The Cabaret Scene in 1941 Paris

Clementine, a seventy-two-year-old American ex-pat, has found a home in Paris. In spite of the Nazi occupation she doesn’t want to leave. She left her old life as a con-man and thief behind when she settled in a Paris to run a small shop specializing in perfumes she mixes for the artists in the cabaret scene at the fringes of society.

Clem is asked by her friend Day Shabille, based on Josephine Baker, to help another cabaret singer, Zoe St. Angel. Zoe is hiding the fact that she’s Jewish. Her father, a perfumer, has been taken by the Nazis and a Nazi businessman is living in his house. She wants Clem to steal his perfume book so that no one discovers that she was the inspiration for one of his famous perfumes.

The descriptions of the Paris nightlife in the cabarets is wonderful. It’s very atmospheric and makes you see Paris during the Nazis occupation. I thought that was the best part of the book.

Clem is a fascinating character. She wears men's clothes in a time when it was dangerous to be a lesbian or indeed anyone who was outside the social mores of the era. I liked her. Her memories, which form much of the story, give an engrossing picture of the time in both France and America.

The pace of the book was a little slow if you like lots of action. Much of it consists of Clem’s memories and descriptions of Paris life in 1941.

I received this book from Doubleday Books for this review.