The Room on Rue Amelie

December 11, 2017
Harmel (The Sweetness of Forgetting) injects new life into a well-worn story in this hopeful three-voiced tale about the struggle to find normalcy amid the horrors of WWII. On a damp, blustery afternoon in 1930s New York, Ruby Henderson meets a handsome Frenchman in a cafe. Swept off her feet and into a whirlwind marriage (and relocation to Paris), Ruby quickly learns that her storybook romance may be spoiled by external forces as Europe topples into war. Ruby’s story’s emotional core is her struggle to establish her own identity and help others who are less fortunate, despite the growing dangers to herself. Harmel treats this subject with great care; although Ruby’s story is set in the past, the values by which she lives feel current. Unfortunately, the second narrator, Ruby’s young Jewish neighbor Charlotte Dacher, receives wobbly treatment, with a narrative voice that never quite lands. The third major point of view comes from tender-hearted, attractive RAF pilot Thomas Clarke, who helps Ruby’s story progress but is insufficiently fleshed out on his own. Harmel’s emotionally fraught story hammers home the message that each person has a unique opportunity to stand against injustice. This is a celebration of those, like Ruby, who found the courage to face life head-on. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary.

February 1, 2018

American Ruby Benoit voluntarily stays in Nazi-occupied Paris to support her French husband but is frustrated by his refusal to confide the details of his wartime activities. Determined to prove that he's wrong to shelter her, Ruby teams up with her Jewish neighbors' precocious young daughter, Charlotte, to defy the Nazis despite the growing risks. The stakes get even higher when Ruby, now a widow, falls for a handsome Allied pilot stranded behind enemy lines. The subject matter of Harmel's (The Life Intended) latest novel overlaps somewhat with recent book club favorites Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls but differs in ultimately focusing primarily on the development of a wartime romance rather than on immersive details of life under German occupation or on the tough moral choices required of such a life. She does create likable if somewhat cliched protagonists. Ruby's journey from sheltered wife to confident heroine is an enjoyable one, even if the book's ending feels more than a little emotionally manipulative. VERDICT Recommended for fans of World War II historical fiction who need a break from some of the grittier titles out there.--Mara Bandy Fass, Champaign P.L., IL

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