Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin

 

Back Cover: Paris, 1940

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?

Review: I love Sarah Sundin so much. She is an amazing story teller and her books are so rich in history as well as character development. I've never been dissapointed by any novel she has written, and I can honestly say that I have high expectations when I pick up one of her books. 

"Until Leaves Fall in Paris" was no exception - and I was utterly captivated by the story of Lucie and Paul. I've recently read several other WWII stories based in Paris. I think what is captivating about this particular place and time is the staunch effort on behalf of so many Parisians to mantain their pride, dignity, and culture. At high personal risk, many non-military individuals placed themselves in harm's way to mislead the Germans in order to save their art, fashion, and national soverinty. This novel is based on a talented American ballerina who dances for the Paris Ballet, and an American automobilie maker based out of Paris. When the Germans arrive, Lucie ends up buying her Jewish landlord's bookstore so that they can escape to America. An innocent purchase soon ends up being much more costly and risky than she ever would have guessed. On the same hand, Paul becomes twisted up in a scheme to seamingly side with the Germas as a 'collaborator' but secretly risks his and his daughter's life to  sabotugue the German war effort by building them subpar vehicles and slowing production. 

Twisted up in their own schemes and unknowingly fighting against the same enemy, Lucie and Paul find themselves falling for each other. Lucie can not find it in her heart to believe that Paul is the evil collaborator that he demonstrates - something about him says otherwise.... and Paul can only hope that Lucie can see through his act and to the man he truly is. 

This is an exciting book that is impossible to put down - I highly recommend it!

Thank-you to Graf Martin Communications and to Baker Publishing House for a copy of this book.