An outstanding work of historical fiction about Nazi Germany, a department store, a necklace and true love. This has just the right combination of history, romance and suspense. An enchanting story and excellent character development. The audio edition has an outstanding flow and is easy to follow with stellar narration. For fans of Kristin Harmel and Kristin Hannah.

🩶Thank you Pam Jenoff and HTP Books, for this audio bookarc. I am leaving this honest review voluntarily. 🩶

I thoroughly enjoyed Last Twilight in Paris, and the two narrators were fantastic. Having two narrators made it much easier to differentiate the two different timelines.

The book did start out a little slow for me, but once it picked up I could not stop listening to it. I enjoyed the twists and turns and solving the mystery.

I read quite a bit of historical fiction, especially WW2 fiction , and felt like this one stands out on its own. First, I didn't realize the Germans used a furniture store as an internment camp, so that was a new setting for me, which I enjoyed learning something new. Second, the mystery aspect with the dual timeline was well done. I liked that the dual timelines were close together, and that we got to see the war from two different perspectives.

This book did not focus much on the German brutality and heinous mistreatment of the Jewish community during WW2, which can make some historical fiction books hard to read. It does touch on it some, but is not the main focus. If you are wanting to dip your toes into WW2 fiction this would be a great book to do that with. It does a great job of introducing readers to some of the nightmares of WW2 without delving in too deeply to the true atrocities of the Nazis.

Title: The Last Twilight in Paris
Author: Pam Jenoff
Format: 🎧
Narrators: Therese Plummer and Saskia Maarieveld
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pub Date: February 4, 2025
My Rating: 4.4 Stars
Pages: 336

Story is told in two timeline. From the POV of Louise in 1953 and Helaine in
Wartime 40’s
London, 1953.Louise finds a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop; it is in a box with the name of a department store in Paris. The necklace is so familiar she is sure she has seen it when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe
She cannot help but believe it has a connection to the mysterious death of her friend Franny that occurred during the war.

Paris 1938. Story starts when Helaine was young and led a sheltered life due ro her illness. When she met Gabriel a talented Cello Player her world changed. They married and were trying to start a life together when the war consumes their lives.
Gabriel needs to go on tour to Germany with Orchestra and needs to leave. Helaine is Jewish so has to stay hidden. She is frighten and hungry and surprised that she is being held prisoner in a famous Parisian department store where she and the other Jews are held to sort the items that the Nazi soldiers stole from Jewish families and sell them to wealthy Germans.

I just loved Helaine and Gabriel and wanted to follow their story. However Louise’s life has me curious.
Both the narrators - Therese Plummer and Saskia Maarieveld are pros. Their performance of the characters was fabulous!
This was another great Pam Jenoff story
I always love her ‘Author Notes’.
In this case she tells us that she is a writer of fiction and not a historian, She does a lot of research but takes some liberties with some details. For example the store where Helaine and the other Jews were kept prisoner was not a department store but actually a furniture store and there were over 800 prisoners.

This is my fifth[ Pam Jenoff novel.
I really am not a WWII fan as they typically are such depressing stories however I know it is a time we can NEVER forget. I especially like when the story is character driven and we follow their story. "The Orphan’s Tale|" was a different take on WWII... I give very few 5 star rating but this was a wonderful story. Plus I immediately became a Pam Jenoff fan.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Audio ~ Park Row for granted me this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 4, 2025.

✨ This is a very interesting, and most typical, WWII historical fiction novel. If you’ve enjoyed other Jenoff novels or other books in this genre, I’m sure you’ll like this.

✨ The reason I keep coming back to HF is because I always learn something while being captivated by a great story— and this book is no exception. It focuses largely on a large Paris department store that was turned into a prison during the war. Prisoners were forced to sort the items stolen from Jewish homes, then work as shop girls as German officers got their pick of the goods.

✨ It also focuses on a part of the resistance including an actress who used her position as a performer for German soldiers to help allied prisoners— based on an actual person.

