Book Review for After Paris by Mary Ellen Taylor

 

After Paris by Mary Ellen Taylor

Published:  May 13, 2025 by Montlake

Genre:  Historical Fiction

 

Taken from Goodreads:  From the author of The Brighter the Light comes a haunting tale of hope that spans generations, intertwining the lives of three women who fight for survival in 1940s France and present-day Virginia.

At twenty-five, Ruby Nevins has already endured more than most. But after two years of battling cancer, she’s warily determined to move forward. Researching a new project about a French actress, she soon uncovers an old diary that will change her life forever…

Cécile, the “it girl” of early 1940s French cinema, vanished from Nazi-occupied Paris in 1942. Sylvia Rousseau, Cécile’s dressmaker and confidante, left that same year. Working to piece together the truth behind Cécile’s disappearance and Sylvia’s extraordinary life, Ruby recognizes the women as kindred spirits. They risked their hearts and lives to aid the Resistance, and each day was a struggle to survive.

Ruby knows her cancer could come back, but she’s learning to embrace the future rather than fear it. If Cécile and Sylvia could live their lives in the shadow of death, so can Ruby. Because she knows there’s so much life—and love—to fight for.

 

My Thoughts:  Oh my gosh!  After Paris is phenomenal. The French film industry during wartime is not something that I know much about and After Paris has intrigued me to learn more.  Cécile is a French actress trying to stay alive, work, and keep those who are important to her alive while becoming an “it-girl.”   Ruby’s quest to find out what happen to Cécile while also keeping her learning out to live life again after winning her battle with cancer is her own type of battle.

 

After Paris is a dual timeframe book. I enjoyed that neither timeframe got more time than the other.  Both timeframes were enthralling to me.  I was invested in Cécile and Ruby’s story, as they were both fighting their own wars.  Cécile and Ruby were lucky to have people in their corners to support them and lift them up as needed. 

 

As I came to the end of the book, it was tied together perfectly.  There are no cliffhangers for any characters, the characters lives are completed as best they can be.  I love that I was not left with questions and needing more.

 

Thank you to the author for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. 

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Meet Mary Ellen Taylor (taken from herwebsite):  Amazon Charts bestselling author, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state Virginia is evident in her contemporary women’s fiction, including After Paris, The Promise of Tomorrow, Winter Cottage, Spring House, and Honeysuckle Season. She brings her new home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to life in her latest novel The Brighter The Light and When the Rain Ends.

 

As do so many people, her protagonists search for their place in the world, exploring issues of family, home, love and belonging. Inevitably, Mary Ellen’s stories interweave setting, history and mysteries that span past and present.

 

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