Before I even read the blurb of While Paris Slept, three things about this book won me over.
I love reading a debut, I am a huge historical fiction fan and I adore Paris....
So I sat down with a huge love for this story before I even began it..
And oh my, what a brilliant start to this authors writing career I feel.
Becoming completely engrossed quite quickly, I turned the pages with a knowledge that I would experience an array of emotions before I turned the very last page...
Anger at what life inflicted on these characters I had gotten to know and love, sadness that someone is left heartbroken and sheer joy at how strong a mother's love is.
We meet Jean-Luc and Charlotte in this story.
A young couple trying to survive in the midst of World War 2 and Nazi occupation.
They eventually build a new life in American after the war never forgetting the day that one woman's act of bravery changed their lives in ways they could never have imagined.
Now the past is coming back into their lives and somehow you feel it will never be the same again.
Ruth Druart writes with such compassion for her characters. She brought tears to my eyes in her telling of their story.
Such tender care was given to each of them, all struggling to find a way through..
I tried and failed miserably to put myself in the shoes of her characters, each believing their own rights.
Many a time throughout the story I wondered what was the right thing to do. I really questioned myself...
A beautiful but heartbreaking read if I'm honest.
I adored how the author told the story through the eyes of every character involved, the gem being Samuel. A beautiful, gentle boy struggling to find his place in all that was happening to him.
So very well worth your time 💕

A very insightful story of the horrors of Nazi occupied Paris and of two young people who are thrust into saving the life of a Jewish baby who would have almost certainly died in Auschwitz concentration camp. They manage to make the perilous journey over the Pyrenees into Spain. Having settled in the USA their lives are torn apart by the reemergence of the baby's parents who they believed had probably perished in Auschwitz . The story of love and ultimately of forgiveness.

I love historical fiction set during WW2 and especially love a book with a dual timeline and multi-person narrative so While Paris Slept ticked a lot of boxes for me. Set in both 1944 and 1953 this sweeping novel explores love and family against a backdrop of war and its long lasting effects. It is a detailed and richly textured novel which transported me to occupied France and to California, where Charlotte and Jean-Luc, our protagonists live with their son, Sam.

The book opens with a knock on the door of Charlotte and Jean-Luc’s house in Santa Cruz. It is 1953 and they have put the horrors of war behind them, immersing themselves in the American dream. Jean-Luc has a good job, they have a lovely house and a new car on the driveway. They spend their weekends with friends and neighbours, having barbecues and dinner parties. They no longer speak their native French, choosing instead to speak English to ease their assimilation into America. Life is good. They’re happy and thriving, a far cry from the lives they led in occupied Paris. That is until the knock at the door brings their past screaming into their present.

Told via two different timelines, Druart takes us back to 1944, to a Paris which has German soldiers on every street, rationing is the norm and there is a palpable fear of being taken away for any slight misdemeanour. Friends and relatives have been disappeared and life is both dangerous and exhausting. Jean-Luc is a railway worker at the Drancy Station in Bobingy, where French Jews were transported to a transit camp on the way to Auschwitz. It is a place where terrible things happen but are not spoken about. He has been ordered to work there by the Germans, and he and his fellow workers know that trains full of poor souls move through the station overnight often finding items of clothing and other personal possessions on the platform in the morning. He feels totally helpless and devastated at the horror that is taking place. knowing that he is reluctantly contributing to it. When he is injured at work he is taken to the hospital where Charlotte works, and it is here that they meet and fall in love.

One night, Jean-Luc finds himself at the station whilst a train full of Jews is there. A woman, fearing for her life and for that of her baby puts her child into the arms of Jean-Luc knowing that this heart-wrenching act is the best possible thing she can do. It is a desperate act from a desperate woman and one which will have a long lasting impact upon all involved. Suddenly, Jean-Luc can do something to help, and he and Charlotte undertake brave and heroic acts to protect this innocent child.

