This powerful dual timeline story takes us back to occupied Paris in 1944 when Élise Chevalier is eking out a meagre existence with her mother and younger sister. Poverty strikes hard and even Élise's job at the bank isn’t enough to keep her family from going hungry however, Élise isn’t content to just let the Germans manipulate her beloved city and does all she can to help those who are in need. When she meets Sébastian Kleinhaus, in a book shop, Élise is little prepared for the effect that meeting this young German officer will have on her life.

The story then flips between Élise and Sébastian’s emotionally powerful story in the spring and summer of 1944 and that of Joséphine Chevalier, a young woman, in 1963, who is searching to find out more about her past and is determined to discover why her mother, Élise, has kept so many secrets from her. Both time frames are equally compelling and whilst I was comfortable in 1963 with Joséphine and her quest for the truth, I was definitely more engrossed in Élise and Sébastian's story especially as the war time element really tugs away at the heartstrings.

Beautifully, and emotionally, written, The Last Hours in Paris combines the very best of historical fiction with a powerful and gripping love story.

Thank you Net Galley and Headline for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I generally enjoyed this book as the warmth of the author really does come through in the language and plot. The plotlines were very much enjoyable, and the novel had a familiar topic with an unfamiliar perspective. If I were to critique it I would say that the beginning of the book was a little wooden in style, but this did improve later on once I got into it. Additionally, I would have welcomed some more description of historical context. Overall this is a great book, with a gripping storyline and I would recommend this to anyone into historical, romance and literary novels.

This is a very-well written and fast-paced book that uses a personal backstory to create a fictional account of the Nazi-occupation of Paris and the aftermath of the war.

We follow the journey of Elise and Sebastian, young lovers who meet during the occupation, bonded by conflicting emotions around loyalty to their countries and morality in following their hearts.

Whilst I enjoyed the arc of this story, I felt that the falling in love part seemed a teensy bit rushed and I wish the author spent more time exploring their relationship during the war.

A thought-provoking and insightful look into the treatment of so-called “collaborators” by the resistance, simply trying to survive in horrendous conditions.

Overall this is a succinct vision of Parisian occupation and the plight the French faced on a day-to-day basis by their enemies, invading their homes, and forcing free-willed thinkers to conform or face severe consequences (at least in public).

I feel this book captures the spirit of the French very well. Therefore, I have rounded the 3.5 stars I rate it up to a 4.

A powerful, emotional and very moving story set in the days before the liberation of Nazi occupied Paris. The characters were well written and sympathetic. A lovely and satisfying read.

I absolutely adored Ruth’s first book which I read last year and this one is even better. This book is written in a few different perspectives but with short and easy chapters which makes this book easy to fly through.

This book is so powerful and really opened my eyes to what the could have possibly of been like for those who fought to help the resistance. The action is set in Paris in 1944 and in a provincial village in 1963. It alternates between the two time periods and from three different points of view.

The character development and dual timeline of the story captured me right off the bat. It was one of those works of art that I absolutely did not want to put down. The shorter chapter format was convenient because it allowed me the freedom to take breaks to process what was happening.

The novel takes you through dozens of emotional states, from nerves to heart-breaking sadness, from impotence to pure and emotional love to tears. The author is an exceptional storyteller and I was an emotional mess by the end, a truly fabulous read.

After loving While Paris Slept by this author, I was thrilled to be invited onto the tour of Druart's latest novel.
I feel that the WWII genre is hugely saturated, and so it is a challenge for historical fiction authors to produce a novel that is powerful and memorable. While Paris Slept certainly achieved that for me.
The Last Hours in Paris is a dual timeline novel, although the majority of the book is set in 1944. The 1963 story is at the beginning and end of the novel. I would have liked the 1963 timeline to have been more interwoven into the story, but the different POVs helped to keep the readers engaged too.
The characters Elise and Sebastien are wonderful, although I do have some issue with Elise at the end. (Hard to say without spoilers!) Druart has created some strong personalities that you really care for and feel their every emotion. Elise did seem to have a milder personality as she ages, but then who doesn't?
I do still prefer While Paris Slept, but historical fiction fans will lap up this heart-wrenching emotional story.

What can I say about this book I read it in one day I could not put it down.

