The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel - A Book Review

  

Elise LeClair had no idea how different her life would be from the one she anticipated as she left New York to take up residence with her new husband in Paris. Juliette Foulon had no idea how entangled their lives would become when she came to Elise's aid as Elise experienced false labor in the park near Juliette's bookshop. Of course, war makes lives totally unpredictable. It also forces people to make impossible decisions that will forever change the course of their lives.

Kristin Harmel has once again blessed her readers with a work of great depth. While she explores the horrors of war, Harmel highlights the resilience of the human spirit, the ability to continue living one day at a time during the toughest of times, and the huge capacity people have to love and to forgive. She also recognizes brokenness resulting in the absence of any forward momentum. Readers explore these things right alongside her as they too become entangled in both Elise and Juliette's lives, extricating themselves only after the last page has been turned leaving them grateful for this latest offering from Kristin Harmel. I am also grateful to have received a complimentary copy of The Paris Daughter from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel - A Book Review

   


This wonderful book grew even more wonderful about halfway through when I flipped to the back and read the the Author's Note before reading on. Learning the history on which the story is based made the story seem so much more realistic, while retaining its mystical bent. I read and review mostly Christian fiction; this book isn't that, but it does have spiritual aspects and is tastefully written. The story will appeal to fans of historical fiction as it is set in a forest in Poland during World War II, and includes characters with very real struggles of the times. The theme of character being shaped by hard times is very well formed, and one that is as pertinent to the present as to the past.

I am grateful to have received a complementary copy of The Forest of Vanishing Stars from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel - A Book Review

   

It is nice to know that midst all of the craziness, 2020 still has some special treasures to offer; The Book of Lost Names being one of them. This is my favorite book of the year thus far, and it will be difficult to unseat. Kristen Harmel fully emerges her readers in the life of Eva Traube, graduate student turned forger for the French Resistance. We get a glimpse of Eva's life as an eighty-six-year-old librarian in Florida, but most of the story takes place in the early 1940s in France. The book is well-researched, well-written, and quite emotional. I give it my highest recommendation, and am grateful to have received a copy from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.