Excerpt from A Bookshop in Berlin by Francoise Frenkel, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

What a fright I had when the driver slowed down a little at Place de la Bastille. An extremely elegant young woman leapt onto the running board of my vehicle and, clinging to the door, said with a charming smile, as if paying a social call, "I hope you don't mind, madame? It's just to reserve the car."

It was so congested in front of the Gare de Lyon that the driver had to set me down at the end of the ramp. I was delighted when a drunkard improvising as a porter offered me his services. Indeed, he acquitted himself of the task admirably.

Half an hour later, we were on our way.

The quiet fields, the peaceful surroundings, the cheerful countryside unfolding outside, it was still as magnificent as ever. We spoke little. We were thinking about those countries already invaded and ravaged, of the dark night ready to descend over France.

Three days later, Paris was bombed. There were a thousand victims.

War had been unleashed on France. The Germans were approaching the capital.

From A Bookshop in Berlin: The Rediscovered Memoir of One Woman's Harrowing Escape from the Nazis by Françoise Frenkel. Reprinted by permission of Atria, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Copyright © 2019 by Françoise Frenkel.