Elise lives in Paris which is occupied by the Germans in World War 2. She ends up meeting Sebastian who is a German and we see how their love develops. Elise ends up leaving Paris because of circumstances. We now fast forward 18 years later and see what unfolds.

The characters in the book were amazing and I just wanted to read on and wonder what happened to them. It is a well written book and kept you guessing until the end.

I would recommend this book.

As always when I start a new book from an author I’ve previously loved reading I’m always slightly nervous in case the book doesn’t appeal to me . Well absolutely no need for me to worry there. The Last Hours in Paris had me utterly and completely captivated from the very beginning. A fantastic story based mainly in Paris towards the end of World War 2 and England / Brittany in 1963. This book was amazing and the descriptions written by the author I could literally imagine being in the places that were described in the book. This is a must read for fans of Historical Fiction.

This book gave me Kristin Hannah vibes. It reminded me of The Nightingale. It's a story of two people who fall in love in Nazi occupied France; a young French woman and a German nazi. What I loved about this book though was the ending. It would have been easy to go with the traditional happy ending, but Ruth didn't and, I think that adds an extra layer to the story. My only dislike was Josephine. I couldn't relate to this character at all, I found her to be spoilt, selfish and unsympathetic towards her mother.

After Ruth Druart’s previous WW2 novel While Paris Slept I’d been so embedded in the story that I felt emotionally drained from the terror and trauma experienced by her characters. While that novel gave us the perspective of WW2 from the perspective of a French police officer and a Jewish mother, her latest novel comes from a very interesting and possibly less explored voice of the conflict. Our novel centres around young French woman Élise and a German soldier named Sebastian who cross each other’s paths due to a love of books. We roam from Paris to Brittany and to England, hearing the stories of our main characters from both points of view at different times. We start several years later with Joséphine, a young woman who has just finished her baccalaureate and is looking forward to summer. She wants to visit England because it’s where the Beatles are from, but her mum Élise and the woman they lodge with, Soizcin seem very resistant. It’s the usual teenage argument, made all the more dramatic because they are carrying a huge secret. One that will be uncovered if Joséphine finds her birth certificate, which she would need to obtain a passport. She intends to go with or without her mother’s permission. Élise had always promised herself to tell Joséphine the truth she’s been hiding, but the time never seemed right and besides it was easier to keep the illusion. Élise has always told her daughter that her father’s name was Fredéric and he died in the war. The truth is more complex and shrouded in the secrecy and shame of another time. If Joséphine finds out, will she ever forgive her mother?

Our story moves back in time to the 1940’s when Élise is living in an apartment in occupied Paris with her Mum and younger sister Isabelle. She hates ‘the Boche’ who have taken over her beautiful city and filled it with fear and hatred. Jewish families have disappeared and just as hated as the German occupiers are people who collaborate with the enemy, whether they’re bar owners whose tills ring with German’s money or the women who serve as their mistresses. Élise has noticed them walking with officers in the gardens, wearing perfume and sporting real stockings rather than a painted and often wobbly line drawn down the back of the legs. Élise has a secret, she has been working at the orphanage and helping Jewish children escape across the border. I loved the bravery of this young woman and her ability to simply see other human beings at a time when the hatred of others due to their race or religion was at it’s devastating worst. She meets a young German soldier in her friend Monsieur Le Bolzec’s bookshop and is horrified that the elderly bookseller is finding sympathy for him. Sebastian may sound German, but his mother was French and his fluency in the language means he’s working in an office translating letters. Élise is cool towards him at first, but then he warns her that she’s in danger. She has been helping Jewish children pass from an orphanage and over the boarder. Sebastian translates a letter denouncing the orphanage, he keeps it and warns Élise, even organising a car to remove the remaining children. This act of service and his willingness to put himself in grave danger brings them closer together, but will anyone accept their feelings for each other.

