Tag Archive for: kristin harmel

Historical Fiction Reviews: THE PARIS DAUGHTER & THE SPECTACULAR

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Historical Fiction Reviews: THE PARIS DAUGHTER & THE SPECTACULARThe Paris Daughter Goodreads

Author: Kristin Harmel

Publication Date: June 6, 2023

Publisher: Gallery Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

 

Every time I think Kristin Harmel can’t possibly top her last book, she proves me wrong and she has done it yet again with her latest WWII historical fiction novel, The Paris Daughter.

The story follows Juliette and Elise, two American women who are living on the outskirts of Paris in the late 1930s.  Elise and Juliette are both pregnant at the same time, and when they meet, they immediately bond as expectant mothers and become great friends, each woman giving birth to a little girl.  Juliette and her husband own a quiet but popular bookshop, while Elise is a sculptor and her husband is a famous painter. While they know war is lurking just beyond their country’s borders, neither Elise nor Juliette can fathom that their lives will soon be irrevocably changed, until the unthinkable happens and the Germans invade.  When the Germans suspect that Elise’s husband is part of the French resistance, Elise knows she must flee or be captured as well and she leaves her young daughter in Juliette’s care, thinking she’ll be safer there than on the run with her.  After Elise flees, however, tragedy strikes the little bookshop and when Elise finally returns at the end of the war, all she returns to find is a pile of rubble.

The Paris Daughter is told in alternating chapters from the viewpoints of each mother.  We follow them both through the war, get inside their heads as they both have to make seemingly impossible choices, and how they find a way to move forward after unfathomable loss.  Both of their journeys are often heartbreaking, but I admired the strength and resilience each displayed.  As a mom myself, I kept trying to put myself in their shoes and wondered if I would have the strength to make the hard choices they made.

The Paris Daughter is of course a well researched WWII historical fiction novel, but at its heart, it’s also a beautifully written, heartwrenching yet inspirational story about love and friendship, resilience and strength, and ultimately about the lengths a mother will go to in order to protect her children.  This is the fifth novel of Kristin Harmel’s I’ve read and it might be my favorite yet, although I also very highly recommend The Book of Lost Names and The Forest of Vanishing Stars.  5 STARS

 

Historical Fiction Reviews: THE PARIS DAUGHTER & THE SPECTACULARThe Spectacular Goodreads

Author: Fiona Davis

Publication Date: June 13, 2023

Publisher:  Dutton

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.  All opinions are my own.

 

I’m a huge fan of Fiona Davis’ historical fiction.  I love how she always centers her stories around New York City iconic buildings. Davis’ latest novel, The Spectacular, was especially appealing to me since this time, her iconic landmark of choice was Radio City Music Hall, the home of the world famous Rockettes.

Set in 1956, The Spectacular follows Marion, a young woman who wants nothing more than to become a Rockette.  When Marion is invited to join the troupe, she is the only one in her family who considers it an honor. Her father is so appalled by her decision to dance instead of settling down to get married and start a family that he actually kicks her out of the house and ends all contact with her.  We follow Marion as she sets out, determined to follow her own dream. Like many others, I’ve always been fascinated by this elite precision dance troupe. It’s truly mesmerizing to watch them perform, so I was very excited to get a behind the scenes look into the world of being a Rockette. It was very eye opening to witness their grueling rehearsals as well as all of the little details that go into creating that illusion of precision, such as the way they sew costumes for taller dancers vs. what they do for the shorter ones.

Marion loves what she does, but occasionally wonders if the cost of losing her family was too high of a price to pay.  That cost grows even higher when the “Big Apple Bomber”, who has been terrorizing New York for over 15 years bombs Radio City Musical Hall.  One of the victims of the bombing is Marion’s sister, who against their father’s wishes, had snuck out to see Marion perform.  Fueled by her grief and the frustration that the police are no closer to catching the bomber after 15 years, Marion goes rogue and enlists the help of Peter, a psychological profiler, to try to find and catch the killer.

