Released just a few days ago The Paris Daughter is Kristin Harmel‘s latest. It is a dual time period story that begins in Paris at the onset of World War II. Then it jumps to 1960 both in Paris and New York.

It was an accidental meeting for young mothers, Elise and Juliette in 1939 that has them becoming good friends. Years later, Elise through circumstances not her own fault she is separated from her young daughter. Juliette takes young Mathilde in, while Elise goes into hiding.

The Paris Daughter is a story of friendship, relationships between mother and daughter and loss. It is a well written story that highlights a mothers love, the repercussions of the war that just don’t want to let go even many, many years later, and the grief that goes with it. I enjoyed this book, the author was spot on in her portrayal of what these two women went through, of the trust and betrayals, and how the author stayed true to real historical events which took place not just in Paris but in the US as well. While the ending might have been somewhat predictable.I liked the journey getting there.

I haven't read many Harmel books, but will be checking out her backlist.

My thanks to Simon & Schuster CA, along with NetGalley for a digital arc and exchange for a Honest review.

TW: Death of Spouse, Death of Child( more than one), War themes

Kristin Harmel returns with a compelling story of mothers and daughters in this WWII historical fiction set in Paris and New York City.

Honestly, I didn't expect to cry as much as I did with this one. The author allows both Elise and Juliette, two American women living in Paris, to share the narrative. As the story unfolds and we learn about their heartaches and the cards that life deals with them, I came to care for them both deeply. Even though I could tell early on what type of revelations might be unveiled, it didn't dampen my overall feelings about the novel. I am sure this book will be doing the book club circuit real soon.



Publication Date 06/06/23
Goodreads Review 08/06/23

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Enthralling, poignant, and atmospheric!

The Paris Daughter is an alluring, heart-wrenching tale predominantly set in Paris and New York City between 1939 and the early 1960s that takes you into the life of a handful of people whose lives are unimaginably changed when a young woman, Elise LeClair, decides to leave her daughter for the remainder of the war in the safe hands of her best friend Juliette only to learn upon her return that the bookshop where the family of six had presided was accidentally bombed during an afternoon raid leaving behind ash, ruins, devastation, and only two living souls.

The prose is fluid and exquisite. The characters are tormented, brave, and resilient. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine seamlessly into an absorbing tale of life, loss, family, tragedy, desperation, secrets, friendship, motherhood, separation, and war.

Overall, The Paris Daughter is one of those novels that sweeps you away so thoroughly to another time and place that before you know it you’re turning the final page and the afternoon is gone. It’s a charged, moving, impactful tale by Harmel that does a beautiful job of reminding us that a mother’s love is all-encompassing, selfless, powerful, and everlasting.

A moving story about female friendship and the bravery and resilience of women during WWII. In this book budding artist Elsie befriends fellow pregnant Parisian, Juliette only to find herself in a situation where she has to ask Juliette to take in her daughter when she has to go on the run from the Germans.

Told over a number of years, we get to see how the war affected each woman differently with unique hardships and trials. The end was a bit predictable for me but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of this story or the brief cameos from some characters from The book of names.

Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This was also good on audio narrated by Madeleine Maby with a moving author's note at the end.

Wow Kristin Harmel has once again written a beautiful heartbreaking historical fiction book. Her stories draw you in and you can not walk away from her books until you finish and then you dread that you have to wait for a new book that could be a year in the making. I love the way she writes and makes you love her characters. I go into a book hangover after finishing……I highly recommend this book and any of her past books

I voluntarily received a free copy for NetGalley and all opinions are my own

I highly recommend d this book to family, friends and my book clubs

This book is a well-written story about two women who struggle to ensure the safety and well-being of their children during the extraordinary circumstances of WW II. It is about the choices and sacrifices these mothers make and the consequences it has on the lives of everyone.
While Kristin Harmel has created yet another wonderful historical fiction book, she weaves tragedy and drama through the entire work, leaving you holding your breath with anticipation for the story's outcome. Kristin Harmel is an expert at blending personal drama and struggles against the backdrop of a significant historical event.

If you are a Kate Quinn or Kristin Hannah fan, you will love Kristin Harmel's work. The Paris Daughter is a gripping story and is an excellent place to start if you have never read her books! Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

5 stars out of 5
Available now.