Ironically it’s the danger of war that brings these two characters together, but the liberation of Paris that will tear them apart. The author’s research is impeccable and I learn things I hadn’t realised about the war and particularly it’s aftermath. I had some idea of the treatment meted out by the French on women collaborators, but her vivid description brought out a huge sense of injustice. These women made choices due to their situation: if a German soldier approached me to be his mistress, I might do it if my children were starving or I’d lost my home. There was no mercy or insight into why such a choice was made. I was also surprised at how long the British kept prisoners of war beyond the ceasing of hostilities. The Geneva Convention states that they should be released immediately,but here we see men kept for three years beyond the war ending. I think the author really captured the chaos of an occupying force retreating and how people have become displaced from their homes, their families and their lovers, especially where the relationship is controversial. People lost each other for decades - my mother-in-law was taken out of the Warsaw Ghetto when she was a child and was taken to England separated from both parents. Her father looked for her and his wife straight after the war with no luck and eventually settled in America and moved on with his life, coming to terms with the fact they had probably been killed. They were still alive though and his wife was finally reunited with their daughter in England. Druart shows how our links to each other can be lost, but for Élise there particular betrayals that have kept her apart from Sebastian. Betrayals that are hard to forgive. I found this part of the book so poignant and I loved how Paris needs time to heal, both it’s buildings and it’s people. They had adjusted to occupation and now must rebuild their city, bringing back it’s joi de vive. As Élise observes the difference war has made to her beloved city I could almost hear the oppressive sound of jackboots echoing off the buildings and reminding every citizen they are no longer free.

I was drawn to Sebastian and truly understood his feelings of oppression. He was no more free than Élise, forced to join the Hitler Youth, he was trained as a soldier and had no choice but to serve. It was so poignant to see him post-war in an English cinema watching film of what the Allies found when they liberated Auschwitz. He his horrified and is filled with guilt for serving a leader who could do this to others. He knows he is different, but to a Frenchman or an Englishman there is no difference between him and the SS; they are all Nazis and are all responsible. He carries that shame with him into all he does. I also felt for Élise and her loneliness, because despite having Joséphine and their friend Soizcin she has a solitary existence. I hoped for a happy ending for her, but I won’t spoil your reading pleasure by revealing what happens in Joséphine’s timeline. I urge you to read it, because it has real impact. Hearing the voice of the enemy is unusual and impresses upon us that no matter what side we’re compelled to be on we’re all human. We don’t choose who we fall in love with and that love never dies, no matter how much time has passed or how far apart we are.

Wow what another fantastic read from this author. It was written beautifully, and I have to say I’m lost for words on what to write in my review that would portray how amazing this book was, it made me smile it made me cry but just WOW sums it up. I won’t write about the storyline as I feel this is the job of the blurb. But if the blurb does peak your interest I can guarantee your in for a great read, so much so I read this in one sitting.

This is a really moving WW11 historical novel that captivated me from the start.
Ruth Druart has written an extraordinary powerful story of forbidden love which will tug at your emotions.
A heart rending story with all the horrors of war & what it was like to live in occupied Paris.
This uniquely beautifully written story held me in it’s grasp all the way though to the last page.
The story told In two different time lines covers Paris as the war is nearing its end in 1944 & Brittany in 1963.
Elise Chevalier lives amongst the Germans that now occupies her beautiful homeland & finds it hard to keep her hatred under control.
She is busy helping get Jewish children to safety under the eyes of the Germans & puts herself in great danger.
Sabastian Kleinhaus has spent four long years fighting in a war he does not believe in & would dearly love a way out.
Brittany 1963 is when Josephine Chevalier discovers her mother has been keeping a deep dark secret from her.
She is determined to find out more & leaves home without telling her mother,
She journeys to Paris to try & uncover the truth.
This is an atmospheric well researched story that will divide your emotions as you get to know more about the different characters.
This was a real page turner for me & has got be one of my favourite books this year.

I loved this book. I've read lots of book set in WW2 and the aftermath and this was a new take for me. It highlighted that fact that so many people will have been doing their 'job' as opposed to what they believed in but didn't have a choice.

The shame and joy being brought by the love they had and how it impacted their family and future was so sad.

Great writing and characters.

