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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Thank you to #NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC of Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman. It is a store woven between two decades, that discusses loss, love, grief, survival and moving on after World War II. This was a moving story about Charlotte and her daughter Vivi. As they live in New York after the war, Charlotte works in a publishing house, Vivi is in elementary school. It is full of engaging characters, emotions that tug at heartstrings, and a real situations. This might be one of the best historical fiction novels I have read in sometime.
I enjoyed Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman. It is a store woven between two decades, that discusses loss, love, grief, survival and moving on after World War II. This was a moving story about Charlotte and her daughter Vivi. As they live in New York after the war, Charlotte works in a publishing house, Vivi is in elementary school. It is full of engaging characters, emotions that tug at heartstrings, and a real situations. This might be one of the best historical fiction novels I have read in sometime.
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really explores another side of a guilty conscience
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In occupied Paris during WWII Charlotte is working in a bookstore and just trying to keep herself and her young daughter alive.
Post war she is in New York, working in a publishing house and experiencing a very different life of abundance and optimism.
A story of survivor's guilt, resilience, what a mother will do for her child. The ending took me by surprise, but for all that I was glad the author didn't take the stereotypical, easy way out, and it was interesting to read the story of a "normal" person's experience of war, rather than someone heavily involved in the resistance, hiding Jews or flying planes!
Post war she is in New York, working in a publishing house and experiencing a very different life of abundance and optimism.
A story of survivor's guilt, resilience, what a mother will do for her child. The ending took me by surprise, but for all that I was glad the author didn't take the stereotypical, easy way out, and it was interesting to read the story of a "normal" person's experience of war, rather than someone heavily involved in the resistance, hiding Jews or flying planes!
I liked this book! It is a book about surviving WWII and feeling quite guilty about surviving WWII! We begin the story in 1944 Paris and then we travel to 1954 New York.
There is a lot in between, of course, and I encourage you to read this if you are a fan of WWII with a bit of romance added in for good measure.
My thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for this advanced readers copy. This book is due to release in June 2020.
There is a lot in between, of course, and I encourage you to read this if you are a fan of WWII with a bit of romance added in for good measure.
My thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Press for this advanced readers copy. This book is due to release in June 2020.
I started this book on Libro but it got really interesting and I didn't want to wait so I picked up the physical book at my job, then BAM, I devoured it
It was an interesting read. I liked the back and forth narration of the present where Charlotte is working at a publishing house and the past where we learn of the haunting things she did to survive the Paris occupation that still affect her life (and her daughter's).
Actually, out of the two times, I preferred the setting in the past. Part of it is that I like reading stories in the past where we're experiencing those intense emotions (even when it gets really sad) - plus, I really liked the character that helps her out, in fact, I would LOVE a book about THEIR story! - but also, one of the people that helped her out when she came to America was too pushy.
In fact, I really disliked the whole "romance" that happened towards the end. I think that the two DO have a really good connection but I just didn't really feel like Charlotte loved him while he kept pressuring her to be with him, saying they are more than friends and pretty much defining their whole relationship. Not to mention he was her boss, the person who helped her establish herself in the states, her neighbor, was married and was close enough to Charlotte's daughter to the point he'd been dubbed uncle (but they're not related)
...sounds like a very unbalanced equation if you ask me
If anything, I think Charlotte had just been alone for too long and needed some companionship and he, as someone who also had a traumatic past experience, understood her. I think they'd be good as friends with benefits but it was made out to be as love
One thing I did like (aside from the whole historical part of the story) was the relationship that we saw between Charlotte and her daughter Vivi. As someone who has grown up with the hardships of my parents in mind, I always find it interesting when parents hide things like this from their kids. Especially if it's about who you are. I liked how the two worked around this problem and its eventual solution. Unfortunately, once things were resolved the daughter was no longer a central point in the story
Anyway. I did enjoy the story. Probably won't make my top reads of the year list but I did like some of the relationships and it brought up an interesting topic that I wish was better developed. In the story, there is a German soldier that Charlotte meets and she always considers him an enemy, even when she's already in the states. But then we learn of the horrifying things that Horace (was that his name? Oops, I forgot) did during the war (to the Japanese), she justifies his actions as something he *had* to do. I mean, what the German soldier did were also things he had to do but because (I imagine) they were directed at her and people she knew, the actions were considered even worse
It was an interesting read. I liked the back and forth narration of the present where Charlotte is working at a publishing house and the past where we learn of the haunting things she did to survive the Paris occupation that still affect her life (and her daughter's).
Actually, out of the two times, I preferred the setting in the past. Part of it is that I like reading stories in the past where we're experiencing those intense emotions (even when it gets really sad) - plus, I really liked the character that helps her out, in fact, I would LOVE a book about THEIR story! - but also, one of the people that helped her out when she came to America was too pushy.
