I'm an absolute sucker for historical fiction and this didn't disappoint. The dual timeline in this book was a real highlight for me. I found myself deeply invested in the characters and their respective journeys. The pacing was just right, making it a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish.

While Paris Slept
by Ruth Druart

A dual time line between Paris 1944 and America 1953 Jean Luc is put in a very difficult position when a desperate woman gives him her son as she is being herded on to a train going to Auschwitz asking him to save the child. The story follows both the journey of Jean luc and his girl friend as they escape to get out of Europe and get to America. Then the journey of Samuels parents after surviving the holocaust try to find their son and then the fight both parties have to decide what will happen to Sam to leave the only life he has know to return to his actual parents and taken to France to an unknown life with unknown people.

This book is not what I expected and have a very mixed view of both sets of adults as I understand the mother just handing over the baby but would you rip pair the only life your child has ever known and the authorities . Jean Luc and Charlotte didn’t hide the fact they had saved this baby and after nine years assumed Sarah and David the jewish parents had not survived. Mixed views and disappointing didn’t really ring true for me. 2.5/5

I really enjoyed the dual timeline of this book.
I was really invested in the characters and their journeys.
A well paced read which I enjoy very much

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Whilst Paris slept is a beautiful and heartbreaking novel. It is based on real experiences of hundreds of Jewish-French children during World War Two.

Nine year old Sam's life is about to be turned upside down in a way that he never understood possible, alongside the lives of his parents. Having survived the war they are all living in California, trying to forget the horrors of war and live the American dream.

Years earlier baby Samuel is separated from his parents at a railway station. His mother entrusts him to a railway worker so that he is spared the horrors of Auschwitz. He takes the child and promises to look after it.

Having also survived the war and discovering that their Samuel (Sam) is alive and living in America, his biological parents want their son back. But this obviously isn't as simple as it seem.

Sam's parents assume that he was orphaned during the war, as they have been responsible for him all of this time with no questions.

Samuel's parents just want back what is theirs.

Sam doesn't have a clue what is happening, doesn't understand why he's been lied in to, and doesn't want to move to France.

It is a challenging time for all involved, and you will question all characters decisions at the time, though perhaps understand why they have made them.

A great debut novel. A historical fiction that really takes you on a journey. This didn’t take me long to read at all, I had to know what happened next. Well written with good characters. A really enjoyable read with some difficult context.

This started really well, with Jean-Luc’s intriguing arrest, and then with the events in Paris in 1944. The fear and desperation that Sarah and David feel is palpable, and Sarah’s selfless decision is heartbreaking. And Jean-Luc and Charlotte’s decision to save a stranger’s baby, despite the danger it will put them in, paves the way for what sound be an emotional, heart-in-the-mouth read.

But I didn’t quite feel the terror during Jean-Luc and Charlotte’s journey – everything felt a little too easy. And then the events after the war, from 1953 onwards, just felt very unrealistic. I hate to be negative, because I think there is a really heartfelt story here and one that has a huge amount of potential, but would Jean-Luc really have been arrested? Would he have been punished the way he is? Would he and Charlotte have kept their secret and not tried to get in touch with Sarah and David? Would Sarah and David be so resentful? It just didn’t add up – from all the characters being selfless and putting Sam first, they all seemed to become horribly selfish in the second part of the book.

This was definitely a missed opportunity, in my opinion.

While Paris Slept was really so much more than I expected. I didn’t expect to become so emotionally invested in all sides of this story, and I didn’t expect to cry quite as much as I did!

Jean Luc Beauchamp is put in an impossible situation as soon as the Nazis occupy France. He has a deformed hand, and if he shows any kind of weakness it could mean his death. But to stay working on the railways brands him as a collaborator. Someone who has facilitated the Holocaust.

So when a woman thrusts a tiny baby at him as she is put on a cattle truck, Jean Luc does the only thing he can do.

He and his girlfriend (and later, wife) begin a perilous journey , eventually settling in 1950’s California. In 1953, Jean Luc is questioned about his role in the war, and is told something that will change his life and that of his family forever.

We switch between the two timelines of wartime France and and the present day (1950’s) California and Paris.

It’s an unforgettable story of resilience, secrets and survival. All actions on both sides of the story were all for the love of a child. Oh, how I cried (this seems to be becoming more and more frequent lately!)!

Wonderful storytelling ❤️

Absolutely loved this book. I really love historical fiction and this did not disappoint! Thank you net galley for a copy of this title in exchange for a review.

i was intruiged by the premise of this, something a bit different from the usual ww2 novel, but the writing just didn't keep me hooked and i got a bit bored and skimmed

WWII historical fiction is my jam. I’m here for it. I read a lot of it. I have all my life. I’ve read good and bad and this, this is a good debut with something to bring to the genre. I can’t wait for more of Druart’s work

I throughly enjoyed this book set between fancd and America and highlighting the horrors of the war and auschwitz . A French family living in Paris with their son but not all is what it seems .

Wow wow wow what a book! It was so so beautiful and well written and heartbreaking, I honestly didn’t know who to root for! It definitely puts you through the emotional ringer and is 100% one that I would recommend to anyone who likes historical fiction or even those who are new to the genre as it’s genuinely such a wonderful book!

I was attracted to Ruth Druat’s debut, While Paris Slept, by the WW2 setting. In fact the story’s heart lies in the question of motherhood and family and opens in 1953 in America with a young emigrant couple and their son, Sam. One morning the police come for Jean-Luc, Sam’s father. A single event on a railway platform in occupied France nine years earlier has caught up with him.
A section of the story does take place in wartime Paris, where inhabitants live in fear and deprivation and hidden resentment, hoping to remain invisible to the armed forces and to find enough food to survive. But the bulk of the book describes events in 1953. In that respect the book was not what I anticipated.
I’m not convinced that the authorities would have handled the situation in the way Ruth Druart describes. It is certainly shocking if so. Nonetheless, it is a powerful emotional story and a page-turner throughout. I was pulled into the lives of the characters, gripped by events as they unfolded and the ending worked perfectly.

I loved this book!
I loved the characters with them throughout the novel, willing everyone in California the happy settled life they had whilst also wanting the reunion to happen.
Beautifully written and so emotional but so so good

A heartbreaking WW2 story with far reaching consequences. I couldn't put this book down needing to know what happened next, you have to feel for all sides in this story and are torn as to what is right. Compelling heartbreaking read

I am still wiping away the tears having just finished this wonderful story. The author sensitively conveyed the atrocities of war, the horrors of the concentration camp and the desperate struggle for survival while at the same time writing a human story with marvellous characters. My heart broke!

An emotional and powerful story set in world war two Paris during the German occupation. Two ordinary couples caught up in terrible events, the repercussions lasting for years. Well researched and vivid characters.

It’s taken me a while to review this as I was a bit indecisive about the story, I didn’t love it yet I didn’t hate it.
It’s definitely a powerful and well written story which pulls at the heart strings.
I could see where the story was going towards the end of the story but that didn’t put me off.
Most of the characters were likeable but I didn’t take to Sam.
Thank you Netgalley for this book in return for my honest review.

A very movingst8ry involving an account of holocaust survivors and the heroic deeds undertaken by camp inhabitants and those on the outside who fought to save them. The main characters are strong and believable and you have sympathy with the difficulties they unwittingly find themselves in as a result of their wartime experiences.

Actions have far reaching consequences for many and the person I felt most sorry for was tyechild at the centre of the story. He was bewildered and confused about the actions of those around him which tore his world apart.

A great read. The author has a style of writing which makes the words flow off the page. As the story unfolds, it's a difficult book to put down as you can't wait to find out what's going to happen next.