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    The Parisians
    The Parisians
    The Parisians
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Parisians

    Written by Marius Gabriel

    Narrated by Karissa Vacker

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In occupied Paris, one woman risks everything to help bring down the Nazis.

    Paris, 1940. The Nazis have occupied the city—and the Ritz. The opulent old hotel, so loved by Parisians, is now full of swaggering officers, their minions and their mistresses.

    For American Olivia Olsen, working as a chambermaid at the hotel means denying her nationality and living a lie, every day bringing the danger of discovery closer. When Hitler’s right-hand man moves in and makes her his pet, she sees an opportunity to help the Resistance—and draw closer to Jack, her contact, whose brusque instructions may be a shield for something more…

    Within the hotel, famed designer Coco Chanel quickly learns that the new regime could work to her benefit, while Arletty, one of France’s best-loved actresses, shocks those around her—and herself—with a forbidden love.

    But as the war reaches its terrible end, all three women learn the true price of their proximity to the enemy. For in the shadow of war, is anyone truly safe?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJan 17, 2019
    ISBN9781721333189
    The Parisians
    Author

    Marius Gabriel

    Marius Gabriel was accused by Cosmopolitan magazine of ‘keeping you reading while your dinner burns’. He served his author apprenticeship as a student at Newcastle University, where, to finance his postgraduate research, he wrote thirty-three steamy romances under a pseudonym. Gabriel is the author of several historical novels, including the bestsellers The Seventh Moon, The Original Sin and the Redcliffe Sisters series, Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye and Take Me To Your Heart Again. Born in South Africa, he has lived and worked in many countries, and now divides his time between London and Cairo. He has three grown-up children.

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    Reviews for The Parisians

    4/5

    38 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Another WWII book, The Parisians was a superb read. It was heavy on the real persons (a good thing) such as Coco Chanel, Hermann Goring, Arlette (Machal), athlete Violet Morris turned Gestapo torturer and Swedish Raol Wallenberg. Most of the action takes place at the Ritz Hotel, which the Nazis did commandeer (with a 90% discount) as their headquarters. A great book depicting both the collaborators as well as the resistance

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This book was way better than I expected. I absolutely loved it. Finally something that paints chanel in the way she deserves. I love how morality is so gray in this book. I definitely recommend it.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book in which of the three main female characters, two were real people who lived in France and at the Ritz during the German occupation of WWII. Historical fiction usually drives me to research more about the real-life people who are included and to research the accuracy of the story with regard to them. In this case, I did this pretty early on as there was a relationship in here with one character that immediately caused me to question if it was accurate or more of a current political agenda being included in the story. I confirmed that it was accurate (when you get there, you'll know what I'm talking about). I've read reviews where someone commented that they enjoyed the two story-lines about Arletty and Coco Chanel but not the one of Olivia Olsen. I enjoyed all three and especially liked the overlap between them all. Thinking back on this, it is a bit heartbreaking that the futures in the book of Arletty and Coco were not very overly happy ones. Olivia's balanced that out. This book has inspired me to learn more about Arletty and Coco and to explore on my own and that is probably the thing that I love most about historical fiction so this book was definitely a 4 star rating!
    • 3/5
      World War II novels set in Paris or London and dealing with Resistance fighters have become their own genre, and some are just awful. This one, however, is fairly good and deals with actually characters of the time: Coco Chanel and the French actress, Arletty.The story revolves around a young American artist who becomes a chambermaid at the Hotel Ritz and is recruited by the OSS to take pictures of German documents to pass on to London. ironically, since this is the main character in the book, it's the weakest part of the novel because it is so unlikely. But the details of life in occupied Paris, the brutality of the Germans, and the ways Parisians accommodated themselves to the occupation is very, very real.Not too many surprises in the plot, but the author is a good enough writer that the reader keeps turning the pages.
    • 5/5
      As an artist, Olivia finds Paris to be a much harder place to make a living than she expected. Forced to find work Olivia joins the staff at the Ritz as a chambermaid. As the Nazi's take over Paris, they also take over the luxurious rooms and spaces of the Ritz. Forced to clean the rooms of top Nazi's, Olivia finds an opportunity to work for the allies, photographing documents left strewn about their rooms. This was a very interesting story. The characters were very realistic and dynamic. I particularly loved how real historical figures were woven into the story. I look forward to reading more from this artist. Overall, highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      I'm not sure how historically accurate the story was but I liked it. I don't think I've read any other WWII stories set in Paris so that made this story unique. I loved the glamour of the Ritz and the scandalous celebrities Coco Chanel and Arletty. I don't think Olivia made a very believable spy but I couldn't help but fall in love with Yokel and Bumpkin. I'm a sucker for a slow burn, against all odds romance.I received a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.