What I really loved about The Spectacular was that in addition to having a well researched strong historical fiction narrative, it also features this riveting murder mystery/thriller, a pretty substantial element of family drama, and even the slightest hint of a potential romance.  All of these elements combine effortlessly into a riveting read that I could not put down.  It’s a story that definitely has a little something for everyone.  I highly recommend The Spectacular to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, New York iconic landmarks, suspenseful thrillers, domestic dramas, and especially to anyone who, like me, has always been fascinated by the Rockettes.  4.5 STARS

 

 

Review: THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS by Kristin Harmel

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Review: THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS by Kristin HarmelThe Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel
Also by this author: The Room on Rue Amélie
five-stars
Published by Gallery Books on July 6, 2021
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 384
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
Goodreads

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

 

 

Kristin Harmel is fast becoming one of my favorite authors of WWII historical fiction.  I love how she always manages to uncover and shine a spotlight on some aspect of the war, and in particular of the various Resistance movements, that I was completely unaware of.  In the case of her latest novel, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, Harmel’s subject matter are groups of Jewish refugees who flee from the Nazis and try to survive by hiding in the vast forests of Poland. The author’s note at the end of the novel is just as fascinating a read as the book itself because Harmel shares the details of her research, including information about the real-life groups of Jewish refugees she based her fictional groups on.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars centers on a young woman named Yona who is stolen from her crib by an elderly Jewish woman when she is only two years old.  It is unclear at first what the old woman’s motivation is. She seems to have some mystical powers that allow her to see the future and she “sees” that Yona is destined for something special and that she must teach her so that she is ready when the time comes.  The old woman raises Yona in the forest and gives her what seems like the oddest of educations.  She teaches her all about how to survive in the forest – how to build various kinds of shelters, how to gather and preserve food, how to use plants and herbs for medicinal purposes, and how to defend herself.  She also teaches Yona many languages: Polish, German, and Russian to name a few. The old woman dies soon after Yona’s education is complete and she is left to wonder what exactly she is meant to do with all she has learned.  It soon becomes clear when she encounters a large group of Jewish refugees fleeing for their lives deep in the forest.  They are doing everything wrong and if they continue as they are, they will all surely perish.  Yona makes it her mission to ensure that they all survive and begins to teach them everything she knows about living off the land and about how to stay hidden.

The survival aspect of the story is definitely compelling enough in its own right, but I especially adored the character of Yona.  She is such a special young woman and I loved how fully she devoted herself to caring for this group of people even though they are complete strangers and she could be executed if she is caught helping them. I admired her bravery and her selflessness.  I also became quite attached to the group of refugees.  They are all so eager to learn everything Yona has to teach them and they become just as devoted to her as she is to them.  They become a family and it’s just beautiful to see that bond form when everything around them is so dark and treacherous.

Made all the more poignant by Harmel’s characters and her exquisite storytelling, The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a story of strength, resilience, love, family, and sacrifice.  If you think you’ve read it all when it comes to WWII historical fiction, I highly recommend giving Kristin Harmel’s novels a try.  I’ve enjoyed all that I’ve read from Harmel so far and The Forest of Vanishing Stars is my favorite yet; it’s a real gem.

five-stars

About Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling, USA Today bestselling, and #1 international bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into twenty-nine languages and are sold all over the world.

A former reporter for PEOPLE magazine, Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major League Baseball and NHL hockey for a local magazine in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late 1990s. After stints covering health and lifestyle for American Baby, Men’s Health, and Woman’s Day, she became a reporter for PEOPLE magazine while still in college and spent more than a decade working for the publication, covering everything from the Super Bowl to high-profile murders to celebrity interviews. Her favorite stories at PEOPLE, however, were the “Heroes Among Us” features—tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

In addition to a long magazine writing career (which also included articles published in Travel + Leisure, Glamour, Ladies’ Home Journal, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and more), Kristin was also a frequent contributor to the national television morning show The Daily Buzz and has appeared on Good Morning America and numerous local television morning shows.

Kristin was born just outside Boston, Massachusetts and spent her childhood there, as well as in Columbus, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida. After graduating with a degree in journalism (with a minor in Spanish) from the University of Florida, she spent time living in Paris and Los Angeles and now lives in Orlando, with her husband and young son. She is also the co-founder and co-host of the weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction.

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