✨ Jenoff uses multiple POV’s and multiple timelines to weave an engaging story that kept me interested throughout. Again, if you enjoy this stories, this will be a hit. Again, it’s out today! Is this on your TBR? If you read historical fiction, do you have a particular subject or time period you like to read about most?

The narrators went above themselves with this novel. They did such a good job and made the pages come to life. They give such emotion to the story and make you feel it all.. Thank you for that.

Each book by this author is more exciting and astounding than the last. I've read and enjoyed/cried through quite a few. This one is at the top of my favorites. You learn about a part of history that is rarely told. I had no idea about it.

Two women during WW2. One a Jew and the other a Red Cross worker. They are around the same age but from very different backgrounds. But both are deeply affected by the war. One as a prisoner. One just a housewife and mother.

When Louise finds a half heart necklace she starts on a journey. She feels compelled to find its owner and maybe learn what happened. She remembers seeing this necklace when she was a Red Cross worker. She feels that her best friend was killed because of something to do with the necklace. Louise has no idea what she is about to uncover. That it will help her and the owner. Louise is the mother to twins. A boy and a girl. The wife of a man that was in the war and has nightmares because of it. She has some horrors of her own. Maybe finding where this necklace belongs will help her. And save her marriage.

Helaine is an eighteen year old Jewish girl who fell sick as a young child and this never got to go outside like other children. Her parents, mainly her mother, kept her sheltered inside. To keep her alive. To ensure that she would not catch anything that might possibly cause her death. When she decides she wants to venture out her mother is not happy but relents. Helaine is about to start a journey of self discovery that will change her life forever. She meets a man and falls deeply in love. Much to the dismay of her father. He's not Jewish. But they do love each other. Gabriel plays the cello. He is very gifted and it was what first caught Helaine's attention. They end up separated by the war and Helaine goes to a prison camp that is in a department store. It's called Camp Levitan.

There is a lot in this story and you won't want to stop reading. I love how this author always makes sure that any questions you have are answered. How much research is put into every book. I always read the Author's Note at the end because you get to see what all she puts into her work. This book is a sad story but with lots of love entwined. Two couples who faced their demons.

Thank you #NetGalley, #Harlequin, #ParkRow, #HarlequinAudio, for this ARC...

Five stars!

Pam Jenoff writes historical fiction with such grace and clarity. In Last Twilight in Paris, she seamlessly balances the true history of a former furniture store, Levitan, turned Jewish prison and two timelines ten years apart. This beautiful love story is easy to fall into as it takes off quickly with all the emotion and respect of Holocaust times.

It's London, 1953 and Louise Burns is married to veteran Joe and post war life just isn't what she has expected. Joe is having bad dreams and not sharing, while Louise raises their two children and works part time in a second hand shop. One day Louise is going through some donations and finds a mizpah necklace which she swears she has seen before from her days volunteering for the British Red Cross. We will travel along with Louise all the way to Paris as she works to uncovers the mystery behind the necklace. Levitan and the love story of Helaine and Gabriel are the stars of this book for me.

Jenoff connects these two women with different perspectives and timelines all the while holding down a gripping mystery I didn't see coming until it was upon me. This was a riveting read for me that had me engrossed from the beginning to the end. I had the pleasure of listening to an ALC of Last Twilight compliments of Harlequin Audio and I have to mention that the narration of Therese Plummer and Saskia Maarleveld was superb and truly added to my reading enjoyment. This is the second audiobook this year where Therese Plummer has been the narrator and her delivery is so memorable and refreshing!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book before release. Select this book if you are looking for two sweet love stories that blossom in the midst of a troubling setting.

I was so pleasantly surprised by "The Last Twilight in Paris"! While I enjoy historical fiction, I’ve been feeling a bit fatigued by WWII novels. However, Pam Jenoff managed to put an intriguing twist on the genre, making this story feel fresh and engaging. I had never heard of Levitan before, so learning about this lesser-known aspect of WWII was both eye-opening and refreshing.

