REVIEWS
Julia Grove
This is a book that wraps itself around the reader and doesn’t let go until the last page. Its principal characters are expertly drawn and their joys and sorrows are heartfelt. The narrative moves from Brittany in 1963 to Paris in 1944 and back in five delineated parts so the reader’s focus is never lost. As the daily lives of Élise, a young Parisienne, and Sébastian, a conscripted German soldier, are individually detailed, differences are obvious but, unknown to each other, they share a hatred of the Nazi occupation of Paris. Each finds solace in reading and it’s in Monsieur Le Bolzec’s bookshop that they meet. The heart of the story is the tender and beautiful relationship that develops, but theirs is forbidden love; the threat of betrayal is ever-present, giving their joy a sharp edge of foreboding. The horrors of this time, the risks they take and the outcomes for our protagonists make for painful reading. It is Élise’s teenage daughter, Joséphine, who eventually ties the threads together, leading the reader into the most poignant expressions of a love never forgotten, reunited but, sadly, still restrained by circumstances. I loved this book. Thank you, Viking, for inviting me to read it; I might otherwise have missed it!
Janet Munden
The name Ruth Druart meant nothing to me, and had I been browsing books, I may well have overlooked it. However, after reading this book, I am eager to read her first novel, While Paris Slept. The story begins in 1963 Brittany, with a young girl wanting to find her Birth Certificate in order to apply for a passport. She begins searching through her mother's papers. What she finds written there suddenly turns her world upside down, and she feels that she is no longer the person she thought she was. This is a love story, set against the backdrop of WWII, just before the Allies liberate Paris. A story of love against the odds, in a very difficult period of history, but it is also a compelling story of hate, betrayal and bravery. It tells of the courage of the ordinary French citizens and the risks they took to help others, particularly the Jewish children. However, it also tells of the ways in which the so called 'collaborators' were treated after the Germans were driven from the city! This book is well written, with short chapters, each one named and dated for the person to whom it pertains. A good read!
Eithne Herd
I’d love to say I loved this book but in truth it isn’t a genre I’d choose for myself. The plot was predictable but if you like a wartime romance I’m sure you would love this book. I certainly know people who have raved about it but sadly it wasn’t for me. Set in Paris during the German occupation I felt the author brushed over the privations experienced by the local population and failed to express the vitriol felt toward those they perceived as collaborators after the occupation was over. It was only touched on lightly, a bit more depth in the storyline would have raised the book to another level. In short, this is a good holiday read for lovers of a romance but if you’re looking to understand what life in wartime Paris was like then this isn’t the book for you.
Jackie Rogers
I’m not sure that the title of the book reflects the content. The story moves between 1963 and 1944 – with current events being consequences of past events. It starts in 1963 with 18-year old Josephine, a girl living on a farm in Brittany, discovering that her mother has been lying to her about her father her whole life. The narrative then moves back to Paris in 1944 to set the background for the meeting and reluctant love affair between Elise and Sebastien. It is a star-crossed lovers’ story that seemingly ends in tragedy. You’ll have to read it for yourself to find out what happens next – in 1963 and in 1944. One authorial device that I noticed was that Elise spoke in the first person at all times, narrating her own story, yet all the other characters’ stories were described in the third person. I am not sure that I read the book as Elise’s story – for me it is Josephine’s. Either way, it taught me quite a lot about both occupied Paris, and how Prisoners of War were treated by the British during and after the war. The story-telling flowed smoothly and quickly. Highly recommended.
Maria Parkhouse
What a story! Initially I thought it was just a love story, and it is. But it’s so very much more. Heartbreaking reading what people did to survive. Betraying and lying. The author cleverly draws you into the lives of the characters and you are literally living their lives. You so much want Elise, for all the tragedy that befell her during the war, to have the happy ever after ending but it’s not to be. But all her questions are answered. A good story and definitely worth reading. Not your typical love story.
Chris Purnell
I had already read Ruth Druart’s first book, While Paris Slept so was really pleased to receive this one, courtesy of the Viking Book Club. It did not disappoint-I loved it! Given the subject matter, at times I felt rather guilty that I was enjoying it so much! The story centres around the German Occupation of Paris during the Second World War, the main characters being Elise Chevalier. A young French woman, her daughter Josephine and Sebastian Kleinhaus, a member of the occupying forces. To further explain the relationship would serve only to spoil the book for anyone else. The book throws everything at you! Love and hate, guilt and betrayal, cruelty and kindness, forgiveness and acceptance. It can be a difficult read at times but a little humour also shines through . We can only imagine how terrifying life was for the French and Jewish people living under Nazi rule. There are many lighter touches, showing human emotions , frailties and family secrets revealed. It is a powerful story, written with great empathy and I did not want it to end! I look forward to Book number three from Ruth Druart.
Jane Standley
Like All Quiet on the Western Front this novel reminds us that ‘enemy’ soldiers are not all bad and that most of them had no more wish to be in the war than those on ‘our side’. In part it is a coming- of-age story as Josephine leaves rural Brittany for the sophistication of Paris and embarks on a mission to find the truth about her father. It vividly portrays the brutality of war, not least in the treatment of supposed collaborators but also in the long-term effects for a single mother who has to work away from home for most of the time in order to give her daughter a better life. Monsieur Le Bolzac also has to pay a heavy price for his bravery and kindness. The central love story is well wrought and must represent many real-life romances that ended with difficult choices. A good read.
Ruth Kinson
To be honest I probably wouldn’t have chosen to read this book if I hadn’t been sent it by the Viking Book Club. Reading the back cover it appeared to be another predictable ‘Romeo and Juliet’ type romance. From the first chapter set in Brittany in 1963 we know that the heroine of the story, Elise, who’s French, survives the Second World War. We don’t know at this stage whether the hero of the story, Sebastian, who’s a German soldier, has survived the war. We are introduced to Josephine, Elise’s daughter who has always believed that Frederick, a Frenchman, was her father but after finding her birth certificate hidden away she discovers that Sebastian is her father. Upset with her mother Josephine decides to go to her Aunt in Paris and find out the truth about what happened in Paris all those years ago. In 1944 Elise and Sebastian meet in a Paris bookshop. Elise is obviously wary of Sebastian as he is dressed in a Nazi uniform. However she softens to him after he saves her from being interrogated by the Nazis. I did enjoy the book although it was predictable. The main thing I take away from the book is an insight into what happened during and after the occupation in Paris.
Linda Williams
The Last Hours in Paris by Ruth Druart is a powerful dual timeline novel: in 1944, in war-torn, occupied Paris, Elise Chevalier and Sébastian Kleinhaus embark on a dangerous love affair and in 1963 in rural Brittany, Joséphine Chevalier unravels the story of her parentage. The characters are particularly well drawn in this very moving story of love and sacrifice and the ravage of war. Paris is a city I know well and I found the author’s descriptions of occupied Paris extremely powerful. Druart brings war-torn Paris to life, describing the terror and tension felt in the city during the German occupation as well as the daily struggles of the Parisians. I found this novel had a different slant to many of the WW2 novels that I have read. We see for example, the prejudice and cruelty meted out by the ordinary Parisians once the Germans have left the city and the harrowing details of the treatment of prisoners and collaborators certainly lifts the novel above a standard wartime romance.
