🍃🍂📚 “Until Leaves Fall in Paris” (2022) 📚🍂🍃– Book Review
MY REVIEW
Paperback: 368 Pages
Publisher: Revell (February 1, 2022)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800736370
ISBN-13: 978-0800736378
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information
“When the Nazis march toward Paris, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favorite English-language bookstore to allow the Jewish owners to escape. The Germans make it difficult for her to keep Green Leaf Books afloat. And she must keep the store open if she is to continue aiding the resistance by passing secret messages between the pages of her books.
Widower Paul Aubrey wants nothing more than to return to the States with his little girl, but the US Army convinces him to keep his factory running and obtain military information from his German customers. As the war rages on, Paul offers his own resistance by sabotaging his product and hiding British airmen in his factory. But in order to carry out his mission, he must appear to support the occupation – which does not win him any sympathy when he meets Lucie in the bookstore.
In a world turned upside down, will love or duty prevail?”
Thank you in advance to the publisher, Revell (a division of Baker Books), for providing a complimentary review copy through Interviews & Reviews. A positive review was not required nor requested, and all words are my own.
Ironically, it was two (2) years ago through Interviews & Reviews I was introduced to the stellar writing of Sarah Sundin. The book I read? The Land Beneath Us, the third and final book in the Sunrise at Normandy series. As a result, I bought (but still haven’t read) the first two books (The Sea Before Us, The Sky Above Us). I also won a copy of her 2021 release, When Twilight Breaks. That too remains unread, but all at the top – somewhere of my never-ending TBR stack.
To be quite blunt – I’ve NEVER been a fan of historical fiction (or even Biblical fiction). But, Sundin’s writing (along with a few others), have made me give historical fiction more than a passing glance over the past few years. With regard to historical fiction, I do love the World War II era a lot more than other periods.
To say I absolutely had my heart set on reading this book is somewhat of an understatement. I ABSOLUTELY HAD to read this book since last June (2021) when the author revealed the title and the absolutely GORGEOUS cover in her subscriber email.
While the cover appears serene and calm, there is a sadness to it. And, for good reason – this takes place during World War II (WWII) as Paris is occupied by the Germans. Most of the story is about four (4) years before the war ended in 1945, and almost eight (8) months before the attack on Pearl Harbor (12/7/1941). This is to put into perspective how perilous the situation will become later in the novel, and in reality.
Since this story centers on the German occupation of France, there are going to be references to some very disturbing (and factual) events:
⚠️ Book Burning (the prohibited Otto list)
⚠️ Nazis
⚠️ Hitler
⚠️ Jewish Internments (this is prior to the “concentration and death camps”)
⚠️ Pearl Harbor
⚠️ Civilians Held as POWs (British, later Americans)
⚠️ Executions (talked about, not seen on page)
Given the sensitivity of this, caution is very much advised for reading this. Even more so given the latest controversy in the news.
Unlike some books, there are three basically three main characters here:
📚 Lucie Girard
🚗 Paul Aubrey
🖍️ Josie Aubrey (Paul’s daughter)
There are minor characters, though they do connect to the main ones – Paul’s workers, Paul’s former friends, Lucie’s ballet friends, Lt. Emil Wattenberg (German soldier, fond of Lucie – at one point he offers to help her financially). The story is solely from Lucie and Paul’s POVs.
Sundin’s writing is so realistic that the reader can almost feel like they’re right there with the characters experiencing what they are. And, it isn’t – for the most part – a fun time.
The story begins in May 1940 with Lucie offering to buy the Greenblatts store to keep it until they can return. The Greenblatts know that Jewish people in Germany were not permitted to own a business, and they are not sticking around in case things go bad. However, Lucie doesn’t believe Paris will be invaded, still she can’t urge them to stay knowing what could happen “if” Paris were occupied. Despite the fact she can leave since she’s an American, she doesn’t want to – Paris is her home.
Chapter two jumps to a month later where Paul doesn’t like the idea of the Germans taking his factory or rather selling to them, yet he can no longer manufacture cars due to government regulations. Even his own personal car has been requisitioned (nice way of saying “stolen”). And, he doesn’t want to stay, he wants to take his daughter home. Yet, the U.S Army requests Paul get information and that means keeping the factory open, but Paul has to look like he’s collaborating with the Germans.
At this point, towards the beginning of the book, America isn’t Germany’s enemy – they weren’t allies either. The clock is ticking though – talk about a doomsday clock.
By April 1941/Chapter 3, Lucie is dealing with banned books on the “Otto List”, named for Otto Abetz. Still, she finds a way to save what she has even if she can’t sell them. Paul is manufacturing civilian trucks for Germany, but I think we all know – even if we didn’t read ahead – what was really happening.
Before the book even gets going, it is already gripping and compelling.
As soon as Paul meets Lucie, something sparks between them, mostly due to Monsieur Meow (a puppet). It isn’t long until Lucie sees what Paul shows to the rest of the world – a collaborator. As a result of this, Paul’s small daughter Josie suffers with a lack of friends.