One of my favorite elements of the book was the dual timeline structure. I appreciated that the two storylines weren’t too far apart, with Lou’s narrative unfolding in 1953. Her relationship with Joe was so sweet, adding an emotional depth that made her chapters especially compelling. Jenoff’s writing is beautiful, and this novel has convinced me to explore her backlist.

I primarily picked up the audiobook because of Saskia Maarleveld, whose rich, expressive narration always enhances a story. As expected, she delivered an incredible performance. I was also pleasantly surprised by Thérèse Plummer—while I’ve heard her narrate before, I hadn’t considered her one of my top narrators. However, she did an excellent job, making the listening experience even more immersive.

Overall, The Last Twilight in Paris is a captivating historical novel with a unique perspective, beautifully written prose, and stellar narration. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Pam Jenoff, Harlequin Audio, and NetGalley for sending me the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

One of the things I love most about historical fiction is that I always learn something new. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗦 shines a light on the dark history of Lévitan, a formerly glamorous department store in Paris that served as a Nazi prison during WWII.
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Pam Jenoff’s dual timeline, dual POV story sucked me in from the first chapter. I enjoyed the mystery and the romance but what I appreciated most was learning about this heartbreaking aspect of the Holocaust I knew nothing about. With the rise in anti-semitism in the world today, it’s more important than ever for people to understand what happened in the past so we can make sure it never happens again.
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I listened to this book and the narration was stellar. I started it on Thursday and never expected to finish before the month ended but I couldn’t put it down.
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Thanks to Harlequin Audio for the copy to review.

This was a dual timeline historical fiction story featuring a chronically ill/disabled Jewish woman during WWII and a non-Jewish woman in the 1950s whose lives intertwine thanks to a mysterious necklace that she uses to track down the former owner.

Moving, heartfelt and great on audio, this was an important look at Jewish life during WWII and highly recommended for fans of Kelly Rimmer or Kristin Harmel. While it wasn't my favorite by Pan Jenoff it is definitely still worth picking up! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Wow, this was a beautifully written story. I loved the multiple perspectives in this novel and how they all came together at the end. I loved that the author brought to light an unknown history of WWII - the story of the furniture store Levitan where Jews imprisoned and sort through possessions belonging to Jews for German officers. This novel was beautifully written. Highly recommend.

The book club I host @bookfriendsbookclub has selected this phenomenal book for our February selection. I love the way Pam finds something so random like a famous department store in Paris being a prison camp and crafts this story. My heart ached for those imprisoned and seeing the beautiful household items rounded up from Jewish homes come through the store to be sold. As the saying goes, “the truth is stranger than fiction”. I had no idea this happened. The audiobook is dual narrated by the stellar voices of Therese Plummer and Saskia Maareveled. I will update my review further once my bookclub meets and speaks with the author.

Louise is still acclimating to her life in London after the war; her husband was soldier abd has PTSD and she was part of the Red Cross and traveled to Paris.  One day she happens upon a necklace that is identical to one she saw a POW hand to her friend during the war.  Since her friend was killed right after receiving the necklace (and the necklace went missing) Louise feels compelled to learn about its owner and backstory.  She travels back to Paris and revisits her old boss and love interest Ian from the Red Cross to help her learn more.  While investigating, the reader learns about yet another chapter in the dark story of the Nazi's goal to annihilate the Jews, Levitan prison.  

While this one started a bit slow, I had the audiobook which helped get over the hump and I'm so glad that I did because the remainder of the book was so worthwhile (I then half listened and half read and through the narrator was excellent).  It is rare that I learn something about the Holocaust, but Jenoff was able to uncover a new story.  One of my favorite elements of fiction is when the author starts with seemingly unconnected characters and then through the narrative weaves their story into one cohesive one, this novel did that and it worked really well.  I'm pretty picky about WWII novels at this point since there are so many out there so I'm always impressed when a new story.

Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the ALC

4.5/5
Thank you @parkrowbooks @harlequin_audio #partner for the gifted copy of this book!