This is a book about the horrors of war, but it is also a book about nature versus nurture, motherhood and family. It is a very emotional read and one which throws up a number of moral conundrums. Jean-Luc and Charlotte’s decisions are made from a place of love but Druart asks whether their decisions were right. It isn’t an easy question to answer, and it is one which the reader has to answer for themselves. Using a very clever narrative structure comprising of dual timelines, multi-person narrative and both first and third person narrative the reader, through finding themselves immersed in each character, can answer the question for themselves. I love great writing like this, writing which allows me to put myself in the action and ask what would I have done in Jean-Luc and Charlotte’s position? Did they do the right thing? Is there a victor in this tale? Who wins and who loses? Is there justice?

I was expecting to be moved by the novel, as books set during this time frame are often difficult to read in places but I wasn’t expecting to be quite so emotionally devastated. I have to admit to shedding a few tears, finding it a beautiful read about a difficult moral conundrum. If historical fiction is your thing then this could be the book for you – just make sure you have some tissues on hand.

Oh wow, I just finished this and cannot stop thinking about it. The story really gets the reader thinking about what you would do in that same situation. The book is essentially about two couples experiences of occupied Paris during WW2 - one experiencing the horrors of Drancy and Auschwitz, and the other fleeing over the Pyrenees into Spain and then to America. It then picks up on their post war lives in California and Paris. Their lives are inextricably linked but I don't want to say how as that will give too much away. I did find maybe the first 3rd of the book a little slow but was then completely engrossed and the depiction of the places and people is totally believable. Thank you to #NetGalley, #RuthDruart and the publisher for my arc.

The story opens in 1953 and introduces us to Jean-Luc Beauchamp, his wife Charlotte, and their young son, Sam. This close knit family want nothing more than to settle down to a new life in America which is a world away from their life in Paris during the tumultuous years of the German occupation during WW2.

Moving effortlessly between time frames we first get to know Jean-Luc in 1944 when he is forcibly made to maintain the railway system at Bobigny, a nightmare place, where overnight, as Paris sleeps, cattle trucks leave the station crammed with Jews on their way to the transit camp at Drancy. Distressed by everything he witnesses, Jean-Luc is determined to do whatever he can to thwart this deadly exodus but the dreadful circumstances he witnesses don't lend themselves to interference. However, a chance meeting with Charlotte de la Villy, and a desperate request from a Jewish stranger, will change the course of Jean-Luc's life forever.

The story is based on factual evidence of what was happening in Paris during the occupation and with emotional clarity a poignant story of distress, desperation and danger starts to emerge. The time frame moves seamlessly and I was as just as engrossed in what what was happening to the Beauchamps in America as I was with the second thread of the story that of a Jewish couple in Paris who have a very special reason for being part of the story. With impeccable research the author brings a real authentic sense of history and gives her characters such strong personalities that they leap off the page and into the room with you as you read, you feel their despair, particularly in the latter part of the story which is emotionally difficult to read without succumbing to tears.

Whilst Paris Slept is a sensitively written and emotionally heart-wrenching story about the strength of survival and the desperation of selfless courage.

This incredibly powerful book is set in the very difficult period of occupation in Paris, and in particular in 1944. Jean-Luc is railway worker. Like many people at that time, he is just trying to survive and is forced to work at Drancy, from where many trains will take people to the camps. One day, a young mother on one of those trains places her newborn baby in Jean-Luc’s arms so he can be kept safe. This changes the life of Jean-Luc and Charlotte, his girlfriend, in ways they could never have imagined. The story is told from the perspective of the various characters, and especially of little Samuel. It goes back and forth between 1944, when it all started, and 1953, when they have to pick up the pieces of what happened all those years ago. This is one of the most powerful books I have ever read. I was aching inside when reading it, with the sorrow for all these amazingly complex times, for what people had to go through and the cruelty, for the loss of a child, for the pain that some choices people made during the war could bring and the consequences for the rest of their lives. Although this is a novel, because the author has researched so deeply and listened to accounts of people who went through these times, it feels like a story of real life and real people. It is a heavy and poignant book, and I felt immersed in the story, with my own emotions for the characters. It was an incredible read that will stay with me.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the publishers Headline and to the author Ruth Druart for giving me the pleasure to read this book on an advance readers copy.

