During WWII in Paris, Charlotte lives with her young daughter, Vivi, and works in a bookshop. She sees terrible things happen to women who collaborated with the Nazis, but she can’t help accepting food for Vivi from a German officer.
Now in New York in the 1950s, Charlotte works for a publisher, Horace. He and his wife Hannah sponsored her to come to the US. She’s grateful, but when Vivi starts asking questions about Paris and the war, she wonders if her secrets will come out.
Charlotte is an interesting character. She’s a survivor, but you can’t help wondering if she took the easy way out to survive. One shouldn’t judge. WWII in Paris was a nightmare, but it made me feel a little uncomfortable about Charlotte.
Antisemitism was prevalent in the US in the 1950s. Unlike many books about WWII and the aftermath, this book didn’t shy away from the problems and how it affected people’s lives, in this case the teenage Vivi.
I thought the author did a good job presenting the background in Paris during the war and in NY. It made the book very interesting. The descriptions of the settings made the actions of the characters much more real and understandable.
I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.
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