Pam Jenoff NEVER disappoints. Everything I’ve read by Pam solidifies her place on my list of auto-buy authors. I love that this historical fiction book was centered around a necklace that Louise sees in a secondhand store and which causes her to memories to come rushing back to a time when she worked at the Red Cross during the war having seen the same necklace then. This detail niggles in the back of her mind causing her to go follow a string of clues back to a Paris to try and solve the mystery behind her friend Franny’s death. Louise is determined to find answers no matter the cost.

Once I opened the pages of this book I easily was swept away to wartime as we got to know Louise and Franny. I fell in love with their friendship and perseverance to live in such a difficult time. Pam’s writing and research makes her books impossible to put down. I love that this is based on real events of Lévitan which is the reason I love historical fiction. I always learn something! This book has two timelines that blend together in an emotional, sensationally written tale that you won’t want to put down. I know I sure didn’t! The audiobook set the mood which made me devour this one in one sitting! If you’re a fan of historical fiction, this one is not to be missed!

This story just couldn’t capture my attention. I found myself drifting off and not paying attention to the audio. I’m not sure if it was the narrator or the book or both. I’ve tried reading books by Jenoff in the past and couldn’t finish. I’m think she’s just not an author for me.

Two love stories tied across war and time by a necklace, but what could it have to do with a fatal accident? 🚑

Things I loved:
📖 role of books and stories
💎 mystery of the necklace
🦢 relationship evolution

The characterization of Helaine brought so much nuance to the story - her naïveté in the face of WWII Paris is the stuff of dramatically ironic dreams (or nightmares, in this case). The post-war story of the necklace kept things moving but it was Helaine’s tale that had me my heart. 🤍

I recommend this one to fans of Kristin Hannah, Lauren Grodstein, and Chanel Cleeton! 👥

(4.25 stars)
You can always count on Pam Jenoff to write historical fiction that is not only a page-turner, but also highlights a piece of history not known widely. In Last Twilight in Paris, Jenoff tells the story of how the N*zis used a former furniture store in the middle of Paris as a prison camp. They brought goods stolen from the Jewish people of Paris - china, silver, furniture, you name it - to Levitan and made their prisoners sort, clean, and display the goods in order to sell them to high-ranking German officers, to be shipped home to their families. Diabolical.

Of course, Jenoff gives us this information while also giving us a rollicking good story. The timeline and location shift back and forth between wartime in France and 1953 in England and France. We have two main female characters. Louise is English; she volunteered for the International Red Cross, delivering care packages to prisoner of war camps behind enemy lines. The other is Helaine, a young Parisian woman from a prominent Jewish family.

Another thing Jenoff showcases is the ineffectiveness (that’s a nice word) of the International Red Cross in “inspecting” prisoner of war camps and concentration camps. (Just the same today - they never visited any of the hostages held in Gaza, but they were there to receive them as they were released.) In Last Twilight in Paris, Louise does her very best to deliver care packages to prisoners of war. She is frustrated at not being able to do more than the Germans begrudgingly allow.

In 1953, Louise comes across a “broken heart” or Mizpah necklace in a second-hand shop she works at, near Oxford. (It’s the kind of thing where one person has one half of the heart and someone else has the other half.) She is sure that she has seen this very necklace before - when she was at the POW camp in Germany. This sets off a search to find out more about the necklace and where it came from, as the crate she found it in bore the name of the French store, Levitan. Books like these depend on very improbable (but not impossible) coincidences, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.

I bounced between the digital version of the story and the audiobook, which was beautifully narrated by the fabulous Thérèse Plummer and Saskia Maarleveld.