Set in Paris towards the end of WW2 and also alternately in California in the 50s.
In Paris, Jean-Luc is working on the railroads when he has an accident and meets Sarah, a volunteer at the hospital.
They soon fall in love but cannot lead a normal life in a city ran by German military.
One night Jean-Luc is called in to work early because a train has derailed.
He arrives to find hundreds of Jews crammed in to the carriages, ready to be taken to Auschwitz.
On the overcrowded platform, a woman passes him her most treasured possession , asking him to look after it for her.

In California, Jean-Luc, Sarah and their son, Sam, live.
One morning the police come to the door and take Jean Lucy to question him about his past in Paris and the secrets he holds.

This was such a moving and heartbreaking book.
I love historical fiction, although this is the first one I have read set during wartime.
The stories of what was happening during those times, where people had to flee their country for any chance of survival and all Jews were hunted down to either be killed or sent to Auschwitz, are shocking.
It was very well written and interesting to read and I needed to know what happened to everyone involved, but it is devastating to think that people went through these things in their lives.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.
Set in France and America, towards the end of the Second World War and shortly afterwards, While Paris Slept tells the moving story of Jean-Luc and Charlotte, David and Sarah, and Samuel.
I found it to be incredibly moving and beautifully written from each character’s perspective.
The horrors that were inflicted by the Nazi’s are touched upon, but not in huge detail- the focus is on the characters in the book, rather than on specific crimes.
I enjoyed this book very much and look forward to reading more by the author.

While Paris Slept by Ruth Druart
Rating 4.4/5
A beautifully written novel which took you from Paris 1944 to Santa Cruz, California in 1953. The story of two families who had one greatly loved treasure, their son Sam. Ruth Druart captures an array of emotions from terrifying fear, hopelessness, anquish, hunger and thirst, hatred, rage, longing to loving, contentment, fulfilment and happiness.
Jean-Luc, a young French railwayman, is living in occupied France, is taken to work in Bobigny where many men, women and children are put into cattle trucks to start their journey to Auschwitz. These unfortunate prisoners were mostly Jewish. He rebels and tries to halt one of the trains but ends up with injuries including a substantial facial scar. He is taken to the German hospital where he meets Charlotte; a teenager working on the wards.
Charlotte is a naive but a strong French patriot despite being brought up by very strict parents. She quickly falls in love with Jean-Luc.
The other main characters, Sara and David are a young, married Jewish couple who have just literally just given birth to a baby son. They are warned they must flee their accommodation that night.
Within weeks all their lives change. In Nazi controlled France, time is a luxury that no-one has particularly if you want to survive.
Fast forward to 1953, all their lives are sent into a spin and set to change again including Sam. His life is going to go through a massive upheaval. Ruth Druart has really captured the emotions of a 9 year old. My heart ache for him, indeed it did for most of the characters.
Florentino is one of my favourite characters, a heart of gold but extremely well hidden.
A real page turner While Paris Slept is a must read.
Thank you to Ruth Druart, Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read While Paris Slept. In return I have have written an honest and unbiased review.

I haven’t read a historical fiction book in a while, especially not one set during the war. In fact, I think the last time I can really remember reading a book set during the war was probably when I was in school, I’m talking Goodnight Mister Tom style books which I always found heartbreaking. So when I started reading the details of people’s experiences during this time, fleeing to survive, life in Auschwitz, it was so incredibly hard to read.

While Paris Slept covers both multiple points of time and people’s perspectives. We start with Jean-Luc and Charlotte and their life in California in 1953, but we know they have a secret, and it looks like they can’t outrun it anymore. When I finally discovered what they’ve been trying to hide, I was surprised, I hadn’t seen it coming at all, however it turns out if I’d re-read the synopsis before starting this book I might have predicted it, so to be honest I’m quite glad I didn’t!

I found a lot of this quite tough to read, especially the parts that included a newborn baby. I don’t think it helps that my baby is about to turn one so I’m already in an emotional place, but although I was reading the words on the page, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how people went through what parents went through during that time.

It’s hard to say I enjoyed this book when the topics covered were so difficult, but I did feel fully invested in the story, and felt so much for each and every character whose perspective we get to see. My heart ached for these fictional people, because I know that for so many, this wasn’t fiction.

