Until Leaves Fall in Paris

GIVEAWAY

SUNDIN, SARAH

UNTIL LEAVES FALL IN PARIS

When the Nazis march toward Paris, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favourite 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?

My Review:

Truly amazing! The kind of story that pulls at all a reader's emotions and makes her squirm a bit besides. Had me considering so many questions. Put in the same situations these characters were in, would I stand firm in my faith? Stick to my morals? Would I be willing to risk everything to help a noble cause? Or would I look away, try to rationalize dire circumstances into something more palatable? Or worse, ignore my conscience altogether and look for ways to profit from others misfortunes? These questions seem all the more pertinent these days as we watch a very similar situation play out in Ukraine.

I learned so much history from this book! And you'd think by now, after all the WWII novels I've read, I would know it all! :-) But no, clearly, I need more educating. For instance, I had no idea there were so many English speaking foreigners in Paris at the time of the German occupation. While British citizens had been rounded up and sent to internment camps, the Americans were allowed to conduct their business as usual.

For Lucie Girard that means running the English Language bookstore for her dear friends, Jewish owners who must flee the country before the German occupation takes a more deadly turn. She has sacrificed a career in the ballet in order to do that, but it isn't long before she's faced with decisions to sacrifice even more!

And Paul Aubrey lives under the scrutiny and scorn of his former American friends as he keeps his car manufacturing company running to supply the Germans with trucks and vans. He's considered a greedy opportunist and a Nazi collaborator though he's really spying for the US Army (and doing a bit of sabotage on the side!) It's bad enough that society is shunning him, but he wasn't prepared for that to carry over into his young daughter's life.

And then Paul and little Josie walk into a certain English language bookstore and...

Oy, the angst of the love story because vibrant, opinionated, impetuous Lucie discovers that Paul is a collaborator -- only she can't reconcile the kind, thoughtful, doting father with the cold mercenary of a businessman. (And for good reason, as we readers know!) So we have a doomed romance as the war amps up, with both the hero and heroine aiding the resistance in different ways, with neither knowing what the other is doing! My heart about stopped a hundred times during this read!

Sarah Sundin brings her unique flare and an interesting approach to another riveting World War II novel and I hung on every word. 

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications Inc.

Goal Update: #5 Diversify my reading -- set in France

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback copy.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Until Leaves Fall in Paris, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT AND DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday March 26 2022. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck