Mistress of the Ritz had all the things I love in a good historical fiction novel. It had a compelling plot and interesting characters (including a whole slew of famous secondary characters like Coco Chanel, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway), a vivid setting that came to life on the pages (I loved reading about the Ritz), and a fresh perspective that I definitely learned new things from. This is one of those books I’d recommend best gone into blind, but know to expect a story full of flawed characters, marriage drama, intrigue, and plenty of secrets.

I wasn’t immediately sold on this one, as I couldn’t quite see where it was going, but then something clicked and I found that I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The author clearly notes that this story was inspired by, not based on, true events because there is little record of actual facts, but I think she did such a great job of weaving this one together with what little is known to make it so believable and a delight to read. I’m left with only compliments for Melanie Benjamin’s wonderful writing and storytelling here.

Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Mistress of the Ritz is an interesting and compelling historical novel by Melanie Benjamin. It reveals the effects of the Nazi occupation of Paris from a unique perspective and is very different from most stories of this genre. The author has stated that she wanted the setting, in this instance, the hotel, The Ritz" of Paris to actually be one of the three main characters in her story, and she succeeded beautifully. The story revolves around the Manager of the Ritz and his lovely American wife. Their relationship is complicated and made even more so by World War II and the occupation of Paris. This novel was inspired by the real Claude and Blanche Auzello but not based on them since there is very little information is available.

While I really liked the entire book a lot, the beginning and the ending were outstanding.

The novel introduces us to Blanche and Claude Auzello, the Monsieur and Mistress of the Ritz. After returning from the line of war, the couple rushes to their beloved Ritz, just to find it occupied by Nazi. And like any other Parisian, the Auzellos do their best to follow the rules to avoid the opposite side of a German raffle. As the story unfolds, it seems that the Auzellos follow an old saying "keep your friends close, and your enemy closer". But how long can they play this game? Joining the French resistance is not the only secret they must protect in order to survive, and stay alive.

I love books that pluck a piece of history and built an elaborate story around it. "Mistress of the Ritz" is a wonderful example of this. It is a fast-moving story filled with heroism, secrets, and a strong wish for survival. The author did a great job in the development of the characters. If you enjoy historical fiction, you do not want to miss this!

Thank you, Net Galley and Delacorte Press Publisher for a free ARC of this book.

As in The Swans of Fifth Avenue, it was interesting to read about celebrities in a different context. With this story taking place during WWII, the subject matter was obviously more serious. I appreciated the telling of how staff at the Paris Ritz engaged in resistance activities, but I wish there had been more detail. The story seemed to drag, especially in dealing with the marital woes of Claude and Blanche. Coco Chanel's story, stemming from her parts in this book, might make an interesting book in itself! Appreciated the author's note very much.

This book is ultimately the story of Blanche Auzello, the wife of the manager of The Ritz in Paris. I knew I would like her right away, when she was introduced as a woman who was struggling to maintain her composure but still managed to express her dissatisfaction with the way a carriage driver was treating his horse.

Blanche's husband Claude featured heavily in this book, but I didn't much care for him. I cannot abide infidelity, and the constant focus on his willful ignorance of the harm he was doing his wife and any sense that she should be able to have her own say about anything was frustrating.

The Ritz itself seemed lovely, but as someone who knows nothing about it, I don't feel like I have a good mental picture of the place after reading this book. All I know is that it has good lighting and big tubs.

This book does a good job of explaining how complicated life was for people living in an occupied area, and how they interact with their occupiers while trying to maintain some semblance of normality. This book was also good for showing how women had to fight for their own rights (opening the bar to women, for example) and to help people when they needed it.

Perhaps part of my dissatisfaction came from the length of time it took me to finish this book, so that maybe I don't remember larger moments from the story. I remember learning about how Blanche and Claude met each other, but I can't quite remember why they left Paris in the first place, where they went, or what they did while they were gone.

The most frustrating thing about this book was the constant reference to this "secret" that was completely obvious. It felt almost insulting that the author framed it the way she did; was it supposed to be a secret from the reader or just those around Blanche? Because it certainly didn't seem like a secret to us. And yet, it wasn't discussed until the end.

Overall, I just feel like this book could have been tightened up. It felt sort of sprawling, and there were lots of times I found myself wondering what the book was really about. It's worth reading, but there are better WWII books out there.

Mistress of the Ritz transports its readers into the world of Paris at a luxury hotel called The Ritz. The story follows the fictionalized accounts of real life historical figures, Blanche and Claude Auzello who are the owners of the hotel. The story shifts back and forth through the past and present giving readers the glitzy version of the city full of elite and the grand parties, while also the showing the destruction of its people and places during WW2.