Brilliantly written and very descriptive, I was actually among the characters, heart breaking to read but admiration as well for those who stood against the grain, finding love, losing love and everything in between, what a beautiful storyline, really could not put this book down

The Last Hours in Paris is Ruth Duart’s second novel and every bit as wonderful as her debut novel. It starts in France in 1963 and is the story of a French girl, Josephine who has never known her father who was killed towards the end of the war for his part in the French resistance. Josephine’s mother, Elise, is mostly absent as she works as a servant in a grand house so is only home at weekends so Josephine has mostly been brought up by a lady who look her and her mother in when Josephine was a tiny baby at the end of World War 2.. As she approaches 18, Josephine is keen to go on a school trip abroad where she needs a passport but her mother reacts oddly to the idea. Josephine decides to do some searching through her Mum’s possessions and makes some startling finds.

The plot goes between 1963 and the years of World War 2 as we slowly learn the back history of Elise and the difficult decisions she had to make. The plot really kept me gripped and I loved the story and the way it all unfolded. Ruth Duart is now on my favourite authors list and I look forward to more books from her in the future.

With thanks to NetGalley and Headline for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a powerful and moving story.
I don`t usually red war romances but this one I couldn`t put down, so atmospheric.
The story is set in 1944 and 1963.
Finding love during the war between two cultures.
Elise lives in Paris when the Germans invade, she meets Sebastian a German soldier in her local book shop and their romance grows which is dangerous for them both.
Sebastian has a French mother and is a reluctant soldier and ends up helping Elise evacuate children to safety from a local orphanage.
In 1963 Elise`s daughter finds her birth certificate with Sebastian's name on it, she was told her father was François a war hero and so she sets out to find out more about him.

A beautiful written book that brought tears to your eyes, Elise and Sebastian where such powerful characters just loved reading it would definitely recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.
Posted to Goodreads

After her novel "While Paris Slept", Ruth Druart comes back with another amazing story.

We are in Paris in 1944-1945. A chance encounter brings together Élise, a French employee in a bank, and Sebastian, a German translator in the army occupying Paris. Although everything seems to separate them, they ally to challenge the system they have to live in and they realise their deep connection and feelings for each other. But when Paris is liberated, they are torn apart, and in the chaos of these times, they both believe the other has died. In 1963, Élise's daughter discoveries unveil the truth, bring back the raw pain of the past, and opens the path for atonement, forgiveness and peace.

I found this book extremely moving and emotionally challenging. The characters, especially Élise, Sebastian and Soisick are strong and admirable but they suffer greatly and they have to go through unimaginable hardships, like so many people in occupied France. The author has researched these years so well, and spoken to so many people, that her description of life in Paris in those days is very vivid and I felt totally immersed in the story and atmosphere. Some themes run through the various parts of the story and the perspectives of the characters: making the wrong choices for the right reasons, keeping the truth from others, struggling to be someone they don't want to be, burying their feelings to block the pain, and the sadness of all the wrongs that cannot be undone.

It is a heavy story, and it will bring tears to your eyes, but it is also a beautiful story of redemption and of people's ability to get through even the harshest times. An amazing book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ruth Druart and Headline Publishing Group for the privilege of reading this advance copy.

Frm the moment I started reading this book I could not put it down. It begins in the early 1960s with Josephne discovering her birth certificate and so begins the unravelling of how her parents (Elise and Sebastian) met, their love for each other and the many secrets that have been hidden. We then flip back in time to Paris in the second world war and find out the circumstances of how Elise and Sebastian met and how they hid their love from the authorities and those around them. This is a beautiful book, written really well and the reader cannot help but be moved by the horrors that people had to live through. At times, it did bring tears to my eyes but I still couldn't put it down. I loved the strong characterisations and the way relationships were described with such empathy. I was quite sad when I got to the epilogue but so pleased that I was able to read and review such a good book. Thank you Netgalley.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

A beautifully written story, one which you don’t want to end.

It’s eye-opening to read what happened and what it was like for those that challenged to help the resistance.

I loved the characters. Both Elise and Sebastian, how they brought the other person blossom and find strength to do what’s right.

Ruth’s depicted them in a way that you could feel what they did and at the same time, not want to read further, but you want to, to see how the story ends.

I highly recommend this book.

Elise is helping children escape occupied France when she meets Sebastián, a German soldier. He hates his role in the war and proves himself a good man. But life is not that easy.

Great characters in a very moving novel that lets us all have hope while living in fear. People on all sides can be cruel but can they be forgiven? Enjoy this great read.