The Paris Daughter

Starred review from April 3, 2023
The friendship between two American expats in WWII Paris leads to life-altering events in the powerful latest from Harmel (The Forest of Vanishing Stars). It’s 1939, and Elise LeClair, an American artist married to French artist Olivier, is pregnant with their first child and has newly befriended Juliette Foulon, an American bookseller who is expecting her third child with her husband, Paul. After the Germans invade and LeClairs’ daughter, Mathilde, is born, Elise begs Oliver to keep a lower profile with his work with the Resistance, but in 1941 he’s arrested and beaten to death by the Nazis. His art dealer tells Elise the Germans are looking for her, forcing her to flee and leave Mathilde with Juliette. After the war, Elise finds the Foulons’ bookstore reduced to rubble, and she learns that only Juliette and her youngest child Lucie survived the Allied bomb that killed Paul, their two older children, and Mathilde. Overcome with guilt, Elise struggles to move forward as an artist. Years later, Elise tracks down Juliette and Lucie in New York City, where her effort to seek closure is particularly wrenching. Harmel brings the novel’s historical moments to life through deep research and enriching historical facts, and she conveys an acute sense of her characters’ emotions as they face tragedy upon tragedy. This is Harmel’s best to date. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary.

Starred review from June 10, 2024

Best-selling novelist Harmel (The Book of Lost Names) has returned with another sweeping World War II drama featuring two young Parisian mothers who must make the most difficult choice of their lives. During a beautiful summer in 1939, Juliette, a pregnant bookshop owner, befriends Elise, a young artist also expecting her first child. As they become fast friends, so do their daughters; but unease is growing in Paris as German occupation appears more and more likely. When Elise's husband's political activity jeopardizes her family, she turns to her best friend for help, asking her to raise her daughter until they can safely reunite. It is the only way to keep her safe while Elise goes on the run. After the war ends, Juliette, her family, and Elise's daughter are nowhere to be found. What has happened, and can anything ever be the same again? The audio is brilliantly narrated by Madeleine Maby, whose accents and voices help elevate this production into a work of art. VERDICT Heart-wrenching, profound, and ultimately hopeful, this tale of love and loss will stick with listeners long after they finish this book. A must for readers of WWII historical fiction.--Erin Cataldi

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