In 1953, Louise is trying to adjust to being a mom and wife
in a world adjusting to the aftermath of World War II. When she stumbles across
a necklace that seems familiar in a box labeled of a Paris department store one
day at her job, she’s determined to find out what happened and maybe find the
owner to return it. But it also may hold clues to the death of her friend
during the war, Franny, as she still has questions about that death and the circumstances
around it. Following the clues, Louise asks an old boss, Ian, for some help and
finds herself tracing the dark history of Lévitan as a Nazi prison and one
woman named Helaine who was swept up in the Nazi raids after they invaded
Paris. Louise races to figure out how Helaine, the Levitan and how it’s involved
in Franny’s death. But as Louise will find out, sometimes the journey will be
as important as the story she finds out. Danger mounts as she gets closer to
the truth and some people are determined that it won’t get out.
LAST TWILIGHT IN PARIS begins after the war has ended
and Louise is trying to adjust to life as a mom and wife even as she finds
herself struggling to deal with her wartime activities and the loss of her
friend, Franny. With each twist, Louise delves head long into the past as she
tries to find answers of the necklace, what Franny’s death has to do with it
and the little-known history behind the department store, Levitan’s use as
being a Nazi prison for Jewish prisoners. This was one book that sounded interesting
and at times was really good, but it dragged in several spots within the story.
I really enjoyed seeing how Louise’s past work at the Red Cross during the war
and what happened to her at that time. What I really enjoyed was seeing this little-known
aspect of World War II that I didn’t know about. The writing is fast, and the
storytelling is very well done. The area I struggled with was Louse’s
interactions with her old boss, Ian, in the present time and I really didn’t
connect all the way with her as a character at times. It took me several days
to get through this book as I kept getting tossed out of the story with the
aspects of Louise and Ian’s substory within LAST TWILIGHT IN PARIS.
Pam Jenoff delivers a story about the aftermath of World War
II and the Nazi’s despicable pattern of stealing possessions from the Jewish
people they were imprisoning and killing among others. I highly enjoyed Helaine’s
story as the dual storylines played out within the pages of LAST TWILIGHT IN
PARIS. There was a hint of mystery, interesting actions from Louise &
Helaine’s lives that captivated me. If you haven’t read one of Pam Jenoff’s
books before, you might want to try this one. I look forward to seeing what
this author delves into next for her readers.
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