While Paris Slept was a wrenching tale set in both Santa Cruz in 1953 and wartime Paris. It focuses on Jean-Luc and Charlotte, a French couple living in America with their son Sam. One day some official looking men take Jean-Luc away for questioning and the story begins.

We find that Jean-Luc worked at Bovigny train station, a platform for Drancy concentration camp. The American investigators look at him with disdain but as the tale progresses we learn things about Jean-Luc which call the reader to question the nature of complicity and ponder whether some acts of collaboration were justifiable.

We learn that a woman bound for Auschwitz gave her precious newborn son to a stranger in an attempt to save him from her fate.

Past and future collide in this book and the result is messy and brings into question the very nature of motherhood and what defines a family.

While Paris Slept is a unique take on this particular piece of history and one which will no doubt tear the reader in multiple directions. Beautifully written.

I found it very hard to write this review because I don't want to give anything away to a future reader, suffice to say it is well worth reading,

“While Paris Slept...” is a story set in large amounts during the Second World War in Paris. However, unlike a lot of other similar books, it focuses on the repercussions of what happened during the war and, more specifically, on what happened after one woman’s fateful decision.

This woman is Sarah. During the war, she entrusts her most precious possession to a stranger, Jean-Luc. What he and his girlfriend, Charlotte, then do has a huge effect that impacts the lives of many well after the end of the conflict.

Despite the nature of some of the story (rarely are Second World War books an easy read!), I did enjoy this book. It was refreshing to see the aftermath of the war and the effect that it (and the decisions made throughout it) had on the main characters. I also enjoyed that it told the story from their different perspectives and that it drip fed the plot. I do think that the big reveal that happens part way through the book was fairly obvious. And I also felt some of the language was overly descriptive. But the strength of the book is definitely the story that it tells and the message of how strong love can be.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Please see LoveReading.co.uk for the full Review. While Paris Slept was chosen as a LoveReading Debut of the Month and LoveReading Star Book.

This was an absolutely heart rendering book that had me holding my breath throughout. The characters were so alive and their growth so brave and beautiful.

Two time lines, two families. A series of events during the war leave a couple with a baby that is not theirs. A decade later hidden secrets and alternate scenarios emerge during an investigation into the rights and wrongs of the protagonist. The premise of this book should have been a riveting read of desperation, resistance, fighting for freedom, escape and the tragedy of war. Yet it was a struggle to retain concentration and totally immerse myself in the events unfolding. There can be no doubt an enormous amount of background research went into writing this novel yet for large sections of the book I felt irritated or unmoved by events. Frustrated that a compelling story lingered just out of reach left me with the impression the author had allowed a brilliant opportunity to write a deeply moving story to slip through her fingers. Many thanks to publisher and NetGalley for opportunity of an ARC.

What a beautiful, emotional, heart-wrenching story. Beautifully written, raw, insightful and truly marvellous! Would absolutely recommend!

This book made me cry, although a work of fiction, we know the atrocities that happened and I'm sure there are stories similar to this which did happen. The characters were brought alive and the harrowing journey they all took was so real. The story was beautifully told and you felt for all them and how there was no right way - and no winners.

This is a gem of a book. I admit, that for me is started off as a slow burn, but oh my goodness does it pick up!

The book flicks between 1944 and 1953 and details what happens to five people during those nine years. If you don’t like books that flick between times and people, my Mum is like this, then this book probably isn’t for you. The first half is mainly 1944, with the second half being 1953, but it does also flick between characters.

Druart writes beautiful and has a way of encapsulating the time period and the characters perfectly. There is the element of surprise (don’t worry I won’t ruin it), at a certain part in the story. When you get there, I promise you you will be hooked afterwards. The writing is quick paced and flows well. I’m a lover of description and the imagery Druart manages to conjure up is extremely vivid.

This book will make you question what is right and what is wrong. It will make you realise that the line the between the two isn’t always a solid one. It will make you think about what you would do in the same situation.

This book is one to read when you are feeling emotionally strong, as it is quite hard hitting in place and deals with issues i.e. the Holocaust. Ultimately though, this is a book on love and courage. Small acts can have as great an impact as larger ones.

This book will make you question what is right and what is wrong. It will make you realise that the line the between the two isn’t always a solid one. It will make you think about what you would do in the same situation.

I admit, I cried at the end.

Gosh, what a compelling novel. I was memorised by the plot, following Charlotte and Jean- Loc and Sarah and David all were involved with the Nazis in one way or another-what would be the outcome? It’s a heart wrenching read, but very atmospheric.

I must admit I struggled with the first part of the. book, although it sets the scene, but the second part I loved. A story based on 2 parents perspective and their love for Sam or Samuel a young boy caught in the middle. The story is set initially in France during WW2 and the awful rule of hitler and the persecution of Jewish people. I love how close to the truth the book is even though it’s fiction and can’t imagine how horrendous it was for the Jewish people. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. Thanks to Ruth Druart and NetGalley

Paris 1944 and a young couple are being herded onto a train bound for Auschwitz. They had their newborn son to a railway worker in the hope he will be safe.
Nine years later in Santa Cruz Jean Luc and his family have built a new life for themselves. They feel safe and have tried to leave the past behind.
It has a habit of catching with you, and one day there is a knock on the door which will leave two families in pieces. Can those pieces be picked up and can both families learn to live with the past?
This will certainly tug at the heart strings!

