The Daughter's Tale

 Fiction by Armando Lucas Correa

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book begins in 2015 with Elise Duval, an eighty-year-old woman who gets a shock from reading an old letter written in German, a language she didn't remember she actually knew. It seems she had repressed some memories from her childhood in France during World War Two, and had somehow forgotten that she had originally been German. Then the story goes back to the early 1930's in Berlin and a Jewish woman called Amanda Sternberg, who gives birth to two daughters and then has to figure out how to save them from the Nazis.

This was a good story, but it seemed to skip some details and leave things unresolved. According to the book jacket, it's "based on true events," so that may be the reason for the dearth of information.

The Paris Secret

 Fiction by Karen Swan

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story, set in approximately 2017, an apartment in Paris is discovered that has been sealed and unoccupied since the second world war. The place is owned by the rich Vermeil family, but they had been unaware of its existence; that is, most of them did not know about it. When the information comes to light, M. Vermeil finds out that his widowed nonagenarian mother had kept the property a secret on purpose, and indeed the old lady still wants to completely forbid entry. But why?

M. Vermeil calls on British art agent Flora Sykes to investigate the property and see what it contains, keeping to the letter of his mother's wishes by not going into the apartment himself. Flora discovers a treasure trove of artwork, including several pieces of great value. She begins to research the provenance of the art so that it can be sold, and runs up against a problem: the valuable art pieces seem to have all passed through the hand of a known and hated Nazi collaborator, a man known for stripping assets from Jewish families during the war. It's an ethical dilemma. Does this art belong to the Vermeil family at all?  

As an intellectual exercise, this plot is really interesting and gave me a lot to think about. However, as a story it was a bit lacking. The author left some loose ends but still managed some leaping coincidental plot twists, and the characters were often less than believable. I didn't love this book.

The Paris Daughter

 Fiction by Kristin Harmel

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In 1939 Juliette and Elise are two American women living in Paris. Both are married to Frenchmen and expecting a baby, and both of them will give birth to a girl. But war is on the horizon, and their daughters will be threatened in ways they can't yet imagine.

This was a good story with great characters. There was even a brief mention of some characters that were also in The Book of Lost Names(see below).

I also read recently by this author: The Book of Lost Names

The Only Girl in the World

 Nonfiction by Maude Julien

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is another example of a harrowing-ordeal-childhood story. I've read several of these lately (see Nowhere Girl).

Maude's father had a crazy goal of making a "superior" human being, and he had a detailed plan to make this idea happen. He literally purchased a six-year-old girl to bring up and educate, with the ultimate intention of using her to breed his special superhuman baby. Maude was that child, raised in complete isolation in rural France, and made to endure constant endurance tests along with severe emotional neglect. 

Many of her father's crazy notions seemed based in Nazi ideas. For example, he believed strongly in Aryan superiority, and taught Maude to play several instruments because "musicians always survive concentration camps."

This story was terribly fascinating and I was really rooting for poor Maude to get away from her lunatic father.

The Paris Winter

 Fiction by Imogen Robertson

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In 1909 Maud Heighton, an English girl, is living in Paris. She is trying to become an artist; however, what she seems to actually be doing is slowly starving to death. Things begin looking up for Maud when she finds a position as a companion and English tutor for a sickly young Frenchwoman, but she does not realize that her troubles have only just begun.

This was an interesting story with good characters. It started slowly, but the ending was exciting.

The Nightingale

Fiction by Kristin Hannah.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a great novel about a pair of sisters in occupied France. It's both a World-War-Two story and a family saga.

I definitely recommend it!!



I also read by this author: Home Front, If You Believe, Winter Garden.