This story meanders through Nazi-occupied Paris in 1941, and while it was a bit of a slow burn in terms of plot, it was an engaging story that I was invested in immediately. The narrative voice felt so unique and developed that, as a reader, I really felt in the middle of the story. I’ve read a lot of WWII fiction, but this story felt fresh and unlike the many other books I’ve read. For one thing, it highlights the LGBT+ community and their stories during the War. For another, it focuses on art and the power of scent and its ability to link to memory, family, and hope (or, alternatively, trauma).
I highly recommend for reads of The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah and lovers of historical fiction with fresh twists and perspectives.
Synopsis: “A Gentleman in Moscow meets “Moulin Rouge” in this stylish, sexy page-turner set in Paris on the eve of World War II, where Clementine, a queer American ex-pat and notorious thief, is drawn out of retirement and into one last scam when the Nazis invade.
It’s 1941 and Clementine’s favorite haunt, Madame Boulette’s, is crawling with Nazis, while Clem’s people–the outsiders, the artists, and the hustlers who used to call it home–are disappearing. Clem’s first instinct is to go to ground–it’s a frigid Paris winter and she’s too old to put up a fight. But when the cabaret’s prize songbird, Zoe St. Angel, recruits Clem to steal the recipe book of a now-missing famous Parisian perfumer, she can’t say no. Her mark is Oskar Voss, a Francophile Nazi bureaucrat, who wants the book and Clem’s expertise to himself.
Complete with romance, espionage, champagne towers, and haute couture, this full-tilt sensory experience is a dazzling portrait of the underground resistance of twentieth-century Paris and a passionate love letter to the power of beauty and community in the face of insidious hate.”
Thank you @doubledaybooks and @netgalley for my copy!
Have you read this? Is it on your radar? Do you read WWII fiction? 💛
THE PERFUME THIEF by Timothy Schaffert
Read It Like Rory 