A review by strawberrymivvy
Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman

emotional informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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!