Kristin’s book The Book of Lost Names was always going to be a tough act to follow, but I fell in love with her character Elise right from the start and I think she’s my favourite of all of her characters to date. Harmel has a gift for writing characters that you can’t help but root for and in The Paris Daughter we find more of her trademark character development and epic wartime fiction. There are even some cameos from TBOLN that were a delightful surprise.

I don’t want to say much here, at the risk of spoilers, but I will say that Kristin Harmel does exactly what you’ve come to expect of her with this book: she rips your heart out, tromps on it, but then puts it back together again and restores your faith in humanity. What a gift!

This is my first Kristin Harmel book and I am SOLD. The emotion that this book brought out in me was unlike anything I’ve read before and it was an incredibly beautiful story from start to finish.

Everything about this book was perfect, from the plot, to the characters, to the fantastic author’s note that had me in surprise tears. The connections forged between all the characters were beautiful even though many of them were flawed, and I found this to be incredibly thought-provoking!

While this is definitely everything you would expect from a WWII historical fiction, the story takes an unexpected turn as history moves forward and the characters finally reunite. I highly recommend this beautiful book!

Read this if you:
- Can handle the emotional toll of families separating and reuniting
- Enjoy a well-researched story with multiple historical connections
- Can love flawed characters who are just doing their best

When Elise and Juliette meet one fateful day in Paris, they embark on a friendship that they hope will pass along to their daughters, born just weeks apart. When the Nazis invade France and Elise becomes a target, she knows the best place to leave her small child is with Juliette, though she’ll spend all her days in hiding wondering if she made the right choice.

THE PARIS DAUGHTER

by KRISTIN HARMEL

This is a beautifully written World War II historical fiction novel.

It is about:

* two mothers and two daughters
* Grief and loss
* Unthinkable choices
* Friendship

I enjoyed this very much. Thank you to @netgalley and @simonandschustercanada for the advanced reading copy.

This book is published on 06.06.2023.

Set in Paris 1939, this heart-stopping tale of survival and heroism of three mothers who must make unthinkable choice in the face of the Nazi occupation. Their names are Elise, Ruth and Juliette who met in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne and became fast friends. Soon their lives will be irrevocably changed....”The Paris Daughter” will tell us what happened...enjoy.

A cloud of doom hangs over Paris as German and Allied bombing begins in Europe

Written with poignant words, this beautiful and strong story of motherhood and friendship will break your heart. The impossible choice to leave their children behind or send them away in order to save them is emotionally wrenching. Through her research Ms. Harmel brings this historical moment to life by conveying an acute sense of emotions through her characters as they face tragedy. You really feel for them. This story is also a poignant portrayal of how we assign guilt even in the most blameless of circumstances. It is not an easy book to read but the further I traveled with these hard women the better the story was getting maybe I simply mesmerized by what was going on.....this story touched me deeply.

“The Paris Daughter’ is beautifully layered tale of broken women and the impacts their choices have made for generations to come. It is also a sweeping celebration of resilience and love. Well-said and well-done.

Kristin Harmel has solidified a position on my must buy list. This was a devastatingly beautiful book about motherhood beginning in WW2. Two mothers who have daughters the same age meet and become friends. One mother must go on the run to protect herself and her daughter, but must leave the daughter behind with the other mother. An unexpected bombing occurs causing death and heartbreak. Who survived and who died during the war?

This book was so hard to put down an I recommend it to everyone!

I was beyond excited to see Kristin Harmel’s latest novel pop up on Netgalley after having thoroughly enjoyed her novels: THE BOOK OF LOST NAMES and THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS.

In THE PARIS DAUGHTER, Elise and Juliette meet and become fast friends in Paris, 1939. As the war progresses, Elise is targeted by the German occupation and is forced to leave her daughter with Juliette for safe-keeping while she runs for her life. A few months later when a bomb falls on Juliette’s neighbourhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed. More than a year later, when the war has come to an end, Elise finds Juliette’s neighbourhood in rubble and Juliette gone without a trace. Elise’s search for Juliette and answers regarding her daughters’ last moments brings her to New York.

Kristin has a gift for telling beautiful, heart-wrenching stories. Stories that are instilled with hope in one of the darkest times of our world history. Both of her previous works that I’ve read are stories set in WWII that touch on grief and loss, but also on humans navigating difficult times and finding their way out the other side. THE PARIS DAUGHTER is no different in this respect.

I loved reading Elise and Juliette’s perspectives, both characters are well-written, relatable, and authentic. They each have their own struggles that they must overcome via their own will and strength. I really enjoyed how this story focuses on human connections, relationships, and secrets, and how these connections and/or secrets can impact one’s life for better or for worse.

