#BlogTour: While Paris Slept by Ruth Druart @RuthDruart @headlinepg @RandomTTours #WhileParisSlept #RuthDruart #WW2 #RandomThingsTours

Book Synopsis:

On a platform in occupied Paris, a mother whispers goodbye.
It is the end. But also the beginning…

Beautiful. Powerful. Unforgettable. A stunning portrait of the brutality of war and the tenacity of love. In the tradition of Virginia Baily’s Early One Morning and M. L. Stedman’s The Light Between Oceans.

Paris 1944
A young woman’s future is torn away in a heartbeat. Herded on to a train bound for Auschwitz, in an act of desperation she entrusts her most precious possession to a stranger. All she has left now is hope.

Santa Cruz 1953
Jean-Luc thought he had left it all behind. The scar on his face a small price to pay for surviving the horrors of Nazi Occupation. Now, he has a new life in California, a family. He never expected the past to come knocking on his door.

On a darkened platform, two destinies become entangled. Their choice will change the future in ways neither could have imagined…

While Paris Slept is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy via the link below of through your local indie bookstore.

My Review:

While Paris Slept is a beautiful, heartbreaking book which manages to be uplifting at the same time. If you are a fan of historical fiction set in world war two then you will love this book.

The thing that most stand out about this book is the wonderful descriptions that just draws the reader into the story and makes you feel like you are actually there experiencing everything first hand. I felt like I could feel the desperation and fear of the people on the station which made me want to jump into the book to help them. It must have been horrendous to experience that and I felt very emotional reading about everything that occurred.

The two timelines were both very interesting and unusually for me I didn’t prefer one to the other which meant I found the book hard to put down as there was always something happening. I liked the way both stories unfolded and the way that they came together in a realistic way. The characters were all very relatable ones who I felt a lot of sympathy for and I liked following their stories throughout the book. I felt very involved in the story and their fates so had to keep reading to find out what happens to them.

Overall I really enjoyed this book which gripped me from the start and kept me reading, though I must admit to having to take a few breaks in some of the more emotional moments. This is a book that takes you through every emotion possible and I have continued to think about it since reading. I think it would make a good book club read as there would be lots to discuss.

Huge thanks to Headline for my copy of this book and to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour.

About The Author:

Ruth Druart grew up on the Isle of Wight, moving away at the age of eighteen to study psychology at Leicester University. She has lived in Paris since 1993, where she has followed a career in teaching. She has recently taken a sabbatical, so that she can follow her dream of writing full-time.