I am excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for The Paris Showroom by Juliet Blackwell! I received a free electronic copy for honest review from the publisher. Thanks so much to Berkley Books and Juliet Blackwell for having me on the tour.
Author: Juliet Blackwell
Published by: Berkley Books
Released: April 19, 2022
Source: Electronic Review Copy Provided by Publisher
Synopsis: In Nazi-occupied Paris,
a talented artisan must fight for her life by designing for her
enemies. From New York Times bestselling author Juliet Blackwell comes
an extraordinary story about holding on to hope when all seems lost.
Capucine
Benoit works alongside her father to produce fans of rare feathers,
beads, and intricate pleating for the haute couture fashion houses. But
after the Germans invade Paris in June 1940, Capucine and her father
must focus on mere survival—until they are betrayed to the secret police
and arrested for his political beliefs. When Capucine saves herself
from deportation to Auschwitz by highlighting her connections to
Parisian design houses, she is sent to a little-known prison camp
located in the heart of Paris, within the Lévitan department store.
There, hundreds of prisoners work to sort through, repair, and put on display the massive quantities of art, furniture, and household goods looted from Jewish homes and businesses. Forced to wait on German officials and their wives and mistresses, Capucine struggles to hold her tongue in order to survive, remembering happier days spent in the art salons, ateliers, and jazz clubs of Montmartre in the 1920s.
Capucine’s estranged daughter, Mathilde, remains in the care of her conservative paternal grandparents, who are prospering under the Nazi occupation. But after her mother is arrested and then a childhood friend goes missing, the usually obedient Mathilde finds herself drawn into the shadowy world of Paris’s Résistance fighters. As her mind opens to new ways of looking at the world, Mathilde also begins to see her unconventional mother in a different light.
When an old acquaintance arrives to go “shopping” at the Lévitan department store on the arm of a Nazi officer and secretly offers to help Capucine get in touch with Mathilde, this seeming act of kindness could have dangerous consequences. (Synopsis from Goodreads)
There, hundreds of prisoners work to sort through, repair, and put on display the massive quantities of art, furniture, and household goods looted from Jewish homes and businesses. Forced to wait on German officials and their wives and mistresses, Capucine struggles to hold her tongue in order to survive, remembering happier days spent in the art salons, ateliers, and jazz clubs of Montmartre in the 1920s.
Capucine’s estranged daughter, Mathilde, remains in the care of her conservative paternal grandparents, who are prospering under the Nazi occupation. But after her mother is arrested and then a childhood friend goes missing, the usually obedient Mathilde finds herself drawn into the shadowy world of Paris’s Résistance fighters. As her mind opens to new ways of looking at the world, Mathilde also begins to see her unconventional mother in a different light.
When an old acquaintance arrives to go “shopping” at the Lévitan department store on the arm of a Nazi officer and secretly offers to help Capucine get in touch with Mathilde, this seeming act of kindness could have dangerous consequences. (Synopsis from Goodreads)
My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this one. I liked learning something new about WWII and that time period. There are a lot of WWII historical's out there, but this one offered me things I'd never heard of before. Learning about the Levitan department store and the purpose that it served was really interesting. I could also really feel the danger of the characters having to tread carefully in the environment they found themselves in. One wrong move, and they could be sent to a place much more dangerous.
This book was also told from two points of view, which I thought worked well. We've got Capucine and her estranged daughter Mathilde. They are each doing what they can in this dangerous environment.
I really had a nice time reading this book. It gave me some different viewpoints and some information that I'd never known before. It also had a nice story flow and kept my interest.
Juliet Blackwell is the pseudonym for the New York Times bestselling author of Off the Wild Coast of Brittany and The Vineyards of Champagne.
In addition to writing the beloved Witchcraft Mystery series and the
Haunted Home Renovation series, she also coauthored the Agatha
Award–nominated Art Lover’s Mystery series with her sister.
Thank you for checking out my Blog Tour Stop for The Paris Showroom by Juliet Blackwell. Thanks so much to Berkley Books and Juliet Blackwell for having me on the tour! This is one you should grab.
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