This story, based on a true story of one woman’s fight against the wrath of Hitler, had some high points. The characters felt real as did their fight. However, I got a bit lost in the numerous battles of hers through the middle of the story.

I learned so much about the Jewish community in the city of Paris and how they created a system to help Jewish children get out of how these brave young people got the Jewish children out of Germany – occupied France.

The author showed how the Jewish community in Paris trained and went about learning the skills they need to help their owns. I was surprised by their antiquate plan. I hadn’t know about this before.

Madeleine Levy was a social worker and was able to help young ones escape their captives through proper channels because she was allowed to do certain things under the law as a social worker. Claude had a dangerous job as well. Each of them including Simone Madeleine’s sister risked their lives to help others. They were brave, dedicated, and passionate in their per suite. No one thought that Hitler would invade France, but it was a game changer when he did. All the things they had studied for and practiced in preparation was put into motion.

I enjoyed this story of ordinary people rising up to do amazing, fearless, intentional things. It’s a story of family, friendship, teamwork, courage, hope and love. The story became even more intriguing when I discovered this was a novel based on true events inspired by the countries fight for survival during WWII, during a time when children were abandoned, starving, and all of Paris was fearful. The author does not dwell on the gory details and the horrors the Nazi’s put people through.

This story will work well for your book club. There is so much to talk about and there is a tender love story between Madeline, and Claude I enjoyed.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog www.bookfun.org

This is a beautiful , sad and powerful story of Madeleine Levy, a young and loyal teen who braves the fight against the Nazi's to save young children. She has just been certified a social worker when her beloved Grandfather dies. She takes on his bravery as a hero in the Resistance to fight for and protect Jewish children by smuggling them out and get them to places or homes for safety. Madeleine is brave and determined to care for these children working with many other in the Resistance to move these children out of harms way. When Madeleine was young she lost most of her hearing and learns to read lips when needed, it comes to help in some and sometimes her hearing loss comes to be very dangerous. It's meaningful story of compassion, resilience and determination. Thank you #NetGalley#SourcebooksLandmark#TheParisChildren

As Hitler spreads his evil and casts his horrific shadow over Europe, there are many that would take up whatever they could to stop him. One of those was Madeleine Levy, the granddaughter of Alfred Dreyfus. Joining the resistance she not only fought against the Nazis but provided comfort and strength to those children seeking refuge. Putting their own safety aside Madeleine along with her sister Simone did whatever was necessary to aid the children of Paris. Whatever glimmer of hope during this tragic time was due to the kindness of those who held humanity in the highest order. This story of courage, love and hope was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. It is a story that could only be told by Gloria Goldreich in her amazing way with words as an author that is amazing. It is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings, haunting but necessary. There are many novels about WWII right now, but this story is one of the best. Highly recommended. My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastic WWII novel. Loved this one.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Paris Children is a story of Madeleine Levy and her participation in the French Resistance. It was a unique perspective of WWII with the saving of Jewish children from the South of France. I would have benefited from a Family Tree visual because the Levy-Dreyfus family is quite extensive. Other than that, I enjoyed the book.

Paris, 1935. A dark shadow falls over Europe as Adolf Hitler's regime gains momentum, leaving the city of Paris on the brink of occupation. Young Madeleine Levy—granddaughter of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish World War I hero—steps bravely into a new wave of resistance and becomes the guardian of lost children.
The story of the Paris Children is inspired upon a true story. It is an emotional story of the children in Paris France; both those born there and refugees from Germany who have fled as Hitler’s power grew. The author creates strong characters in Madeleine, her boyfriend Claude and her sister, Simone. This is a family who has known heartache as Madeleine’s grandfather suffered many years ago at the hands of a France who turned their backs on a Jew. The family is hopeful that this time France will stand behind the Jews, but as the Nazis invade northern France and the Vichy government colludes with the Germans, it becomes clear that no options remain except to join the Resistance.
The author creates a story that is a combination of joy, fear, terror and love. The reader feels all of these emotions and more as the story unfolds. The depth of emotion the story generates makes it a challenging read at times. But it is an important story to be told and this book definitely holds a place in the hearts of WWII historical fiction readers.
This review was based upon an advanced reader copy of the book. This was provided in exchange for an honest review.

WWII historical fiction continues to be a red hot genre and I hope the trend endures. The Paris Children is based on the true story of Made.ine Levy, granddaughter of Alfred Dreyfus, who helped Jewish children hide amd escape. The action was fast paced and petrifying, always trying to keep one step ahead of the Nazis. It was a terrifying time in European history that the author highlights very well.

