“Until Leaves Fall in Paris” by Sarah Sundin ~ Book Review

“Until Leaves Fall in Paris” by Sarah Sundin

WWII Fiction

Review book from publishers

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

About the book:

When the Nazis march toward Paris, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favorite English-language bookstore to allow the Jewish owners to escape. The Germans make it difficult for her to keep Green Leaf Books afloat. And she must keep the store open if she is to continue aiding the resistance by passing secret messages between the pages of her books.

Widower Paul Aubrey wants nothing more than to return to the States with his little girl, but the US Army convinces him to keep his factory running and obtain military information from his German customers. As the war rages on, Paul offers his own resistance by sabotaging his product and hiding British airmen in his factory. But in order to carry out his mission, he must appear to support the occupation—which does not win him any sympathy when he meets Lucie in the bookstore.

In a world turned upside down, will love or duty prevail?

My Thoughts:

As usual, the author’s writing style was impeccable in this one. Sarah Sundin writes the best WWII fiction, in my opinion, and Until Leaves Fall in Paris was filled with just as much interest and beauty as all the other books I’ve had the pleasure of reading by her.
It was particularly interesting to read about the war through the perspective of those in Paris during the time – I’ve read a lot of WWII books set in America, England, and even Germany itself, but I don’t think I had read one set in France before this. It brought a whole new view of it, and added another layer of depth to the history we’re so familiar with.
The characters came to life, and I truly loved Lucie, Paul, and little Josie. They were all spectacular, and I loved seeing how their lives intertwined and grew.
Lucie often felt that she was never a smart girl, having invested more years in ballet school than education, but she was brilliant, and I absolutely loved how it was shown that ‘smarts’ are in more areas than just math or typical education areas.
And little Josie was so creative herself. Her stories were darling.
That ending was also so perfect. There was a lot of danger and suspense towards the end, but how it all came to conclusion – perfect.
Very glad to have enjoyed another wonderful Sarah Sundin novel!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers. I was not required to write a positive review, and all thoughts expressed are entirely my own.