April in Paris

A Novel

By: Michael Wallner

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A suspenseful and dramatic story of impossible love between a German soldier and a French Resistance fighter in World War Two Paris.

In 1943, Michel Roth is a young soldier working in the German army’s back offices in occupied Paris. But his fluency in French gets Roth a new task when the Gestapo find themselves in need of a translator for the confessions of interrogated French resisters.

After work Roth chooses another path–he slips out of his hotel carrying a bag of civilian clothes and steals into an alley where he changes personas, becoming Monsieur Antoine, a young Frenchman. He strolls the streets of Paris, where one day he meets Chantal, daughter of an antiquarian bookseller. They fall in love, and when Chantal warns him away from the notorious café Turachevsky, favoured nightspot for German officers and the French women who entertain them, Michel believes it is out of jealousy. Too late he discovers that she is a member of the Resistance, and his naiveté leaves Michel on the other side of the SS interrogation machine.

What follows is a tale of desperate cat and mouse through Paris, and into the devastated French countryside at the end of the war, when neighbours are quick to betray neighbours, and even to take revenge into their own hands.

©2006 Luchterhand Literturverlag, a division of Verlagsgruppe Random House GmbH. English translation 2007 John Cullen (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Michael Wallner is capable of writing with spare elegance, and he evokes war-ravaged Paris with a deft touch. This is the tale of a young German soldier serving with the forces of the Nazi occupation who becomes entangled with a Frenchwoman--the sort of love affair that's inevitably called 'doomed'."--The New York Times Book Review

"This fast-paced thriller about a young man's unforeseen moral dilemma delivers suspense all the way through to its unexpected ending....Think Alan Furst with a different sort of hero, and a darker, more visceral edge."--Booklist

"April in Paris is a thrilling read . . . Michael Wallner writes with great delicacy . . . deftly creating an atmosphere full of suspense.”—Monika Melcher, Lesart

AWFUL!

Ridiculous and trite story of a "love affair" in Paris under the Nazi Occupation. Don't waste your time.

A beautiful love story set in occupied paris...

What did you love best about April in Paris?

This is a very moving story about two people who just wanted to be "normal", but tragically it turned out to be impossible in occupied Paris. Sadly, there was no room for love or compassion during those dark days. The harsh reality is well described by M. Wallner.
This is not a romance, this is an historical fiction.The story is very classy and there are no bodice ripper moments in it.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was told from Corporal Roth's point of view , his love for Chantal is very touching, he never loses hope that they will be reunited. Even when he was tortured by the Gestapo he never gave up hope and tried to draw strength from his memories of Chantal and the time they've spent together. This is a story about a person with an immense inner strength who loses everything in a second, but manages to stay human and not succumb to the devils that surround him.

Have you listened to any of Paul Michael’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my first listen, but i'd like to listen to his other works.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Roth and Chantal kissing in the street when a German vehicle passes by in order to disguise Roth's face from his commander who is in the car.

Any additional comments?

It is a quick read and recommended for Historical fiction lovers, especially those who are interested in historical fiction about WW2 .

the narrator was great.

The narrator was great; however, I struggled with the love story I thought it would have been better if it was more passionate