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Book Summary and Reviews of Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba

Les Parisiennes by Anne Sebba

Les Parisiennes

How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation

by Anne Sebba

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  • Oct 2016, 448 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

New York Times bestselling author Anne Sebba explores a devastating period in Paris's history and tells the stories of how women survived - or didn't - during the Nazi occupation.

Paris in the 1940s was a place of fear, power, aggression, courage, deprivation, and secrets. During the occupation, the swastika flew from the Eiffel Tower and danger lurked on every corner. While Parisian men were either fighting at the front or captured and forced to work in German factories, the women of Paris were left behind where they would come face to face with the German conquerors on a daily basis, as waitresses, shop assistants, or wives and mothers, increasingly desperate to find food to feed their families as hunger became part of everyday life.

When the Nazis and the puppet Vichy regime began rounding up Jews to ship east to concentration camps, the full horror of the war was brought home and the choice between collaboration and resistance became unavoidable. Sebba focuses on the role of women, many of whom faced life and death decisions every day. After the war ended, there would be a fierce settling of accounts between those who made peace with or, worse, helped the occupiers and those who fought the Nazis in any way they could.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Sebba's clear-eyed narrative concludes, correctly, that these women deserve understanding, not judgment. Photos." - Publishers Weekly

"Despite its lengthy cast of characters, Sebba's work delivers an intriguing perspective of an overlooked group during a time when all were tested beyond their limits. Paris history buffs will enjoy a new look at the city during World War II." - Library Journal

"Despite the gossipy bits, the research is impressive, and Sebba offers balance to the plethora of war histories featuring the roles of men. The book has ample material for lively discussion in women's studies classes." - Kirkus

"Fascinating ... Anna Sebba knows everything about Paris during the war... She understands everything about the chic, loathsome collaborators and the Holocaust victims, and their stories are told in an irresistible narrative flood." - Edmund White, bestselling author of The Flaneur and Our Young Man

This information about Les Parisiennes was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Sharon W. (Columbia, SC)

Enlightening Read
So many men were sucked into the war machine, but the French women who were left behind fought bravely and intelligently in their own way. I learned a lot.

Gwen C. (Clearfield, PA)

The Parisiennes
Regarding World War II literature I would say Anne Sebba's Les Parisiennes is to nonfiction as Kristin Hannah's Nightingale is to fiction; i.e. outstanding! The meticulously researched stories plunge you into another world and time, yet there are unsettling shadows of our current global unrest. I had to sift slowly through it, learning, reflecting and frankly, being totally amazed at the author's ability to compile this volume of women vs. war.

Dorothy H. (Folsom, CA)

A look at survival of Paris women WWII
I found the book to be easy to read and follow the true stories of the women that lived and died during the occupation. The women did what they needed to do to care and feed themselves and loved ones. Some sided with the Germans and paid the price after the war but they survived a terrible time.

A look into the past that makes one think: What would I do ?

Ginny H. (Troutdale, OR)

Les Parisiennes
As a person born during WWII I've always been fascinated with the struggles that Germany perpetrated onto their foes. I've read many books about the Nazi overtaking of Paris and particularly enjoyed this book because I am a woman. This book centers on the choices the women of the time had to make in order to survive and it's fascinating.

Janice C. (Hayward, CA)

Les Parisiennes
I find it fascinating how brave women are when it comes to protecting their family.

Sarah W. (Frenchtown, MT)

Paris Interrupted
This book creates a flowing narrative of what it was like to be a Parisian woman immediately prior to, during, and just after World War II. We learn of many individuals stories, how they coped, what they lost, and how the proceeded with life after war, or didn't. The author clearly did her research, and presented a cohesive view of Paris society in all its layers, and encouraged the reader to contemplate the difficult choices faced by so many in such dire circumstances surrounding the Nazi occupation. However, I was hoping for a little more of a concentrated focus on fewer participants in the events described. Rather we are treated to a long, sometimes disjointed-feeling list of individuals and their experiences, although she was able to tie these short stories to a larger subject at hand--for example the experience of Jewish concentration camp survivors returning to their Paris homes. Altogether it was a good read, and very educational. I feel I've been to Paris in the 1940's and learned much about the various choices people were forced to make for survival of self, family, and country.

...25 more reader reviews

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Author Information

Anne Sebba

Anne Sebba is a biographer, lecturer, journalist and former Reuters foreign correspondent. She has written eight books, including acclaimed biographies of Jennie Churchill and Mother Theresa, as well as the New York Times bestseller That Woman about the life of Wallis Simpson. She is a member of the Society of Authors Executive Committee.

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