Review By: Gretchen Fronk
Published: 2021
Genre(s): Historical Fiction
Audience: Grades 7–12, Adult
Content Warnings: Death, kidnapping, violence, prison
Reviewer’s Note: “The cover was interesting and so was the summary.”
Goodreads Link: While Paris Slept
Summary:
Set between Nazi-occupied Paris and postwar California, While Paris Slept explores the interwoven lives of two families connected by one desperate act during World War II. A young Jewish mother, forced onto a train to Auschwitz, entrusts her baby to a stranger, Jean-Luc, in a split-second decision. Years later, that choice resurfaces, unraveling secrets and testing the meaning of love, sacrifice, and forgiveness.
Review:
I really enjoyed this read. I was not prepared for the twists it would take, but I was thoroughly impressed and engaged with the content presented. Druart provides a very clear understanding of what the lives of civilians were like during WW2 and the Holocaust. There are so many books written about and from the perspective of the Jews and their time in the camps, but this book shows what it was like during the same time period but for civilians. Druart does a phenomenal job exposing the reader to the harshness of daily life for civilians—the lack of food, the constant fear of police brutality, the desire to escape or help those in need—issues not normally connected to civilian life during the Holocaust. Then, add to it a newborn baby. Brutal.
It was interesting to have the book reveal a side effect of the Holocaust that no one thinks about: what happened when children were separated from parents and the parent survived to look for their children. The lasting effects of the Holocaust go on and on. How does a family deal with being ripped apart and then attempt to be reunited? Will it work, or will it not? This is the heart of this story. An extremely well written and well thought-out book. I highly recommend this read!
