’s entire family works. Annie's Jewish and when the Germans arrive in Paris she changes her name and hoping to escape their scrutiny. Antoine makes her an offer to become his ballroom dancing partner, they would be France’s version of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and tour Europe and Germany and Annie’s helping the resistance and uses this time to gather information.

2012, America: Miriam travels from London to New York to settle her great-aunt Esther's estate, and escape the Olympics mania. Her great-aunt didn’t talk about the past, she often seemed sad and their grandmother Rebecca dodged certain topics. Mim finds old blue exercise books, and in here Esther writes about the war and mentions a teenage girl and Mim she has no idea who she is and tries to piece it all together.

I received a copy of The Paris Dancer a dual timeline novel by Nicola Rayner from Aria & Aries and in exchange for an honest review.

Miriam is grieving the loss of her best friend, while sorting through her great-aunts memories it helps her understand it’s possible to keep living, after you’ve lost someone, and the people we love become part of us. Mim shouldn’t feel guilty and she deserves to be happy and maybe with Lucky who she met on the plane flight is a candidate.

Nicola Rayner explore topics in her book such being Jewish and the Holocaust, how many people didn’t want to talk about the past and trauma, by cleverly combining real facts and fictional characters and you can tell the author knows a lot about all forms of dancing. I did find Frankie and having a third person’s point of view or a voice in Mim’s head giving her advice and telling her what to do a little distracting, and four and a half stars from me and that’s why I didn't give the novel a higher rating.

My goodness what a wonderful story it deals with love, grief and forgiveness.

Miriam has travelled to New York to sort out her Great Aunt Esther’s things as she has died, she meets Lucky on the plane and there seems to be a connection with them. Miriam discovers Esther has written about her life in Paris just before and after World War 2. Esther befriends Annie who is a dancer and ends up at the theatre where Esther helps out with her family. Miriam has her own problems and cannot tell Lucky, will she open up or not.

It was an interesting reading this and how the family went through so much during the War. The characters all worked well together and you wondered what happened to the rest of the people in the book.

I had tissues at the ready for some parts of the book.

Well written certainly would recommend this book.

An emotional moving story. Both dual timelines are centred around dance. The hard work and dedication dancers have and also around the power music and movement can have to the mind and body. The author did a great job revealing the story and secrets in perfect time. The Paris Dancer is a journey through loss, tragedy, forgiveness and love. I look forward to reading more books by Nicola Rayner 4 ½ stars
I would like to thank the author, Aria and Aries and NetGalley for my free copy of this novel, in exchange for my honest review.
#TheParisDancer #NetGalley.

Inspired by a true story. In Paris before the start of WWII, a young woman works in a Jewish dancehall. There she helps the resistance. In New York 2012, her diaries are found by family and it shows how she helped the Jews. I loved this story!

This book has me in tears! What a moving ending to a powerful story.

The dual-timelines were well executed, with the author jumping between WWII and modern-day NYC at the perfect moments. I love how the 2 timelines mirror each other in terms of loss, love and forgiveness - with Esther and Miriam learning and growing alongside each other, albeit in very different ways decades apart. I also enjoyed the way the author slowly revealed the main character’s secrets - not too slow that it was dragged out, but not too quick that it ruined the story. It is a fine line and she did this well.

I’d love to read a sequel from Bibi’s POV, following her war journey and meeting Esther, and then finally watching Miriam learn Esther’s story.

4.5 stars out of 5 ⭐️

A beautiful story of how grief and trauma can affect us all. Told between two characters stories that mirror each other in many different ways. This book touched my heart as I followed each women’s story.

Wow - this book was amazing! It had sadness, love, mystery all rolled into one. It went between the story of Mim in current times as she learned of the lives of her great aunt (who she was very close to) and her great aunts family and friends in the war. I think I enjoyed the story line set in the war time more so than the story line set in current time. I really felt connected to the characters in the war time. Mim's character annoyed me with the way she handled a few things - although it was understandable why she reacted the way she did. I would definitely like to read more books by this author. Thank you to NetGalley, Aria & Aries and Nicola Rayner for the ARC of this book which I received for free.

