“…A world at war. A beautiful young star. A mission no one expected.”
Paris, 1944*** Internationally celebrated songstress, Genevieve Dumont, is both a star and a smokescreen. An active, though unwilling member of an underground French Resistance cell as well as a reluctant darling to the Nazis in occupied France, Mademoiselle Dumont’s position of privilege has it’s advantages: unrestricted travel, permission to be out after curfew, the best of food and drink Paris has to offer (while normal citizens are close to starvation,) and working undetected in conjunction with undercover British officer Captain Max Ryan (who is Mme. Dumont’s business manager.)
Although THE BLACK SWAN of PARIS is Karen Robards’ first historical fiction book, she’s a bestselling author in her own right. She’s crafted this WWII novel to include estranged family dynamics, loyalty, partisans, spies, intrigue and action…even a bit of romance. Not only did Robards do a prodigious amount of research on the facts of WWII events, but more importantly, she’s depicted what the day to day life was like for the citizens living through the Nazi occupation. Microscopic details such as what they substituted for coffee, or the types of foods available… I got a solid sense of the fear, hunger and desperation the people lived with day after day…how nothing else mattered but their survival. I got a real feeling for the acts and work of the brave resistance fighters…the intricate planning…as the days drew closer to the allied invasion.
This historical jewel is highly recommended to those who enjoy a richly detailed, emotional, edge-of-your-seat suspense-filled book that you can’t put down until the very last word is read! I LOVED IT!
Life...vivere.com 