Blanche and Claude are two opposites when they first meet. Blanche, is the outspoken flapper from America and Claude is the reserved but passionate man from France. They fall in love with each other and the hotel that becomes a home to them.

As the war rages on we see how the war affects France, the Ritz, and even adds to the turbulent nature of Claude and Blanche’s marriage. Their marriage becomes strained and the secrets between them grow bigger. Both see their advantage of being the owners of The Ritz despite it being overrun with Nazis. Blanche is inspired to be more than the damsel in distress her husband paints her as and tries to find ways she can help in the Resistance effort. Claude still tries to control Blanche like since the beginning of their marriage, but feels her slipping away. He wants peace at the hotel back and tries to figure out a way as his duty as a Frenchman to rise up against power, but fears retribution.

The Mistress of The Ritz is a very immersive read such as Benjamin’s prior book The Girls in the Picture. Benjamin manages to paint a description of the glamour of France as well as the beauty and architecture within the Ritz hotel while also showing the immense change that happens after the war in the next Nazis occupation takes effect in Paris. Her writing is incredibly detailed and readers really feel as if they were living in the early 20th century seeing the different kinds of fashion, society/culture. Readers feel the characters fear because of the changes of war and seeing what has been happened to their country and their loved ones and friends.

What I really admire about Blanche as the main character of the story is her spunk and her courageousness. She comes to the realizes her power and what she can do to help others around her as she sees all this death and destruction in the country that has become her home. The Ritz acts as a symbolic fortress from the war, a place of refuge and a symbol of resistance.

And Blanche understands that she has to get out of the Ritz. She has to see what is happening in Paris beyond those walls. If she doesn’t, how can she live with herself?

This was a very engrossing read from start to finish. The author did a fantastic job if weaving together a narrative of real life historical figures. It was deep, heartbreaking, and gave a new viewpoint from the war that I haven’t read in previous novels. If you enjoy historical fiction, this story is for you.

*Trigger warning: racial slurs, violence, death

As is often the case when I read historical fiction, this book made me want to read some actual history about the people or events depicted in the novel. Unfortunately, it seems that there is very little information about Claude Auzello and his American-born wife Blanche. Claude managed the Hotel Ritz in Paris during World War II and he and Blanche both lived in the hotel. The author didn’t have many facts to go on, but she still managed to create an interesting story about Paris during the war and the Auzello’s participation in the French Resistance, as the Nazis moved into the Ritz and took increasing control of the city. More of the book is spent on the couple’s turbulent marriage than on their resistance work. The distance between them was so great that neither trusted the other enough to tell them about the work they were doing.

Personally, I would have preferred more spying and intrigue and less bickering husband and wife, but I still enjoyed this book. I will just have to find a nonfiction book about France and the War.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Ah, the Ritz Paris. Doesn’t it bring to mind glitz, glamour and opulence? The iconic hotel is as much a character in this book as are Claude and Blanche Auzello, the hotel director and his American born wife. In the pre-WWII years, the hotel was in its glory and the Ritz was a symbol of the finest in luxury and elegance.

The book opens in 1923 when Blanche and Claude meet, and they eventually marry. Blanche is an American-born flapper, headstrong and independent, while Claude is a traditional Frenchman who likes to not only be in charge of the hotel, but of his wife as well. The cultural differences caused the two to lock horns, often in amusing ways. But both shared a love for the beloved hotel and they reveled in rubbing elbows with the rich and famous who crossed its threshold, among them, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Coco Chanel, who maintained an apartment there for many years.

The first part of the book focuses on the hotel itself, the couple’s marriage, and their experiences running the hotel. When the Germans arrive in 1940 and take over the hotel as their headquarters, the couple must adjust to their demands and keep up the pretense that all is operating as usual, despite their hatred of the Nazi regime. This takes up much of the novel's last half. There’s plenty of intrigue and there are dangerous secrets the couple keep from each other, and from the Germans. How an ordinary couple makes their stamp on history made for riveting reading.

I went into this book blind, and I suggest other readers do the same. If you haven’t yet, don’t read the blurb, which gives away too much information.

Historical fiction can be a troublesome genre for me as it too often becomes a thinly disguised romance novel. Not so with author Melanie Benjamin. She notes that this is a story that is inspired by, not based on, true events. Just when I think I’m burned out on WWII based novels, along comes one like this that generates a renewed interest.

