This book is not my usual genre (crime & thrillers) but I was drawn to the synopsis. In places, I found it very disturbing. I can happily read fiction about dismembered bodies and serial killers but this was fiction that was based on fact, a very dark and real period of history that happened to real people. All the characters were strongly portrayed and even some of the Germans were shown to have a humane side (offering David a flask of water). I have no hesitation in giving this novel 5 stars. It is definitely one of the best I have read recently and I shall be recommending it when it is published.

This well-researched, emotional novel involves two young couples caught up in the horrific events that accompanied the occupation of France during WW2 and tells a story of heartbreaking loss and sacrifice endured. I really enjoyed the first half which read really quickly with lots of events and unveiling of plot. However, the second half was quite slow as, by then, much of it was inevitable and it felt a little dragged out. A lovely read nonetheless with lots of sensitive storytelling.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I liked this book, the story was well researched and written, I empathised with the characters. I guessed the main thrust of the storyline before we got there - but that's because I have read quite a lot of stories like this, so I had background knowledge so to speak!

Overall, I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. It felt a bit YA (which is not a criticism, it's just not what I was expecting) and therefore like some of the devastating and emotional moments could have been explored more. I didn't love it, but I didn't dislike it by any stretch of the imagination. I think it's a solid debut for this author and would read more I think. It was an easy read that kept me engaged, even if I wasn't completely in love with it.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

A wonderful book that tells a story about incidences that probably happened more than we know. A very touching tale that keeps you involved from the beginning right through until the final page. Definitely recommended to those readers who enjoy reading this type of book about a very dark time in history.

I read about 20 per cent of this book and put it down as it just wasn't holding my attention. Then, on seeing that most reviewers were giving 4 and 5 starts, I thought I give it another chance. I'm glad I did, as it's a powerful story, and certainly becomes more interesting as it goes on.

I have reservations about the way in which Jean-Luc acquired the baby, and the trek through the Pyrenees, especially the vertical climb which sounded virtually impossible for people who were debilitated and injured. However, maybe I should suspend my disbelief, as I know that people are capable of extraordinary feats in the direst of circumstances.

I felt that the novel really excelled when the two couples were agonizing about their choices on the two sides of the Atlantic. The characters all became much more interesting at this stage.

There were a few things that got in my way of fully enjoying this book. Firstly, it moves between first and third person narration for no obvious reason. Secondly, there are phrases which seemed to have more to do with cheap romantic fiction, for example Charlotte was described as having an 'intelligent forehead'. Try as I might, I cannot imagine what one might look like. And thirdly, there are several references to a 'play date'. In a novel set in the 40s and 50s, there is no place for a term only coined in the late 80s.

The ending was just right and exactly what I hoped for. In such a novel, there are no truly happy endings, but I like that there is hope and forgiveness.

History is best when it is personalised and this book achieves that in superb fashion. The writing is excellent, the research is impressive and the story is deeply personal and emotional. Jean Luc, a French railway worker in occupied France watches as thousands of fellow, but Jewish, citizens are herded on trains to be taken to concentration camps. One, Sarah, thrusts her newborn son at him. Jean Luc protects the child and with his girlfriend Charlotte escapes to California to bring the boy up as his own. Sarah and David, her husband, survive and search for their boy. This beautifully written personal history brings home the long term damage to so many people of the Nazi occupation. It is knowledge that needs to be remembered and respected. That is done outstandingly well in this iconic book. I valued every page and recommend it without hesitation.

Caught in Paris during the occupation Charlotte and Jean-Luc are infatuated with each other. He has an arduous job on the railways and is forced to go to work near one of the camps. Sarah and David are forced to flee as they are Jewish. Having just had a baby boy they are captured and sent to the camp and into Auswitz. As Sarah is about to board the train she sees Jean-Luc and gives him her baby as she knows he cannot survive what is to come.
Charlotte and Jean-Luc escape ravaged France and end up in America where they care out a nice life for themselves and their son , Sam. Years later the pay catches up with them. How can there be a happy outcome?

Set in World War 2 France and 1950s America, Jean Luc was forced to work on the railway line at the station taking Jews from France to the concentration camps. One day a young mother thrusts her new born baby into his arms and begs him to save her. Thus begins a frightening journey for Jean Luc and his girlfriend Charlotte as they try to escape France with the baby. Nine years later the baby’s parents have tracked them down and the nightmare they thought had ended is only just beginning. Who has the right to bring up this child? At first I thought this would be just like a lot of other books on this theme but there was enough originality and suspense to keep me reading to the end.

A beautiful and heartbreaking novel depicting the atrocities of WWII versus the infinite power of love. An insightful and emotional read that will strike a chord with all readers.

What an incredibly special story told in multiple perspectives to make you feel every emotion of the family. The book gave a real insight into the pain and suffering during the War and the tough decisions that Sarah and David had to make. I found this to be a really powerful story and one I’ll never forget. And the epilogue was so beautiful that it made me shed another tear.

