The Paris Housekeeper: World War II Women (4.5 Stars)

I recently finished reading The Paris Housekeeper by Renee Ryan. This book was published late last year. I won it in a Goodreads Giveaway. It’s the story of three women living in Paris when the Germans first invaded France during World War II.

Introducing the Women

This book follows the stories of three women in Paris during the early days of the German occupation of France. There’s Rachel, a Jew, whose family doesn’t practice the religion much, so her father assumes at first that the family will be safe. There’s Camille, who came to Paris to get more money to send back home. Then there’s Vivian, a rich American living in Paris, who isn’t quite the person that she appears on the surface.

Reader Warnings

This book is cleanish. There’s no swearing. The violence and sexual content are mostly behind the scenes. There’s really only one violent scene. It comes toward the end of the novel. When it comes to World War II novels, I’d consider that scene on the mild side, but it may be a bit disturbing for some readers.

Several characters have to deal with deciding where their values lie and how far they are willing to go to help others (and in some cases, protect themselves). Decisions of how much they are willing to cooperate (or at least pretend to cooperate) with the Germans are a huge theme of the book. One character even has to decide how far she is willing to take things when it comes to being a high-ranking German officer’s “mistress.” Going deeper means more information as well as more money to help Jews and others escape. Yet, it also means doing things that she swore she’d never do.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is a 4.5-star book. I rounded up because I feel like it’s a very good story, especially if you are a fan of World War II books. Most of the World War II books that I’ve read about people from France deal with the French Resistance. While some of the characters are resisting Germany’s rule of their country, this wasn’t a French Resistance book. While I love French Resistance books, I was glad to get a bit of a different perspective.