This Life is Worth it's Grief

During any war or trying time in history there are those brave souls that put their lives on the line to save others. This the story of some of those brave souls. Those daring players in the French Resistance. They gave their time, their money, their livelihood, and sometimes their lives for the cause, to save lives and to save their country.

The Paris children is about some of those brave patriots. It is about the patriotic scouting system that trained resistance and helped Jewish children escape to Spain or Switzerland to save their lives. They found safe houses for the children, raised money and gave them food and clothing. They also were involved in operations against the Nazi's , but their main focus was to rescue the Jewish children of France.

Madeline Levy and Claude Lehmann along with Simone and Serge Perl were among the organizer's of this great undertaking. They were young people in their early twenties giving their all for the cause of saving Jewish children. They forged documents and led groups of children over the mountains to safety forsaking their own. Constantly on the run from the Nazi's they survived to serve others.

This book covers an important time and place in history. The scouting system was instrumental in saving hundreds if not more of Jewish children. They should be remembered in history.
The book was sad, tragic at times, romantic and exciting. The times were dangerous and the projects were life threatening. Brave men and women hid children, smuggled materials to blow up bridges in their baskets in plain sight of the Nazi's and those working with the Nazi's. Their deadliest enemy was the collaborators that were ordinary French working with the Nazi's to report the resistance or the Jews in hiding. Many brave resistance were killed because of these collaborator's. It was most sad when one's own countrymen turn against them, friend against friend.

Many brave men and women many not more that children gave their lives so that other's could live.
This was a good book and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Gloria Goldreich, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Based on a true story of Madeleine Levy, we watch as she works with other resistance members to save many of the Jewish children of France who are at risk for being sent to the labor camps or death. We get to see her relationship with her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings.

Overall a really cool idea for a book. Unfortunately it fell flat for me. First of all, the use of the French language, followed by the English translation kinda drove me crazy. The character development didn't work for me either. I tried to love Madeleine and her work, but the story wasn't fleshed out well enough for me. It felt as though it jumped far too much for me to feel fully invested in the characters. And I felt the Madeleine/Claude relationship just became redundant. Yes, I understand they miss each other. There was a lot of "mooning" over/about each other that bothered me. I wish we saw more of the actual travels across the mountains into safety. I think I liked Sabiene more than I liked her sister. Again- I love the premise of the story. Just didn't work for me. I stopped reading 2/3 of the way in, after starting to skim the story.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC for my honest opinion.

A heartbreaking and emotional rollercoaster set against the backdrop of World War II when Europe was at its weakest point. The author perfectly conveys the resilience and grit as well as the risk those took in helping the resistance. Fans of Danielle Steele and Natasha Lester will love this emotional and action packed saga based on real events. The author writes realistically with doses of emotion as well as sympathy and empathy. Gloria’s writing reminded me very much and Gill Paul and Lesley Pearce. I have to admit I shed lots of tears reading this and admire the work the resistance did to save countless lives from genocide and those who helped us win the war.

The Paris Children is a raw and gut wrenching read.
The writing is well done, the characters are realistic, and the journey is carefully crafted.
I highly recommend this Gloria Goldreich book.

I have read many books about WWII and this is one of the better ones. It is based on a true story which makes it even more heart wrenching. The main theme to me is family. I can’t imagine how these families suffered during this time. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys historical fiction.

I read it.
I was thinking it was good.
It was not perfect. Sometimes naive main character did not fit in the book well. It kind of messed out the story because of that.
Otherwise it was OK for me. 4 solid stars.

Though there are many novels about WWII, they each have their own place. I reached for this one due to it focusing on getting children, mostly Jewish, out of German-occupied France. I have not read many books yet that look closely at this from this perspective.

Additionally, what drew me to it was that the main character is a Jewish social worker. What draws Madeleine to this career is her grandfather who we learn was a charitable person and a WWI hero. Madeleine joins the resistance and cares for lost children.

I enjoyed this book; however I did not love it. This is a story of family, courage, hope, loyalty, friendship and love. I enjoyed certain aspects, such as the character of Madeleine and wanting to follow in her grandfather's footsteps and her friendship with Anna. What I found missing was detail. Written in third-person, the story was told rather than shown. Because of that, I found it difficult to connect with Madeleine and the story. I also wish we had some more back story on her grandfather as I felt that would have added to the understanding.

I did not know that this was based on a true story until after reading it. I believe many others will enjoy this story more than I did, as shows from other reviews. Overall, I did enjoy the social work aspect of the story.

Aspiring social worker Madeleine Levy comes from a family devoted to the Jewish cause and creating safe lives and homes for their people in 1930s France. But when France falls to the Nazis, Madeleine is caught up in a dangerous mission to bring Jewish children to safety.

I was looking forward to learning about this true story told through fictionalized eyes, but the slow, clunky style of The Paris Children really disengaged me from the story. The writing is very much an example of "tell" rather than "show," which kept me from falling into the book smoothly. The e-galley also didn't include time stamps dictating what year it was at the start of new chapters, and it wasn't always clear how much time had passed since the previous section, which made it very confusing to keep up with. The book occasionally includes an omniscient POV, which felt unnatural because Madeleine is clearly the story's heroine, and the little insights into other characters' minds rarely added to the plot. Unfortunately, when poor organization and technique pile up like this, I find it very difficult to enjoy a book.

Overall, I gave this three stars because it's always impressive when an author adapts a true story into fiction. However, for me, The Paris Children stuck a little too much to conveying the details rather than trying to adapt the facts into a captivating story.

Based on a real person, this novel tells the story of Madeline's courageous attempt to save French children during WWII. Madeline chose an admirable job as a social worker and ambitiously set out to help the Jewish people. I found her naive when it came to believing that she was inn danger. Her story is worth the telling but this novel was hard to be fully engage with.

Paris Children is a beautiful yet tragic reminder of a time when pain and suffering fell on the world! During that time there were many who were the light in the shadow and Madeleine was one of them!

This book is classified as Historical Fiction so not everything in the pages has truth but some of the events and characters are very real! Goldreich did a beautiful job and writing a story that affects you in every emotional way but also serves us a reminder of how even in the darkest of times there is always a ray of hope!

It took me longer to read than I thought and not because of anything to do with the writing or the story but more with my emotions! I didn’t think I would be as emotionally invested as I found myself being! You can’t help but put yourself there within the pages!

Thank you Netgalley for this amazing arc and the opportunity to read early!

This book was not as engaging as other WWII fiction I've read, even though it's based on a real person. This could be because the author was limited to the historical facts that survived.

Madeleine Levy is the granddaughter of Alfred Dreyfus, who became famous during "the Dreyfus affair" -- wrongful conviction of treason and then complete exoneration. As such, she is a prominent Jew in France. World War II begins, and Madeleine does what she must to survive.

My beef with Madeleine is that she keeps making the wrong decisions. Half of her family goes to America for safety, and her immediate family choose to stay in France, thinking they are safe. It's a miracle that all of them (except Madeleine) survive the war. Madeleine keeps going back into Paris and other cities in France to gather supplies and help the Resistance. This is all to save a group of Jewish children that she is supposed to be escorting into Spain, but she never actually accomplishes this as she gets arrested right before the mission takes place.

Madeleine is arrested at the very end of the book, and in the epilogue it's stated that she died in a concentration camp. That part of the story felt very tacked on, almost as an afterthought. The book focuses on her work with the resistance, not on her ultimate demise. I can understand that the author wanted to focus on the positive, but that's hard with WWII. Many other novels (The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale, The Alice Network) focus on the horrors that happen after being arrested and/or deported and do so in a moving and impactful way. Leaving off that part of Madeleine's story feels like a disservice to her bravery.

The Paris Children is a fictionalized account of the heroic acts of the Madeleine Dreyfus, daughter to Jeannne Dreyfus and granddaughter of the infamous Alfred Dreyfus. Madeleine is credited with saving the lives of hundreds of Jewish children during WW2. She had a special bond to her grandfather, Alfred, who, despite having been falsely accused and imprisoned for treason, remained loyal to France until his dying day. Madeleine was especially dear to Alfred because she had a serious childhood illness that almost took her life. She recovered from the illness, however, it left her hearing impaired, and her hearing continued to deteriorate throughout her life.

Madeleine graduated university as a social worker, and was hoping to work with Jewish immigrant children in a neighbourhood of Paris (in the 4th arrondissement), referred to as the Pletzl. However, shortly after graduating, Paris itself was occupied by the Germans, and the Dreyfus family was forced to flee the city for unoccupied France (Toulouse). It was from here that Madeleine carried out her heroic feats.

I am so glad that Gloria Goldreich has undertaken the role of chronicling the life of Madeleine Dreyfus, and that I had the opportunity to read this book. The book describes Madeleine as courageous, but also, as a young woman who was passionate. According to the book, I got the feeling that she loved the beauty of the country where she lived, and took the spare moments she had (in the chaotic life she led), to stop and look at the beauty around her, especially the trees and flowers.

The book is a bit on the lengthy side, (there is some repetition), but the story of Madeleine Dreyfus is clearly an important story. Despite the fact that her grandfather suffered at the hands the country that he served, and loved she dedicated herself to carrying on his legacy. Thank you Gloria Goldreich for #theparischildren and #netgalley for the e-ARC of the Paris children in exchange for my honest review.