5⭐️

A story of hope, heartbreak and the lengths a parent will go for their child. I absolutely loved this book and stayed up until 2am to finish it.
One of the most emotional books I've read this year. Highly recommended.

There have been a lot of books written about WWII recently but this is from a different point of view. It takes place in 1953 in the USA, and 1944 in France. Jean-Luc and Charlotte meet in a German hospital where Charlotte helps nursing staff and Jean-Luc is a patient. David and Sarah are Jewish and are about to have their lives torn apart. The lives of the two couples are intertwined after a desperate act by Sarah.

This is well written and researched. It gives a very realistic view of life during and after the war, with both couples facing desperation, fear and heartbreak. We can only try to imagine the terror both couples felt, whilst trying to flee the Nazis. This book makes its point beautifully, about a parents love for a child and what they are prepared to do to keep that child safe. This is a must read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I thought this was a wonderful story. I found myself thinking’ just one more chapter’ when reading it. Before I knew it, another hour had gone past!! I thoroughly recommend it.

Many others have written wonderful resumes of this book so there is no need for more. I just want to add my praise as this will go down as one of my top reads of the year.

The characters were well described and developed. Very emotional and realistic.

It kept me gripped and for once the ending was not too rushed or trivial. Recommended!

I've just finished this wonderful book and I have to admit the last few pages had me in tears. It is a beautifully written story about loss, home, war and both the evil and the goodness of human beings.
A French Jewish couple David and Sarah try to escape Paris during the occupation but get caught and deported to Auschwitz. Sadly Sarah had given birth only hours before they were forced to flee. At the station she realises the impossibility of keeping her baby alive on the journey and in the unknown future, so she presses him onto the chest of a railway worker - also French - who she trusts because of his face and his deformed hand. Then the story evolves as Jean-Luc and his new girlfriend Charlotte make the brave decision to smuggle the baby out of France and over to the USA.

The story is gut wrenching but never gratuitous and in the end it is life affirming - the beauty that can be found in the worst of circumstances. And the things people to do survive - and to protect those they love.

Recommended!

This is the very emotional story of Jean-Luc, Charlotte and Sam. It is told in two timelines. First of all is the story of occupied Paris in 1944. Jean-Luc is a railway worker and is forced to work at Drancy, near to a camp where Jewish people are being held. The trains leave early in the morning and are never seen, but they leave behind debris on the station including clothes and children's toys. He comes to believe that many people are passing through and that perhaps something terrible is happening to them, but he doesn't know what. Of course they are being taken to Auschwitz. He dreams of joining the resistance and doing something to help. Meanwhile Charlotte is caring for people in a German hospital. Her friends criticise her for doing so but her mother thinks nursing is a suitable position for an 18 year old girl. She also wishes she could do more.

An injury brings Jean-Luc and Charlotte together. Eventually they escape Paris with Sam and start a new life in America. But all is not as it seems and the past catches up with them.

This is one of those historical novels that is rooted in fact. The author did a great job describing occupied Paris and what it might have been like to live in the city at that time. Although Auschwitz is mentioned, it is never the central focus of the novel. It is a book of survival and hope. Sam's story is one of a baby born at war time who survives against the odds. He faces a perilous journey from France into Spain and then enjoys early childhood as a typical American boy. But then in 1953, at the age of nine, everything changes.

Part of the publishers blurb states that this novel 'reflects on the power of love, loss and the choices a mother will make to ensure the survival of her child'. These words are a very accurate synopsis of the book. They are true, not just once at a very significant moment in Drancy, but can be applied again and again throughout. The book is very cleverly written! It is an extraordinary debut novel and one for anyone who has enjoyed Sarah's Key or The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It is a wartime novel (in part) but with a different perspective to others in the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A story that will come back in my memory I'm sure; a snapshot of a nearly forgotten time as our parents and grandparents age and people of the future ask 'did these things really happen?'

Enjoyed it immensely, both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Whilst I initially enjoyed this book as it progressed I found it overlong and laboured. In the end I scrolled to the end to see what happened without reading the whole thing. The storyline was compelling and the characters well formed.

I have been reading a lot of World War II books recently. Stories of real heroism and the struggles faced by the survivors of the concentration camps and those that escaped the war. This book was very thoughtfully written from many perspectives and it was a really good read that was thought provoking yet enjoyable. Highly recommend.

3.5 stars.
I had a bit of a problem with how Jean-Luc got possession of the baby in the first place (I'm not sure that it could have happened), how he managed to get to Charlotte with the baby without being stopped and also how there was a convenient relative in the French countryside that could help them escape into Spain!
But if you can let these conveniences wash off over you then it is quite the page turner and really makes you think. I couldn't decide which of the parents I had most sympathy with as they had both sacrificed their lives in one way or another for Sam. The ending is a little rushed and clichéd though!