I loved how art in its many forms was employed via the characters as a way for self expression and catharsis. Art is shown as a method of self-exploration, a way to heal, and a way to unite. The plot is creative and intriguing; although, I must say that I did guess the big twist very early on. I had to wait for my suspicions to be confirmed but this did not detract from my enjoyment of the story in any way. Overall, this is a beautifully written story and one that I will not forget anytime soon!

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Gallery Books (Simon and Schuster Canada), of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions expressed are my own.</i>

While the end of this book was predictable, the way that the story gets there is not so much. I loved the characters in this book and their story was very difficult for me to put down.

Harmel is a successful American author who is a former reporter. Her previous works include historical fiction books such as "The Forest of Vanishing Stars" and "The Book of Lost Names". This new release is another in that same genre. It is set in Paris during WWII and NYC in the years following the war. Elise is the wife of a famous artist and an artist herself. When the Nazis learn of her husband's work with the resistance he is taken and they are now coming after Elise. In order to save herself and her young daughter she must leave her with her close friend Juliette, where she will 'become' the orphaned niece and part of their family. Elise travels with fake papers out of the occupied zone and awaits the end of the war when she will be reunited with her daughter, but that ultimately proves harder than she thought. This is a wonderful novel about the sacrifice and strength of mothers and is set among many actual historical events and is a great recommendation for fans of the genre. I loved it.

What an incredibly beautiful book. The haunting imagery of the artwork and sculptures were so incredibly well described, I could see the brushstrokes. The women who's POV we change between are so strong, resilient and absolutely broken in so many different ways. There are so many casualties of war, and we sometimes forget that there were just regular people who made choices that had very large consequences.

I absolutely recommend picking this one up and will be recommending to everyone.

Beautifully written WWII historical fiction about a mother, Elise, who is forced to flee Paris and leave her young daughter with a friend, Juliette, for her daughter’s safety as Elise’s husband has been murdered by the Nazis for his political views. As noted in the Author’s Notes, the author did meticulous research about young children being given over to others during the war for their safety and it is clearly reflected in the plot and the characters. Many of these children were never reunited with their parents after the war.

The story is told from both Elise’s and Juliette’s points of view both during and after the war. The story is heartbreaking at times but it is also about survival, resilience and hope when faced with the most challenging circumstances and events. There is an unexpected turn that I suspected before it happened but it in no way detracted from the unfolding of the story. I have read and loved many of this author’s novels and this one is right up there. It is a lovely read that sweeps the reader up in the story until its satisfying end.

What a great historical fiction book! Loved this one very much even though it broke my heart. Enjoyed the story, the characters, the settings. Kristin Harmel knocks it out of the park again!

I really enjoyed this book. The story was not just about the time during World War II, but focuses on the survivors and their stories. The things and people that were taken as a result of the war. The unfairness of how some people benefited in small ways while so much was taken and lost from so many others. It really talks about learning how to move on after such devastation. The healing process and the stories our minds have to tell us, or forget about, in order to try and survive such heartbreaking tragedy. It can be so easy to get stuck in the past, reliving your story over and over.

I really loved the mother/child relationships. The unbreakable bond and never-ending love we feel for our children. It was so hard to read about the uninaginably hard sacrifices that sometimes have to be made for the ones that we love. I can not imagine how a person ever moves on after losing a child.

The one thing I didn't enjoy as much was that I found the few twists to be quite expected from very early on; I'm not sure anyone would be surprised by them. If there were maybe fewer hints towards the twists, and they came out as a surprise, it definitely would have made the book a five star for me.

If you enjoy historical fiction, then I'm sure you will love this story as well.

I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book!!! It is heartbreaking😭 but this author never disappoints. As a mother, what would you do to keep your child safe if it means leaving them?? The story is about friendship, family, grief, ugh, it had it all. I loved the authors note at the end and you can see how she researches.
Bravo on another amazing book.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada, Gallery Books and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Publish date: June 6, 2023

Another fantastic story told by Kristen Harmmel. Starting off during WW2 in Paris and finishing roughly 17 years after the end of the war in New York City. It is explores what parents, especially mother will do to save their children. Two American born mothers become friends during the war. They have daughters nearly the same age who become so close, that they are nearly identical. Each mother looses family due to the war and deals with the lose and the grief in different ways. Well told and an emotional roller-coaster ride of a read.
I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.