The historical record is sparse, but as I do so often, I immediately went to the internet to read everything I could find. I appreciate that the author didn’t play fast and loose with the facts, filling in only when necessary. She made history come alive in these pages with people I came to care about. People who are just like us, flaws and all. I’m glad Claude and Blanche’s story has been told.

Mistress of the Ritz is a historical novel based on the actual lives of Frenchman Claude Auzello, in the early 1920s the assistant manager of the Hotel Claridge in Paris, and American actress (though not in great demand) Blanche Ross, who meet in Paris in 1923 and marry - perhaps too quickly - shortly thereafter.

On the day Blanche accepts his marriage proposal, Claude is called by widow Marie-Louise Ritz for an interview for the position of assistant manager of the world-famous Hotel Ritz on the Place Vendome, Paris, making him what he considers to be the luckiest man in the world. As he is passing Blanche on his way out for the interview, she teases him with advice - to demand the position of manager, as he is not an "assistant" anything. Though he is not normally an overly confident man he does as Blanche suggests. Elderly Mrs. Ritz, tickled by his spunk, laughingly agrees and hires him. This was his dream-come-true, to manage the Paris Ritz. Claude is walking on air as he and Blanche marry. But the honeymoon trip is a comedic farce, and American flapper Blanche is not a typical, docile French woman nor will she tolerate the French lifestyle Claude takes for granted. Blanche doesn't cook or clean, she is not willing to give up her American friends just because Claude wishes it, nor will she tolerate the traditional ban on women at the Ritz bar, and even Claude does not expect her to sit quietly in the background in the public rooms of the Ritz.

And Claude, an excellent, competent manager and concierge of the most famous Hotel in Europe - no, the world! - finds himself completely overwhelmed and outgunned by the former Miss Ross. When he as a last resort moves them into the hotel and decides to just sit back and watch, life improves for them both. They dine often in the hotel dining room or go out for meals, and Blanche sets herself up in a corner of the bar and people watches, gossips, laughs, and tipples while Claude works. Within days she is the darling of the employees and sought out by visitors of the Ritz. In mere weeks she is known far and wide as the Mistress of the Ritz. She becomes a favorite of the worldly visitors of 1920s and 1930s Paris - Ernest Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso and Cole Porter, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich (though Claude stands firm on the ban of even these women in trousers in the bar), Gertrude Stein and her friend Alice, Coco Chanel. Anyone who is someone in the world of the arts.

And then Germany overruns France in March of 1940 and invades Paris, the German military setting up their headquarters in the Ritz. Claude decided that the only thing he can do is protect the reputation of the Ritz by maintaining the standards set by Cesar Ritz, even in these impossible times. He spends his days accommodating the German hierarchy - guests despite the fact that they are not welcome guests - and keeping the hotel to the high standards demanded of the best of the best, standards set by Cesar and Marie-Louise in every Ritz hotel in the world. No matter how hard it is, no matter how perturbed Blanche becomes at his servile attitude with the German military, he will continue to do his best to accommodate the 'guests'. And the Ritz is one of the few quality Paris hotels that are allowed to accept guests other than the military overlords though those old classic artistic guests are no longer in Paris while the world is at war.

But can the Ritz - and the Auzello's - survive the occupation of France? Is there a happily-ever-after for Claude and Blanche? Only time will tell.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Melanie Benjamin, and Dell Publishing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this book of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

This was a wonderful book that provided a lot of information about the Claude and Blanche Auzello and their experience with the Ritz in Paris during World War II. The secrets kept from others, their explosive relationship, and the intense situation during the Nazi occupation of Paris provides an historical view. As the author provides at the end of the book, this is one of the more information books about the Auzellos.

From glamour and glitz to the gruesome experiences during this time period, you will find yourself holding your breath. While there is some crude language and experiences, the story itself makes it worth struggling through the inappropriate portions.

I am definitely interested in going back and reading some of Benjamin's earlier works and will be reading her future publications.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What is a marriage? Claude and Blanche marry but in the beginning don't know much about each other. Then throw in the fact that he is French and she is an American and what they each think of love and marriage puts interesting twists into the story.
The story plays out against the rich background of the Ritz in Paris between the late 30's and occupied France during WWII,. True characters, Claude is the director of the Ritz and his wife Blanche becomes the Mistress of the Ritz.
War brings a different set of tensions and emotions to a marriage. Claude and Blanche find themselves enveloped in the French Resistance but keep this apart from each other.
This is a love story, but how much do you really know about your spouse.

Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin

Brief Summary: This book tells the story of Claude Auzello, the director of the Ritz Hotel in Paris, and his wife Blanche, who worked for the French Resistance, while playing host to the Germans.

Highlights: The first part of the novel focuses on the Auzello’s marriage and is slow. Give it time, it definitely picks up when Blanche joins the French resistance. Blanche is a fascinating heroine; who risked her life when she could have lived out the war in luxury. I loved how the Resistance work energized her; she had been courageous, resourceful, and had saved a life……and was aching to do it again. I loved the impact of resistance work on the Auzello’s marriage.

What makes this book unique? I loved when Blanche initially befriended the Germans, Astrid, the secretary, and Fredrich, a love lorn soldier yearning for the girl he left behind in Berlin, both of whom are very young. She realizes they joined the Natzi party “because they had too.” Another unique aspect was the sleeplessness of German officers “trying to convince himself he is doing the right thing for Germany and his family; conspiring with others because the Fuhrer is insane.”

Explanation of Rating: 4/5 The slow start docked this rating for me. The second have was so fascinating and though provoking. I loved how Blanche used her position and how the Auzello’s marriage was impacted.

Favorite Quotes: “What can women do to help the war?” “Not all soldiers can be in combat. Paperwork is also necessary to win a war.” “There is no time or room for marriage in war.”

Must read for historical fiction fans and WWII enthusiasts. Book clubs will also find this discussion worthy.

Thank you to Net Galley and Random House Publishing for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

Writing and reading historical fiction is often a difficult task. The author often travels a fine line between what is real and what is imagined in the lines of a book. It can be hard for a reader to fully appreciate a story when the details are frequently overused and murky. However in this book, Melanie Benjamin has been able to capture a piece of history and make it into an interesting story that was much enjoyed by Jan and I.

I so enjoy an historical fiction book that when completed has me scurrying to google to find out more. To me there is nothing better than when an author makes the reader both aware and looking for more information about the characters portrayed in the story. In a way, the book becomes not only informative, but also one that encourages the reader to learn more.

In this story we meet the Blanche Auzello, an American, and her French husband and Hotel Director, Claude Auzello. They are a have it all couple, running the premier hotel, the Ritz, in Paris, which housed the likes of Coco Chanel, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and many other notables. It is a dream job, one that meshes the haves of the world in an environment that is both glamorous, charismatic and elegant. The winds of war however, are spreading and carry their disastrous effect into the Ritz and as the Nazis take over Paris, they take over the Ritz as well and the Auzellos must contend with their presence and the effect it has upon their lives and their beloved hotel.

Both Blanche and Claude have secrets. Secrets which not only threaten their marriage but also their very lives. They don't really know one another and as the story continues and after nineteen years of marriage, they find in each other something they thought was never there.

Told with the backdrop of war and the elegance of the Ritz, this story presents to the reader the courage, heroism, and audacity of many who resisted the Nazis and did their part of bringing the evilness of the Nazis to its downfall. I recommend this story to those who enjoy a well written and enjoyable story about a couple and their devotion to a cause and a hotel.

Many thanks to Melanie Benjamin, Delacourte Press and Net Galley for a copy of this book.

This is a story of the Auzello's, Blanche and Claude. Blanche is an American who meets and marries Claude, a French man, who manages the Hotel Ritz in Paris. The story starts right before WWII and tells of the German occupation of the Hotel Ritz, the Resistance by the French people, the horrors of the war, and gives us a glimpse of the well-known people who frequented the Hotel Ritz before and after the war. The author tells that Blanche and Claude were real people of which very little is known. The author is a very good writer and took what little is known about the couple and turned it into a fascinating story.

The Mistress of the Ritz is beautiful and heart breaking “based on real people” historical fiction. Very rich characters, layers of stories and intrigue. At times the story moved too slowly for me but other times when I never wanted it to end. Claude and Blanche deserved their story to be told and I loved reading about all of the famous people who shared their lives. I am glad this story did not end with end of World War II. Part of living through a war is figuring out how to live in a normal world once again. Great view of a different part of WWII

Review: Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin

First a thank you to Delacorte Press (via NetGalley) for providing me an APC of this book.