Paul isn’t the only one working against the Germans though. Lucie’s shop is a drop, and she eventually figures out the codes in books. As a result, she ends up helping the resistance and giving them a better solution.
Lucie eventually ends up helping Josie gain friends through a bookstore program and a sweet puppet while Paul ends up helping Lucie with her business in more ways than one. At one point he gives her some advice about the store assistant Bernadette, who I had trouble trusting from the first moment she’s mentioned.
Josie also has her own way of fighting too – delightful stories about Feenee and the rock monsters. Adding in Lucie’s Monsieur Meow puppet – Josie’s story delights the children who come into Lucie’s store. Even Paul begins to lighten up about his daughter’s stories.
Paul and Lucie’s romance is a slow burn due to the situation around them, as well as their roles in the war. Watching Lucie’s conflict between what she knew and what she saw of Paul was a hard lesson in how what we see isn’t really what is going on.
Sundin also shows the fraying of the friendship between Lucie, Marie-Claude, and Véronique despite the fact they were all in the same storm. I say this because some people ride storms out different – much like Paul and Lucie were. Comparatively, Paul was in a yacht, Lucie in a rowboat. Sundin demonstrated that friendship crack with remarks about Lucie being an outsider and not a true Parisienne.
I didn’t much care for Lucie at the beginning and felt she had the greatest character development over all through the book.
While his character didn’t develop that much, Paul remained a solid lead from first to last page. To see what he was losing by leaving – his reaction was a staunch reminder no one was spared from the loss of home, money, or possessions because of greed and evil.
The working relationship Paul and his foreman (Moreau) built up in the novel was one that showed how much a group can accomplish when they set aside their differences. While they weren’t friends per se (Paul had pulled a gun on the man prior to the start of the book), the idea they worked together to debilitate the Germans as best as they could was at times inspiring.
The short chapters, vivid narrative, and engaging dialogue kept me reading this on a constant and steady pace.
The last 90 pages was nothing short of brilliant, terrifying, action-packed, and heart-stopping. I found I couldn’t stop reading and after closing the book, I needed to breathe and recover. This was an intensely dramatic, dangerous, defiantly bold read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It did raise the anxiety level quite a bit in certain areas. It did raise the anxiety level quite a bit after Pearl Harbor.
Sundin did an impeccable job of balancing the romance, suspense, and espionage with the atrocities of the war. Her daring and bold plan for Paul, Lucie, and Josie’s escape is absolutely dramatic if not downright terrifying. The realistic imagery was enough to keep me glued to the book until the last page.
Sundin did not rush right to Pearl Harbor either, nor did she plod along with a “daily” diary. Advancing the story by a few days, even weeks, she took 242 pages to get to the attack which would signal the United States’ entry into the war. As of note, it was three days after Pearl Harbor that Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. This was before we even engaged in direct fire with them (air and ground). And, obviously marked issues for Lucie and Paul as they tried to leave.
This is one of those WWII books where I would LOVE to someday see a post-war story – how did Lucie’s fellow ballerinas fare during and after; how did Bernadette (the store manager) fare? What about Paul’s factory? What about Moreau? I have so many questions.
It would be interesting to see a collection of short stories based off of these WWII books to catch up on the characters if only to say, “hey this is what happened”.
While distributed by Revell, which lends towards more Christian/faith-based stories, there were only a few references to the Lord with the characters praying. There are no sermons, bible quotes, or other Christian references.
Despite still needing to read the current three Sarah Sundin books I have, I definitely cannot wait for her next one. She’s definitely become a must-read WWII fiction author.
Fans of the author and genre will not want to pass this one up!
RATING:
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Sundin is the bestselling author of When Twilight Breaks and several popular WWII series, including Sunrise at Normandy, Waves of Freedom, Wings of the Nightingale, and Wings of Glory. She is a Christy Award finalist and a Carol Award winner, and her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and have appeared on Booklist's "101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years." Sarah lives in Northern California. Visit www.sarahsundin.com for more information.
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POST-REVIEW NOTE:
There is NO denying that WWII, particularly the atrocities in Germany and the occupied nations, was one of the worst periods in human life. This is not a light subject at all. A U.S Navy website states “according to one report, approximately 4,700 U.S. citizens were captured and interned by Germany”.
Ilag (for Internierunslager) were internment camps established by the German Army to hold Allied civilians, captured in areas that were occupied by the Germans. They included US citizens caught in Europe by surprise when the war was declared in December 1941 and citizens of the British Commonwealth caught in areas engulfed by the Blitzkrieg.
The German military administration in France ended with the Liberation of France after the Normandy and Provence landings. It formally existed from May 1940 to December 1944, though most of its territory had been liberated by the Allies by the end of summer 1944.
Thank you so much for the wonderful review, Marie! I'm glad you enjoyed Paul & Lucie (and Josie's!) story.
ReplyDeleteYou're so VERY welcome, it was a pleasure!! Thank you for the kind words!
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