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There are currently 31 member reviews
for Les Parisiennes
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Laura P. (Atlanta, GA)
Les Parisiennes
Anne Sebba's history of the German occupation of Paris, seen through the eyes of its women, has much to recommend it. The book is extensively researched, using both primary and secondary sources, and covers the impact of the Paris Occupation by the Nazis from a variety of perspectives: the social and artistic elite, the fashion community, collaborators, Resistance participants, Jews, mothers - in addition to providing lots of contextual information. The cast of characters provided at the end of the book is an essential item, so many women are discussed. In fact that strength is also a huge problem. The book is organized chronologically, with chapters named by year. A character first discussed in 1940 may not show up again until 1944 - so keeping a story line in mind (when there are nearly 100 women on the list and lots of men show up in this book ,too) is nearly impossible. The material is just not well organized, and that makes the book very frustrating. The subject is fascinating but this presentation of it is just not very satisfying.
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Carolyn V. (Douglass, KS)
The Important Book That Could Have Been
This book was a very long 381 pages. The first 100 pages read like treacle, the middle read well, and the end seemed to never come. The content, women's lives during the occupation of Paris by the Nazis is very important information that should not be lost. But many people will give up on this book because the organization is difficult to follow. For that I am sad. It seemed to me the parts that were fleshed out with historical context were fascinating. But especially the beginning did not have sufficient historical context to hold the attention. It seemed to be bits and pieces of a story. Because of its presentation I don't think I can recall much of the history that I read. There were two quotes, already mentioned in previous reviews that increased my understanding of the world.
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Mary S. (Bow, NH)
A disappointment
I looked forward to reading this book as I thought it would be similar to Erik Larsen's style of telling an historical story. I was especially excited as it was a woman author expressing women's voices. I was moved to tears by the Forward and the author's recollection of attending a WWII surviving women's event in Paris. However, the book did not live up to my expectations. To me, the reading became tedious because we never really got to know any of the women quoted in the book. Instead, the reader was presented with short descriptions or quotes from so many woman it destroyed the continuity and I lost the thread of the story. I was hoping to learn more about women had to go through during the war, and I didn't learn anything that I didn't know already.
