Last Twilight in Paris
-
-
4.2 • 263 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
"A mesmerizing tale of love, female friendship, and heroism." —Lisa Scottoline, #1 bestselling author
A Parisian department store, a mysterious necklace and a woman’s quest to unlock a decade-old mystery are at the center of this riveting novel of love and survival, from New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff
London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before, when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe—and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war.
Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise discovers the dark history of Lévitan—a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi prison—and Helaine, a woman who was imprisoned there, torn apart from her husband when the Germans invaded France. Louise races to find the connection between the necklace, the store and Franny’s death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jenoff (Code Name Sapphire) delivers an artful parallel narrative of an Englishwoman's investigation into her friend's death during WWII, when they both volunteered for the Red Cross in Germany, and a Jewish woman interned in Paris by the Nazis. In 1953, Louise Burns finds a necklace with a heart pendant in a secondhand shop in Henley-on-Thames, and recognizes it as the one acquired by her friend Franny in Germany shortly before she was fatally struck by a car. Louise has always suspected Franny's death was somehow related to the necklace, and after tracing it back to Lévitan, a Paris department store, she travels to France, hoping to track down the necklace's most recent owner. Jenoff alternates Louise's sleuthing with the story of Helaine Weil, a young Jewish woman who defies her parents to marry a musician and winds up imprisoned at Lévitan after the Nazis convert the store to a work camp. As Louise learns of Lévitan's dark history, she uncovers shocking details about the necklace and about Helaine, who gave Franny the necklace before being taken prisoner. Jenoff offers a piercing depiction of Jewish life in Paris under German occupation, and keeps the pages turning with an intriguing mystery. Fans of WWII fiction will be riveted.
Customer Reviews
Great read
Breezed through this quickly and enjoyed it.
Captivating
Pam Jenoff does it again! I compelling story with remarkable character portrayal. Thank you to Pam Jenoff!
Disappointed
What a disappointment! One word for the writing, Inane. How this book got so many good reviews is perplexing.