This surpassed all expectations for me, in all the best ways! I'm not usually a huge fan of WWII historical fiction, namely because I feel like it tends to be somewhat derivative. But I was curious about this title because I do love dancing, and I thought I'd give it a go. What I got, as the pages unfolded, was gorgeous, heartfelt writing and two characters, spanning two distinct timelines, who I absolutely fell in love with. Esther and Mim, ah, they are so beautifully portrayed, and their personalities are so well conceived, they truly leapt off the page. And Lucky, what an added treat he was! I laughed, I swooned, I cried, this book has everything. It's absolutely stunning historical fiction and I would love to read more by this author in this space.

The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner is a breathtaking tale of resilience, love, and the indomitable spirit of women across generations. Woven through a dual timeline, the story masterfully connects the lives of Annie Mayer, an aspiring ballerina in 1938 Paris, and Miriam, her great-niece, navigating her own journey of discovery in 2012.

Annie’s story is both poignant and thrilling. Amid the looming threat of war, she hides her Jewish heritage by accepting a dance partnership that offers her protection but at great personal cost. Her world, set against the glamorous yet perilous backdrop of pre-war Paris, is filled with heartbreak, bravery, and the haunting weight of survival. Annie’s passion for dance becomes her shield and solace, even as she faces unimaginable trials.

In 2012, Miriam travels to New York to settle the affairs of her late great-aunt, Annie. As she delves into Annie’s past through letters and mementos, Miriam begins to confront her own grief and guilt over a friend’s tragic death. The connection between the two women grows with each revelation, creating a deeply moving narrative of healing, courage, and self-discovery.

Rayner’s writing is evocative and immersive, bringing to life the contrasting worlds of 1930s Paris and contemporary New York. The historical elements are impeccably researched, blending seamlessly with the fictional narrative. The dual timeline structure is elegantly executed, offering equal weight to both women’s journeys without overshadowing one or the other.

What makes The Paris Dancer truly stand out is its rich, complex characters. Annie’s strength and vulnerability are inspiring, while Miriam’s modern-day struggles resonate deeply. Together, their stories explore themes of identity, sacrifice, and the unyielding bonds of family.

This book is more than just historical fiction—it’s a testament to the human spirit and the enduring power of art and memory. Nicola Rayner has crafted a beautifully layered story that is both heart-wrenching and uplifting, leaving readers with a profound sense of hope and admiration for the women who came before us.

Thank you to Aria & Aries and NetGalley for the ARC. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and dual timeline narratives!

A beautiful story about guilt, letting go and second chances. When Miriam goes to New York to clear out her great aunt Esther's apartment, she finds out more about her great aunt, especially her experience in WW2. Along the way, she also meets Lucky and learns to deal with her own guilt over a friend’s death. Set in two timelines, both stories are compelling and sad, yet also inspiring as each learns to live with the guilt they are carrying. The bonds between sisters are explored in this story as well. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

This book is an absolute delight. The historical aspects are sensitively told, well researched and honest. The dual timeline narrative was perfectly intertwined to unravel the story gradually as the book progresses without being confusing. I think this would also translate perfectly to an audiobook format.

The characters were perfectly developed, beautifully and vibrantly written. There are romantic elements but it is so much more than a romance. The story is full of tragedy and sadness but somehow manages to be uplifting. The focus is on the journey through trauma and grief to hope, forgiveness and the discovery of one’s own strength and peace.

This is a truly fantastic example of historical fiction that I couldn’t put down and highly recommend. Intricately woven, evocative, enthralling and very moving. Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher Aria and Aries for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I loved it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ll start by saying that I loved the premise of this book. The story was wonderful and I enjoyed the split timeline and the settings. It was very evocative and emotional and I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend to friends and family and anyone interested in historical fiction.

The reason for my rating is that I struggle with third person POV and one of the timelines employs this. This is a personal preference and is entirely subjective. Another reader will not mind at all. I found the first person POV timeline much easier to read.

I would be interested in listening to the audiobook of this as I feel the third person POV may translate better in audio format for me personally. The story and the dual POV would certainly lend itself to narration.