This book is an excellent example of why I choose to read historical fiction novels. I knew absolutely nothing about the role the Ritz Hotel in Paris played during World War II. I also had never heard of Claude and Blanche Auzello. The reason I choose to read historical fiction is in order to learn facts about real people, events, and locations, without getting too bogged down in nonfiction narratives. Mistress of the Ritz met these reading desires to a tee. The fiction that Ms. Benjamin created around these characters was interesting. Personally, I wish Claude and Blanche had revealed to each other their separate roles in the occupation sooner so that they could have spent more time repairing their relationship before the inevitable occurred. But this was Ms. Benjamin’s choice, and I understood and respected it. The middle of the novel is a bit slow. I felt this part of the book was repetitive. Once passed this mid-section, the novel takes off. The book is hard to put down (and I didn’t) during the last 10 chapters. I know the focus of the novel is the role of the hotel and its manager and wife during the war, but I would also have loved for Ms. Benjamin to have created more story between the end of the war and the end of the novel. The end seemed to be a bit abrupt.

If you are looking for Holocaust fiction, this is not the book for you. Nevertheless, the plight of the Jewish people and those who tried to help is an underlying theme throughout this book. I am a Holocaust fiction junkie, too, and Mistress of the Ritz is certainly a close cousin.

I enjoy historical Fiction immensely and always want to learn something from it. The Ritz was a part of history that I was not aware of. I was captivated from the beginning and the author did an excellent job of keeping me enthralled with the story. I highly recommend it.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

It’s the Nazi invasion of Paris, France. The setting is the iconic Ritz hotel in Paris. Based on the true story of Blanche her husband Claude, the director of the famous hotel. An interesting mix of glam and the horrors of the war. I loved the history, the famous name dropping, the huge secret revealed at the end. This suspenseful tale of a turbulent marriage during a turbulent time was beautifully written, seamlessly weaving the horrors of war with the hope and glitz in the Ritz hotel. For me, this was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars, rounded up from 3.5. Thank you @randomhouse for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

This book got off to a slow start for me, centering around the rich at the Ritz in Vichy France. I’ve read several books about the Resistance and really couldn’t engage with Blanche who was more interested in how she looked than who she was. It was hard for me to understand how Blanche could be so oblivious living under German occupation, sheltered by the hotel. Benjamin drops names of the rich and famous like Hemingway and Fitzgerald, but instead of using them to flesh out the story, it’s more of a window dressing. And I really wanted Claude and Blanche to stop fighting each other.

Blanche develops an unlikely and inauthentic friendship with Lily, an Eastern European revolutionary, and becomes unconvincingly attached to her, yet at the same time, befriends the soldiers occupying their hotel, and in fact tells Claude, “Spatzy’s a regular guy. I Ike him. Nazi or not.” And then as her friendship with Lily develops, she joins her in underground actions, because she said she “could do with a little excitement.” Her character is really uneven for me, and I thought it unlikely as a member of the Resistance that she would go into a bar that catered to Nazis and drunkenly toast the Allies.

There were parts that were very real, “They are in danger of becoming immune to the horrors surrounding them. This is what an occupation does—it wears you down until you accept evil. Until you can no longer fully define it, even. Let alone recognize it.” The book concludes with a Liberated Paris as it struggles to rebound. Jews return from prison camps as skeletons and orphans, hidden during the war, have no home to return to. While the book is a little preachy in the end, it’s sobering. Nobody wins after a war.

4.5 stars!

A mesmerizing and atmospheric tale centered around the Hotel Ritz in Paris during WWII.

Claude Auzello is the director of the Hotel Ritz where he and his wife, Blanche, reside. They have a tumultuous relationship, Blanche constantly feeling Claude’s attention is focused on everything but her. Blanche spends her days mingling with the glamourous guests who visit the hotel, while Claude caters to his guests every whim. Never a dull moment within the walls of the hotel, Blanche takes it all in, most of her days ending in a drunken state while seated at the hotel bar. As the war progresses, German soldiers move into Paris, setting up their headquarters at the Ritz. Claude patiently serves these army men, all the while terrified for what will come from this war.

I loved this story! Claude and Blanche were fascinating and endearing characters. I felt for them and was invested in their marriage and their decisions on how to handle their wartime situation. The Ritz was one of my favourite “characters”. The author, Melanie Benjamin, does a phenomenal job creating a vivid and luxurious atmosphere which made me feel that I was truly witnessing the glitz and glamour nestled within the richly decorated walls of the hotel. I was completely captivated in this engrossing story from start to finish and will be thinking of it long after I write this review.

I read plenty of WWII novels, yet this was a fresh look at a different aspect of this time in our history. Though this novel is only “inspired” by true events, there is much interesting and informative detail to learn within these pages. The beautiful writing and enthralling storyline inspired me to look deeper into the history of the Ritz and how it was treated during these devastating times.

This was a Traveling Sister read that we all loved.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing and Melanie Benjamin for providing me with an ARC to read and review.