🗺️ "Paris Never Leaves You" 🗺️ (2020) - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin (August
4, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250622778
ISBN-13: 978-1250622778
Click Picture for Purchase Information
“Living
through World War II working in a Paris bookstore with her young daughter,
Vivi, and fighting for her life, Charlotte is no victim, she is a survivor. But
can she survive the next chapter of her life?
Alternating
between wartime Paris and 1950s New York publishing, Ellen Feldman’s Paris
Never Leaves You is an extraordinary story of resilience, love,
and impossible choices, exploring how survival never comes without a cost.”
Thank you in advance to the publisher – St. Martin’s Press Griffin – for this advanced review copy.
A positive review was not required and all words are my own.
Since last year, I’ve been trying to branch out
my reading genres. I have read SEVERAL World War II stories as there have been
so many – ones that focused on the Holocaust and the victims (“The Lilac Girls”, “Tattooist of Auschwitz”, “Cilka’s
Journey”); ones that focus on the Allies (“The Land Beneath Us” – one of the best “allies” stories out there);
post-war (“The German House”, “Paris Never Leaves You”). Sadly the only
one I’ve liked so far was “The Land
Beneath Us”, and it wasn’t because it was mostly about the “good guys” or a
romance. Most of the books had great potential, but the delivery was poorly
executed.
I was initially drawn to this book because of
the blurb – a mother (Charlotte) and daughter (Vivi) not only surviving the war
in Paris, but trying to survive post-war America. I was truly interested in
this story and was looking forward to reading it.
A book about a former Parisian bookseller, who
now works for a book publisher, was definitely an interesting plotline as well.
To be honest – I don’t know how to classify
this one. Was it a historical romance, historical fiction … what kind of book
was it? Where was it going? What was the author trying to tell me with this
story? My questions remain unanswered.
While I ended up finishing it, I was left with
a neutral feeling. I didn’t know whether to like it or hate it. I was (and
still am) quite ambivalent about this book. I wasn’t really moved by it at all.
What’s sad is the striking cover (along with the blurb) made this seem so
interesting. I wasn’t sure where it was going and it didn’t feel hopeful. Even
at the end there was little to celebrate. I also didn’t feel any kind of
connection to the characters. This was like a hollow chocolate confection –
decorated on the outside, empty on the inside. As the writer is one I haven’t
read before, I can’t compare how this novel measures up to previous work.
This is a brutal and haunting story about one
of the darkest periods of our history. This was a bit of a compelling read, and
I wanted to continue reading to see it through. However there were times it was
simply too much to read through.
I am assuming the title stems from what
Charlotte went through in Paris during the war, and the lingering effects in
this dual timeline read.
The prologue begins in 1944 Paris where
Charlotte witnesses a horrendous scene with a woman being tortured in a graphic
scene. The book offers yet another glimpse into the atrocities.
In the first chapter, it is now 1954 in New
York, and Charlotte is working for her father’s friend in the publishing
business. Charlotte and now teenage Vivi are staying in an apartment of the
building where Charlotte’s boss Horace lives. Horace’s wife Hannah is also
there to help them. But, Charlotte is still having a hard time settling into
life in America.
It is in the beginning that Charlotte gets a
letter that reminds her of that time back in the early 1940’s and reminds her
of a past she wants to forget. But, that isn’t the only thing causing the remembrances.
Charlotte’s daughter Vivi wants to know more about their past, along with her
father.
Vivi also expresses the overt anti-Semitism and
discrimination nature of some of her classmates to which Charlotte appropriate
responds that there is no logic to intolerance. The racial epithets and
discrimination are time-line appropriate (this is not to say I condone them,
only acknowledging the accuracy of the timeline). The sentiment that Vivi lives
with is that it took Hitler to make them Jewish. But, there is a secret that
Charlotte is holding on to.
The story bounces back and forth between Paris
during the occupation and current-day (1954) New York in a disjointed fashion.
It would’ve been easier if there had been “notations” such as NEW YORK -1954;
PARIS – 1942. Mind you this is an advanced review copy/edition, so that might
be worked out prior to reading this. At times it was incoherent as to how the
past events tied into a particular scene of modern day.
Charlotte is also haunted about an affair she
had in Paris.
The reader learns about Charlotte’s affair with
a Wehrmacht officer who happens to also be a Jewish doctor, only he is “hiding
in plain sight”. He brings food and supplies for Charlotte and her daughter.
This “affair” seemed more natural than the one with her employer and landlord
Horace in 1954. The romance and affair with Horace isn’t unnatural due to his physical
issues, so much as the morality behind it. It seemed contrived and forced to
fill some kind of requirement.
The reader eventually learns the true nature of
Charlotte’s secret. What some view as survival and resilience, Hannah (Horace’s
wife) is judgmental of. And, Charlotte feels she deserves the criticism due to
the false pre-tenses that surrounds her and the inside vs. outside war
Charlotte still feels like she is fighting. Even up until the end, there is
this “war” she is fighting.
While I was able to finish the story, it lacked
for me. After reading it, I tried to skim it over to see what I was missing,
and – perhaps this is just me – this book was missing a plot, a point, a
message. It is a standalone read, but there are lingering questions at the end
that leave the reader unfulfilled.
I really tried to like this novel and give it
more credit. I think the plot had potential, but it lacked in delivery and was
plagued by the timeline issue.
Fans of the author and those who enjoy this
genre might enjoy this. Anyone on the fence – I would suggest borrowing it from
the library as soon as it is available (and the libraries are open again), or
borrowing it from a friend.
RATING:
2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads (Okay)
2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub (Disapponting)
2 ⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating
explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
(this would mostly align with the Goodreads rating) (Okay, but disappointing)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ellen Feldman, a 2009 Guggenheim fellow, is the author of Terrible Virtue, The
Unwitting, Next to Love, Scottsboro (shortlisted
for the Orange Prize), The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank (translated
into nine languages), and Lucy. Her last novel, Terrible
Virtue, was optioned by Black Bicycle for a feature film. Her new
novel, Paris Never Leaves You, is available August 4, 2020 (date
updated from publisher’s website).
Ellen
has lectured extensively around the country and in Germany and England, and
enjoys talking to book groups in person, on the phone, or via the web.
She
grew up in northern New Jersey and attended Bryn Mawr College, from which she
holds a B.A. and an M.A. in modern history. After further graduate studies at
Columbia University, she worked for a New York publishing house.
Ellen
lives in New York City and East Hampton, New York, with her husband and a
terrier named Charlie.
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