Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Paris, 1940: All over Paris, families are being pulled from their beds in the middle of the night. And ever since her husband was shot in cold blood, Brigitte Goldstein has known she is running out of time. She and her daughter Sophie are Jewish, so it won’t be long until the Nazis bang on their door.
But before she leaves, Brigitte must find her beloved husband’s painting, which was seized by the Nazis. She desperately hopes that if she saves it from destruction, then a piece of him will live on forever. And perhaps one day her daughter will uncover her father’s legacy, and the secret hidden inside…
Working in a museum under a false identity is Brigitte’s only hope. Until she meets Isabelle Valette, who confides in hushed tones that she is part of the Resistance. And when her new friend tells her of a train leaving Paris that can take children to safety, Brigitte knows her daughter must be on it, even if it breaks her heart.
But getting Sophie onto the train is dangerous. If they are caught smuggling a Jewish child out of Paris, they will be killed. And with the enemy closing in, can Brigitte get her beloved daughter to safety before it is too late?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Last Day in Paris to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Last Day in Paris is the first in the Paris Sisters series by Suzanne Kelman and what an introduction it was. This was a tale of great courage, love and devotion especially to the arts at a very dark and tumultuous time for the residents of the City of Light. The book opens with a tense and intriguing prologue with just enough action and drama to have the reader sitting up and paying attention. There is a sense of urgency about a woman as she is hiding something as the Nazi’s draw ever closer. I instantly wanted to know who she was, what she was hiding and why? Over the course of the story the answers are revealed at the perfect pace and the themes explored amongst many are resilience, endurance and strength. The plot deftly moves between the past and the present following three women - Esther, Isabelle and Brigitte but at no point does it become confusing to keep track of who is who nor did the plot never felt disjointed. Instead, it all works seamlessly and makes for a fascinating and fantastic read and one which I really enjoyed.
In the present day Esther is divorced with two young boys. She is not treated very well by her ex and she is struggling to move out from his shadow and gain some independence but financially she is beholden to him as he holds the purse strings when it comes to her beloved house. She receives a call from an art dealer in Paris named Edouard DuPont who says he has something which belongs to Brigitte Goldstein. Brigitte was killed during the Holocaust and her daughter, Sophie, is Esther’s mother. Of course, Esther is intrigued by this news especially given that Sophie now suffers from dementia and can’t tell her about her time in Paris which she left when she was a little girl. Esther despite constant battles with her husband over where she should now live and struggling personally with trying to raise the boys single handedly and provide them with a good life decides to bite the bullet and go to Paris and investigate further.
The city captures Esther’s attention for more than one reason and once there Edouard takes her to the building where Brigitte and her husband Samuel and Sophie once lived. The new residents have found a painting hidden in a wall with a letter attached. The painting is titled The Hayfields of Paris and this will go on to play a pivotal role throughout the remainder of the story. The Painting is one of love, hopes and dreams at a time when oppression was threatening to embrace the magical city. ’I promise no matter what darkness befalls us, we will find the light, and we will rise again’. Esther must now decide what to do with the painting. Should she sell it and perhaps somewhat elevate her money worries, or should she keep it in the family given its history and another important question is it real or an impressive fake? Esther’s story was crucial to forge a link between the past and the present and aspects of her story mirrored Brigitte’s and Isabelle’s. It was like the two women were reaching from the past and pushing Esther on when she wavered. As much as I realise the necessity for Esther’s story it was the chapters set back during World War Two that really caught my attention and had me racing through the pages.
Right from the time we are first introduced to Isabelle, I found her to be an inspiring young woman who was very driven and as the chapters fly by we are drip fed reasons as to why she is this way and when the final reveal comes it is pretty heartbreaking. September 1939 and Isabelle Valette works in the Louvre, war has been declared and all paintings and sculptures are to be taken down and hidden or sent to the country for safe keeping during for the duration of the war. Isabelle is heartbroken that this has to happen and within months the Nazi’s have taken over the city she calls home and life will never be the same again. Fear, unease, sadness, vulnerability and hopelessness all become feelings that never dissipate but Isabelle has something deep inside her which drives her on. ’We can’t let fear dictate our lives. We need to stand up for what’s right, for justice’. This sentiment is a testament to the force of nature that Isabelle is despite the depravity, pain and suffering inflicted by the Nazi’s determined to keep working and she wages her own silent revolution.
As she is transferred to a smaller gallery within the area surrounding the Louvre she is tasked by the Nazi’s to catalogue all the paintings and artwork. They plan to take it to Germany and this tears her apart as she knows it may never be seen again and any Jewish artists work seems to be a real bone of contention. Isabelle played a dangerous game keeping track of what was going where in the hopes that one day it could be returned to France. ‘They were already being stripped of so much -food, safety, freedom - it just seemed so important to find a way to hold onto their humanity. Their culture’. In doing so she became involved in Resistance activities which really do step up a gear towards the end of the book as things come to a very dramatic climax and there is a small element of romance too which was quite downplayed I thought but perhaps more of this will be explored in future books. Isabelle has five sisters which suggests to me there is the potential for five books in this series. There are little titbits given about each sister dotted throughout the book and I was dying to know what each was up to but this was Isabelle’s story and I know with time we will get the answers.
Marina is a character who I didn’t like at all and therefore I have very little to say about her. Yes, she came from the gutter and was attempting to reach for the stars but her manner of doing so was not one I liked and nor did Isabelle or Brigitte. She was so selfish and definitely had a cold, ruthless side to her which fuelled her ambition but she was a character I would just rather forget about. Brigitte on the other hand, similar to Isabelle, was a character that I rooted for from beginning to end. She shared such a deep connection with her husband Samuel and can’t bare that he has been taken away from herself and Sophie and that she is left to continue on without him through the whatever the war will bring to their door.
When Samuel’s painting is taken by the Nazi’s she is distraught and being Jewish puts her even further under the spotlight if danger. But Brigitte is a risk taker and she will do every thing in her power to try and forge a better life for herself and Sophie despite the uncertain waters that lay ahead of them. The painting symbolises so much and she knows she needs to retrieve it somehow before it leaves the country for good. She is clever and creative and getting a jo in the same gallery as Isabelle was a great idea and how she sets about her mission was interesting to read about. Although I doubted the way things were developing would she be successful? I would loved a bit more exploration of the friendship between herself and Isabelle. I felt it only came to the fore rather later in the book but as Isabelle is scared to let anyone too close to her as she fears history will repeat itself in relation to a certain matter I suppose I can understand why this did happen. That said I still would have loved more scenes with them together and a bit more plotting and conniving. This did come but it just felt that little too late despite the fast and furious action-packed climax to the story as a whole.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Day in Paris because of the great characters and very good plot but mostly because it was so refreshing to read of something different in the World War Two historical fiction genre. To learn about what happened to the artwork was brilliant as it’s not something I think many of us would have previously given scant thought to and to bring the more human and personal element to it made it that something special. I loved how the ending wasn’t as I expected it to be and very much left the door open for what is to come. It didn’t need all ends wrapped up instead there is plenty to entice the reader back to learn more about these characters and I hope plenty of new characters too.
Thank you so much for your lovely review..
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