An emotional, heart wrenching story that I’m sure will divide readers on where their loyalties lie. This tells a story of the war and auschwitz from a point of view I’ve never seen before. Definitely recommend this book, Ruth has told a powerful story so incredibly well!

Historical is not my normal reading, but i did enjoy this book, a lot of going back and forth between the 2 time zones, but it gave the story and helped understand what was going ona dn the characters.....Lots of twists ....it was a real eye opener to how people lived and what went on in those times to

This is a beautifully written, historical story. Set in Paris in 1944 and 1950’s America.

When Jean-Luc Beauchamp is working on the railway in Bobigny doing maintenance work near the transit camp Drancy, he meets Sarah, who has been taken by the Nazi’s and is on her way to the camp. She is in fear of her life but not just hers but her baby Samuels as well. When she meets Jean-Luc she persuades him to take her baby. Although initially apprehensive he agrees. By doing this is puts him in danger as he crosses the Pyrenees with his wife Charlotte.

Nine years later in Santa Cruz, California Jean-Luc is living with his wife Charlotte and son Sam, when the police turn up at their door and want to arrest Jean Luc for the kidnapping of Sam. His real parents are alive and have been looking for him over the years.

The story is told through multiple perspectives and jumps back in time from 1952 to 1944. It is at times a heartbreaking story about family, love and sacrifice. A brilliantly written debut novel.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #Headline for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

Wow. This book was so much more than I expected it to be.

Set during WWII and looking back at it from 1953 later While Paris Slept is told from multiple view points. That of Jean Luc a railroad worker, Charlotte a nurse and Sarah who is Jewish. Towards the end of the story we have a few chapters narrated by Sam, Sarah's son.

This is a book about just what you will endure for love, how it can see you through the very worst of times.
What struck me throughout this book is the heartache that everyone endures while all trying to do the right thing. There is no "bad guy" in this book, just a group of people who are trying to get through life in the very worst of times and who suffer, no matter what choices they make. Everyone admits to making mistakes but these were done with the best of intentions and it's only with hindsight that it's possible to see that an alternative course of action may have worked out better. Your heart goes out to every single one of the main characters as they pay for these mistakes, knowing that their actions have brought them on but knowing that the alternative would have been just as heartbreaking.

Ruth Druart tackles some seriously tough subjects throughout this book, from living in occupied France and being a 'survival collaborator', to surviving in Auschwitz, to doing what is best for your child - no matter how much it hurts you. She handles all of these with such sensitivity and has obviously researched extremely thoroughly.

This is a book that will break you heart repeatedly and will stay with you long after you read the last page

With thanks to NetGalley and Headline:Headline Review for the arc for an honest review.

WHILE PARIS SLEPT follows the stories of two couples, split between 1944 Nazi-occupied France and 1953 California. Jean-Luc, a railway worker, and Charlotte, a nurse, meet when he is injured trying to sabotage the tracks at the railway station where he works under the Nazis, and their half of the tale follows both their escape from France and their later lives in California with their son. David and Sarah, a French Jewish couple, along with their own newborn son, are trying to escape being arrested by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. The novel combines their two stories, both in 1944 and 1953.

This book was heartbreaking, and so gripping I could barely put it down. I started it last night with the intention of reading a little before I went to sleep and ended up waking this morning with my kindle tucked under my pillow where I’d fallen asleep still reading. All the characters are so well fleshed out- I often find with multiple POV stories it can be hard to tell who the narrator is from chapter to chapter but each voice here was so unique I had no trouble. Each character’s story is desperately sad in its own way, but there are some truly heartwarming moments as well. My only complaint is that the ending felt a little too quick, I’d have liked to have seen a little more of what happened between the end of the last chapter and the epilogue.

Definitely would recommend, especially for fans of Ruta Sepetys or ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE.

Seems my review is at odds with most of the others because I found the book to be good in parts but not enough parts. Starting at the end of the book, no Epilogue would have been better, leaving the reader to come to their own conclusion as to how things would have ended. Going back to the front, the run up to Samuel being handed over by his mother was feasible and reasonable although the journey to that point was disjointed enough that I nearly gave up on the book.

