With Mother’s Day coming up, “The Paris Showroom” by Juliet Blackwell is a worthy gift for mom.
Set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied France, free spirit Capucine is separated from her commie father, Bruno, who is sent to Auschwitz, while she gets sent to work camp where others like her (guilty by association) are placed to clean up, polish, and repair furniture and other goods stolen from Jewish homes to be dispatched to German homes. In the heart of Paris, Levitan served as a work camp and the setting for Capucine. As an expert on the dying art of fan-making and the “secret” language that comes with wielding one, she is able to use her talent and know-how to collaborate with people on the outside, and help with the cause in her own way. As she ruminates about her life and loves, she longs to see her daughter, Mathilde, whom she had to give up to her in-laws when she couldn’t properly care for her as a young widow.
Time and distance did not dull Mathilde’s memories for her mother. The little that she had were happy and comforting. Mathilde learns to come into her own and discover her own voice as she breaks free from the mold her grandparents had cast for her. She learns to find herself as she helps in the resistance and rediscovers her mother.
It is my first time to read a Juliet Blackwell novel. I find this historical novel well-written and well-organized. Though the characters alternate between Capucine and Mathilde, they pick up from where they left off in the same timeline. They move at their own pace, depending on the characters’ situations without having to “travel back in time”. Flashbacks are embedded as memories without having to move the story from one time frame to another.
Fans of World War II history will discover a different aspect of the war which would just be a mere blurb, if mentioned at all, in history books. In Juliet Blackwell’s The Paris Showroom, readers are given an inside look into the Nazi prison camp in the heart of Paris. That the city of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité would be the site of oppression, discrimination, and injustice is ironic. Readers will enjoy how Blackwell fleshes out her characters to capture the struggles the main characters face as they strive to rise above their predicament. Choosing this setting allows Blackwell to steer away from the horrors of camps like Auschwitz, and to focus more on the internal conflict Capucine and Mathilde are experiencing as they try to struggle against their own prisons: one from the Nazis and her past, the other from controlling grandparents.
The book is set to be released on April 19, 2022. I recommend this book to be in Mom’s bag of goodies as you remember her on Mothers Day. Like Mathilde, it is never too late to reconnect with your moms and know that they are still a part of your life–no matter the distance and time.
“Mathilde, you are a sweet girl. I know that you haven’t had an easy relationship with your mother, and that your grandparents never cared for her. But trust me, your relationship to your mother, however, imperfect, is important. Your grandparents raised you and love you, but your mother will always be a large part of who you are.” She tapped her chest. “In here, where it counts.”
-Juliet Blackwell in The Paris showroom–
Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Readers (digital) Copy of this book. All opinions are my own and were in no way influenced by the publisher.
For more historical novels previously released, check out my round-up of these set against the backdrop of wars, Grace Kelly’s French visit, depression-era Kentucky, and 1800s America.
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