In fact, I really disliked the whole "romance" that happened towards the end. I think that the two DO have a really good connection but I just didn't really feel like Charlotte loved him while he kept pressuring her to be with him, saying they are more than friends and pretty much defining their whole relationship. Not to mention he was her boss, the person who helped her establish herself in the states, her neighbor, was married and was close enough to Charlotte's daughter to the point he'd been dubbed uncle (but they're not related)
...sounds like a very unbalanced equation if you ask me
If anything, I think Charlotte had just been alone for too long and needed some companionship and he, as someone who also had a traumatic past experience, understood her. I think they'd be good as friends with benefits but it was made out to be as love
One thing I did like (aside from the whole historical part of the story) was the relationship that we saw between Charlotte and her daughter Vivi. As someone who has grown up with the hardships of my parents in mind, I always find it interesting when parents hide things like this from their kids. Especially if it's about who you are. I liked how the two worked around this problem and its eventual solution. Unfortunately, once things were resolved the daughter was no longer a central point in the story
Anyway. I did enjoy the story. Probably won't make my top reads of the year list but I did like some of the relationships and it brought up an interesting topic that I wish was better developed. In the story, there is a German soldier that Charlotte meets and she always considers him an enemy, even when she's already in the states. But then we learn of the horrifying things that Horace (was that his name? Oops, I forgot) did during the war (to the Japanese), she justifies his actions as something he *had* to do. I mean, what the German soldier did were also things he had to do but because (I imagine) they were directed at her and people she knew, the actions were considered even worse
I was uncertain about this book going in. I loved Ellen Feldman's novel about the Scottsboro trial in the 1930s, but I've been burned before by books set in Paris during WWII and by books set in bookstores in Paris, so a book set in a Paris bookstore during WWII seems to have the highest possible chance of being terrible. Fortunately, this was not the case. Feldman has written a nuanced novel about surviving in an occupied city as a widow with a young child without romanticizing the choices she made.
This novel moves back and forth between Charlotte's experiences during and immediately after the war, and her life in New York in the 1950's where she found refuge with a former colleague of her father's. He and his wife provide her with housing and a job in publishing. Her daughter remembers little before their life in New York, where she is entering adolescence and wondering both about her father and her Jewish faith. Her daughter's questions bring back memories Charlotte is working to bury, as does a letter she receives from South America.
Feldman never romanticizes the decisions Charlotte made during the war, and she also makes each character, regardless of who they were or what they did, someone who is also making difficult and sometimes impossible choices. There are no clean consciences and no one emerges without scars. Feldman's writing is clear and she's scrupulous in both her plots and her research. While this one does not supplant Scottsboro as my favorite novel by this author, Paris Never Leaves You comes a close second.
This novel moves back and forth between Charlotte's experiences during and immediately after the war, and her life in New York in the 1950's where she found refuge with a former colleague of her father's. He and his wife provide her with housing and a job in publishing. Her daughter remembers little before their life in New York, where she is entering adolescence and wondering both about her father and her Jewish faith. Her daughter's questions bring back memories Charlotte is working to bury, as does a letter she receives from South America.
Feldman never romanticizes the decisions Charlotte made during the war, and she also makes each character, regardless of who they were or what they did, someone who is also making difficult and sometimes impossible choices. There are no clean consciences and no one emerges without scars. Feldman's writing is clear and she's scrupulous in both her plots and her research. While this one does not supplant Scottsboro as my favorite novel by this author, Paris Never Leaves You comes a close second.
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
Two time periods alternating in this story, but the years aren't that far apart. Charlotte has lived through the unspeakable and in the current storyline is living in New York, working in publishing, and trying to raise her child without revealing secrets from her past. In the past storyline, we are in the middle of the war and Charlotte is trying to do anything to stay alive in a bookstore where the enemy comes way to close for her comfort.
This was one of those books that I liked, but didn't love. The thing that I loved most about the book was that the two storylines took place so close together, so you almost got a what happened after while also reading the story that took place during the war. There are many times while reading stories, especially that take place during a war that end and I want to know more than what the book presents. This book had the chance to answer the questions of what happens to a person after war interrupts their life.
Two time periods alternating in this story, but the years aren't that far apart. Charlotte has lived through the unspeakable and in the current storyline is living in New York, working in publishing, and trying to raise her child without revealing secrets from her past. In the past storyline, we are in the middle of the war and Charlotte is trying to do anything to stay alive in a bookstore where the enemy comes way to close for her comfort.
This was one of those books that I liked, but didn't love. The thing that I loved most about the book was that the two storylines took place so close together, so you almost got a what happened after while also reading the story that took place during the war. There are many times while reading stories, especially that take place during a war that end and I want to know more than what the book presents. This book had the chance to answer the questions of what happens to a person after war interrupts their life.
This is a different take on WW II fiction. I enjoyed the exploration of occupation and survival guilt. It also asked questions about identity and collaboration.
Two stars because as the hover over says, this was "ok". This was an interesting take on the WWII historical fiction books - while it did go back and forth through two timelines, it was more done via memoir/memories than ta true two-timeline book. For some reason, this story just didn't connect with me that much, but it was an ok book for sure, and I am glad I was introduced to some of the lovely characters.