Interestingly, the strongest parts of the book are the ones that I disagree with the most. Whilst the French are idiosyncratic at the best of times, I find it hard to believe the lack of sympathy and common sense in the book when it came to dealing with Samuel and his "kidnapper". I do not even want to start talking about the logistics of finding anyone from the camps or who escaped into hiding as it would take many pages to do so.

I will end on a slightly silly note because it made me smile. There is a very small section where Samuel is comparing the "civilised" US world he has been snatched from with the very French world that he is now expected to become part of. In the US, people were able to eat pizza, drink soda and drink their hot chocolate from cups with handles but in the "uncivilised" world of the French, pizza did not exist nor did soda and so he had to eat baguettes and drink his hot chocolate from a bowl because they had no cups. What made me smile or maybe grimace is the scary thought that pizza and cups with handles might ever define a truly civilised society.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

a powerful story about survival during the war and how people adapt and survive the worst conditions

gripping

An absolutely beautiful read! A wonderful historical novel full of hope, courage, love and loss. It’s moving and heartwarming and leaves so many questions and thoughts about family.
I loved both the 1950’s setting in America and France and the WWII years in occupied France.
Whilst I’ve read many novels set during the war years this is the first I’ve read of occupied territories and what happened to the people (luckily) not taken by the Nazis.
I can’t imagine the desperation and pain Sarah went through to hand her baby over to a complete stranger. A split second decision that saves several lives and changes the life of everyone involved.
As the story unfolds over both timelines, and through all the characters, you are completely drawn in and immersed in the storyline and characters.
I found myself truly torn between all of the characters and what the “right” outcome would be.
The ending moved me to tears and really was perfect.

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…


Normally I would begin my review by writing the blurb in my own words. However, this one is so accurate and beautifully done there was simply no way I could make it better or more fitting of the story.

When I first began reading this book I didn’t actually like it much and couldn’t see myself continuing, but I persevered, and I’m so happy I did. It wasn’t until I had finished the book and came to write my review that I realised this is Druart’s debut novel, and I am absolutely blown away! The writing is outstanding and completely immersive, the moving between countries, timelines and characters is seamless, and the emotions it evokes are inspiring.

Each character is compelling and well fleshed out considering we are thrown headlong into this story. Often I find that in the haste to tell a fast paced story the author fails to develop background for the characters. Thankfully, this was not the case here. I felt endearment and empathy for each of them and their situations individually.

The ending brought a tear to my eye and was perfect for a reader who has become ardently invested in this journey. While Paris Slept is an emotionally moving story, filled with courage, selflessness and, above all, unconditional love. A story that shows the true cost and endurance of wartime. I highly recommend.

It's 1944 in Nazi occupied Paris and Jean-Luc is sent to work on the railways. His job is to ensure that the tracks run smoothly so that thousands of Jews are transported out of the city each day. The trains always leave in the early hours of the morning when no one is around to see them but rumours swirl around Paris about the fate of the passengers. Jean- Luc's life is changed forever when he is summoned to the station earlier than usual. A newborn baby is thrust into his arms by a desperate mother, trying to save her child.
Years later Jean -Luc is settled with a life in America, until a knock on his door one morning reveals that you can never outrun your past.

I really enjoyed this novel. The characters and places were so well written that I felt I was right there in the American suburbs and the tense dangerous streets of occupied Paris with Jean-Luc. I enjoyed the different chapters from the various characters giving their own take on the events of the novel. Throughout the novel, the themes of personal identity and belonging feature time and time again with interesting parallels between the characters as we learn their fates . Each character undertakes a heart wrenching and tense journey to survive and I felt like I was with them every step of the way. I couldn't stop reading until I got 90% of the way through when I had to pause and reflect on what I had read . Each character deserved happiness and I just couldn't see how the story would resolve. The ending is tearful but satisfying. It's spot on for a reader who became emotionally invested in the book due to the excellent writing.
I'll be following this author with interest and would love to read more of her writing in future.
Thank you to Netgalley, Headline and the author for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest opinion.