What secrets can a simple necklace hold? For Louise in Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff, the answer is a gripping tale of sacrifice, resistance, and the enduring strength of love in the face of unimaginable darkness that sends Louise Burns on a quest to unravel the dark past of a Parisian department store turned Nazi prison. But as she gets closer to the truth, the more determined the forces to keep it buried become.
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London’s Quiet Shattered: A Parisian Puzzle Emerges
Ten years have passed after the Nazi occupation where we find Louise Burns, a British woman who served with the British Red Cross during the war, now living a seemingly quiet postwar life in London. She works in a secondhand store and navigates the echoes of trauma alongside her husband, Joe. It’s the discovery of a necklace within a box bearing the name of the Parisian department store, Lévitan, that shatters this quietude, sparking a flicker of recognition and pulling her into a quest to unravel a mystery connected to her wartime past.
The urgency of this quest is deeply personal: Louise believes the secrets held within Lévitan could finally explain the mysterious death of her friend, Franny, during the war. Knowing she can’t solve this puzzle alone, she seeks the assistance of her former Red Cross boss, Ian Shipley.
Paris and the Shadow of Lévitan
The Parisian setting of Last Twilight in Paris is more than just a romantic backdrop; it’s a city bearing the weight of a true and unsettling history. The novel unfolds in a dual timeline, also immersing the reader in Nazi-occupied Paris, where we meet Helaine Weil. A Parisian Jewish woman, Helaine Weil’s life takes a devastating turn when she finds herself imprisoned within Lévitan, a department store with a chilling past sadly inspired by these real events. Once a Parisian furniture store, Lévitan was transformed during WWII into a Nazi prison where Jewish prisoners were forced into the dehumanizing labor of sorting and selling the possessions stolen from their own community. This stark reality imbues every corner of Louise’s investigation with a sense of profound loss and the urgent need for truth to be revealed.
Exploring Themes of Love, Survival, and Resistance
Pam Jenoff does a fine job of interweaving several powerful themes throughout Last Twilight in Paris, with love, survival, and resistance standing out. These themes are not presented singularly but rather intricately connected, demonstrating the resilience of the human spirit even in the face of unimaginable cruelty.
Love in the Shadows
Love takes on various forms in the novel, acting as both a source of vulnerability and a powerful motivator for courage. We see the enduring bond demonstrated in romantic love between Louise and Ian, familial love or the love between friends like Louise and Franny and its influence. This love often faces immense challenges posed by the war and its aftermath, testing its limits and highlighting its capacity to transcend even the darkest circumstances. This Holocaust novel suggests that even in times of profound loss and fear, the human spirit has a need for connection and affection remains a vital force.
The Instinct to Survive
The theme of survival permeates both timelines of the narrative. In Nazi-occupied Paris, characters like Helaine are forced to make impossible choices in order to endure the brutal realities of imprisonment and persecution. Survival isn’t merely about physical existence; it encompasses the will to maintain one’s dignity, hope, and sense of self in the face of dehumanization.
Acts of Resistance, Big and Small
Resistance manifests in various ways throughout Last Twilight in Paris, not always through grand acts of defiance. We see overt acts of bravery, but also more subtle forms of resistance: the refusal to succumb to despair, the quiet acts of defiance, and the determination to preserve humanity in inhumane conditions. Louise’s quest to uncover the truth about Franny’s death can also be seen as an act of resistance against the silencing of the past and the forces that seek to keep it buried. The novel underscores that even in the darkest of times, the human spirit can find ways to push back against oppression, which is very moving.
My Concluding Thoughts
Ultimately, the interplay of love, survival, and resistance in Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff shared in this review creates a compelling and emotionally resonant reading experience. The author demonstrates the profound impact of these fundamental human drives in the face of historical tragedy, leaving the reader to contemplate the enduring strength of the human heart. If you’re looking for your next read, I recommend picking this thought-provoking WWII historical mystery novel out. You will be glad that you did once you start reading.
Thanks to HarperCollins for this #gifted book for this review.