Thank you to Park Row and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book and to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

London, 1953. Louise Burns is a married woman whose husband, Joe, a veteran, is haunted by nightmares of the war. Louise's post-war life has not met her expectations as she struggles to adapt as a wife and mother of two. She works part-time in a second-hand shop, where she discovers a necklace bearing the name of a luxury Parisian store. The necklace sparks a memory from her time as a British Red Cross volunteer in occupied France and Germany, where her friend Franny died under mysterious circumstances. Undeterred by her former Red Cross boss's dismissiveness, Louise travels to Paris to uncover the necklace's origins and its connection to her past. The narrative unfolds through a dual timeline, told from the perspectives of Louise and Helaine Weil, a young Jewish woman who was imprisoned in the Lévitan department store, which the Nazis used for sinister purposes. The mysterious link between the necklace and the characters' experiences is a powerful theme that inspires reflection on the human spirit's capacity for resilience and hope. As the two stories intersect, the characters' struggles and triumphs will leave you in awe of the strength of the human heart. Pam Jenoff's exceptional writing has crafted an eye-opening narrative that will linger long after the final page, inspiring courage in the face of adversity and faith in the transformative power of hope. This book is a testament to the human spirit's capacity for resilience and the power of hope, highly recommended for its thought-provoking and awe-inspiring storytelling.

Louise is working in a secondhand shop in post-war London when she comes across a familiar-looking necklace that she is sure she remembers seeing before while working with the Red Cross during WWII. She is convinced that this necklace is the key to finding out what happened to her friend, Fanny, an entertainer who died under mysterious circumstances during the war. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, so she sets off for the City of Light in hopes of unravelling the mystery of the necklace and its connection to her friend. While in Paris, Louise uncovers the dark history of Levitan, a department store that was used to hold Jewish prisoners during the war, and Helaine, a Jewish woman who was separated from her husband and taken captive when the Germans invaded France. Last Twilight in Paris tells the stories of these two women and the significance a single necklace held to each of them during the war.

Last Twilight in Paris was equally heartbreaking and heartwarming. I always find it difficult to read about the cruelty that was inflicted upon human beings during WWII, and this story definitely had its fair share of sadness. Fortunately, there was also a lot of hope and healing. Jenoff did a wonderful job of weaving a captivating mystery with a touch of history in this compelling tale. Without giving away anything, I will say that there were small parts of the ending that I felt somewhat detracted from the harsh reality of that time in history, but it makes the story much more palatable and hopeful. I listened to the audiobook version and really enjoyed both narrators. I thought that they did a beautiful job of bringing these women and this story to life.

The Last Twilight in Paris is a beautifully written story that sheds light on a lesser known part of WWII history that is both fascinating and heartbreaking. It seems unbelievable yet unsurprising that a department store was turned into a labor camp for Jews. Through the eyes of two women facing the war from different perspectives, we discover the resilience of Jews and the people fighting to survive in occupied France and those striving to make an impact on the war. I found myself invested in Louise and Helaine's stories and the fates of those around them. Love, in its many forms, is evident throughout the book as our heroines find strength in friendships, familial and true love. This book was incredibly insightful, educational and touching.

𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑻𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑰𝒏 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔 📚
I was so excited to see this book pop up on @netgalley as an automatic read for me through @htp_hive and @htpbooks influencer program! I love a good historical fiction read every now and then, and Pam Jenoff is one of my favorites! This title is set to publish on 2/4/25. Definitely add it to your TBR if you’re a historical fiction reader!

𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒐𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒔 📖
This WW2 historical fiction read is based around a Parisian dept store that turns into a Nazi prison and one woman’s mission to find the owner of a missing necklace, and solve a 10 year old mystery. We follow 2 characters timelines; both Helaine and Louise, bouncing back and forth over 10 years time, to uncover what happened!


𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔💭
I really enjoyed this read! I love mixing up my regular thriller/romsnce TBR with something different from time to time and this one didn’t dissapoint! I really enjoyed both women’s storylines and it kept me engaged throughout. I also found it fascinating learning that this Parisian dept store was turned into a war camp, which is something different that I hadn’t read about in any other WW2 book I’ve read. Pam Jenoff did an awesome job of weaving together a mystery storyline and information about WW2 at the same time. This one is a must for anyone who enjoys historical fiction!