The story is set in Paris during World War 2 and in America during the 1950’s. Each part is either the story of Jean Luc and Charlotte or David and Sarah. Each couples story is of how they are trying to escape from the Germans.

This is a haunting but beautifully written story. The author must have done a lot of research for this book and it comes across in the story. At times, it was so difficult to carry on reading, it broke my heart.
This is a tale of love, hope and extreme sacrifice. Nothing I write in this review can do this book justice but if there is one book you read this year then make it this one.

A very decent book. I figured out about a quarter of the way in what the main crux of the story was and immediately realised how big a problem it was for the characters. Poignant through and through.

There was much to like about this book, and it certainly didn't go where I expected it to but I found the writing, at times, a little too tell and not enough show. I did, however, get more engaged as the book went along and by the end I was genuinely moved and found myself with a lump in my throat. This isn't my favourite novel about this subject or period but it is one that tells the tale from a slightly difference angle, one that I found interesting and moving. A solid 3 stars out of five.

This was a lovely heart wrenching read, and a slightly different angle of the war that I haven’t read about before. I really enjoyed the early part of the book,, but as I read on it became more tense read as we discovered the “secret” and the path that Jean Luc and Charlotte paved for themselves. It’s the ending of the book I’m not entirely settled with- keep wondering why I wasn’t so happy with it and what I would of preferred but I draw no conclusions. A sign of a good book when you keep thinking about it long after you finish. Would of make a great book club read

What a heartbreaking yet uplifting and powerful book. The story was woven so beautifully giving the reader a real sense of awful decisions people had to make during those dark days of war. Not only that but decisions that had to made that affected the future life paths of so many. It made it clear that there really are no winners in war.
This is a book that one cannot forget, beautiful!

Wartime, and two young Parisians are working, reluctantly, in jobs they feel benefit the enemy, aching for some way to show their resistance. Years later, settled in a new life in California with their son Sam, their lives are thrown into turmoil when Jean-Luc is arrested and questioned about his wartime activities, and Charlotte is kept under surveillance in their home.
In Paris, concentration camp survivors David and Sarah have been searching for many years for the son they last saw as a month old baby, handed in desperation to a railway worker as they were forced onto the train bound for Auschwitz.
Told from multiple viewpoints, with Charlotte’s and Sam’s feelings given particular immediacy in first person narration, and moving between different points in time, this is a moving account of undaunted parental love and personal courage in traumatic and dangerous times. The depiction of the main characters is even-handed and engages the reader’s empathy, exerting an emotional pull that ensures the central dilemma of the novel remains a question to ponder long after you have finished reading.
I am unable to buy this for our library, as our oldest readers are 11, but I will be recommending this book to friends and in my book group. A totally absorbing and thought-provoking read.

This is not my usual read but I am glad that I was tempted by the description.

What could have been a maudlin narrative - war, Nazis, concentration camps did not dwell on the known horrors but rather focused on a small and intimate picture of life at that time, and it turned out to be both evocative and ultimately rather moving and emotional.

If I am to criticise I would have liked a little back story as to how Jean-Luc and Charlotte managed to get to the USA once they had crossed into Spain from France, and how they immersed themselves so quickly into American life and culture, but that is just me being picky. I was engrossed from the opening pages to the final ones and was delighted by the "epilogue".

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

“ Paris 1944
A young woman's future is torn away in a heartbeat. Herded on to a train bound for Auschwitz, in an act of desperation she entrusts her most precious possession to a stranger. All she has left now is hope.

Santa Cruz 1953
Jean-Luc thought he had left it all behind. The scar on his face a small price to pay for surviving the horrors of Nazi Occupation. Now, he has a new life in California, a family. He never expected the past to come knocking on his door.

On a darkened platform, two destinies become entangled. Their choice will change the future in ways neither could have imagined...”

This book had me in tears, it’s a real heartbreaker and one of the best books I have ever read; this is where I realise I’ve been too generous with my 5* reviews in the past so can I give 6*?!

Ruth Druart’s writing is exquisite and beautiful. The main characters develop nicely and we really get to know them, it is rare to read a book where you can empathise with all of the main characters and you find yourself rooting for all of them. Yet there are heartbreaking choices to be made and choices have consequences. The story is set during the Second World War when ‘loss of freedom and loss of control over one’s own destiny’ is felt throughout Nazi occupied Paris. Could you give away the thing you love most, do you love something so much you would give it away - what would you do for love? This book raises many questions without, I think, right or wrong / black or white answers and for this reason it would be an excellent choice for reading clubs. (I’d love to see it made into a film or mini-series).

It is book about family, roots, culture, identity, home and of belonging. I empathised so much with the five main characters and really felt their rollercoaster of emotions - fear, heartbreak, guilt, shame, anger, forgiveness but throughout all, love.

Thank you Ruth Druart, NetGalley and Headline Publishing Group for the opportunity of reading in exchange for an honest review.
Review posted on Goodreads.

This is not my usual genre but it caught my eye. A brilliant emotional heart breaking read. I was engrossed in the story from the start. The story just got better as the plot unfurled.. it began during WW 2 but carried on into later years. Tissues were needed. I highly recommend this book and worthy of 5 stars