The Room on Rue Amélie

By: Kristin Harmel

Narrated by: Madeleine Maby, Jacques Roy

Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

For fans of Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls, this powerful novel of fate, resistance, and family - by the international best-selling author of The Sweetness of Forgetting and When We Meet Again - tells the tale of an American woman, a British RAF pilot, and a young Jewish teenager whose lives intersect in occupied Paris during the tumultuous days of World War II.

When newlywed Ruby Henderson Benoit arrives in Paris in 1939 with her French husband, Marcel, she imagines strolling arm in arm along the grand boulevards, awash in the golden afternoon light. But war is looming on the horizon, and as France falls to the Nazis, her marriage begins to splinter, too.

Charlotte Dacher is 11 when the Germans roll into the French capital, their sinister swastika flags snapping in the breeze. After the Jewish restrictions take effect and Jews are ordered to wear the yellow star, Charlotte can't imagine things getting much worse. But then the mass deportations begin, and her life is ripped forever apart.

Thomas Clarke joins the British Royal Air Force to protect his country, but when his beloved mother dies in a German bombing during the waning days of the Blitz, he wonders if he's really making a difference. Then he finds himself in Paris, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, and he discovers a new reason to keep fighting - and an unexpected road home.

When fate brings them together, Ruby, Charlotte, and Thomas must summon the courage to defy the Nazis - and to open their own broken hearts - as they fight to survive. Rich with historical drama and emotional depth, this is an unforgettable story that will stay with you long after the final minute.

©2018 Kristin Harmel (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Beautiful story, lousy narration

Since most of the story takes place in France, I guess they took a narrator whose French accent can seem pretty real. But so S-L-O-W, with so many gaps between words, she loses the flow of the story line itself. Frustrating to listen to. The written version would probably be much better. This is the first time I've ever felt that about an audible book.

Loved this book so much!

This is a wonderful piece of historical fiction! The naration is spot on and the story made me keep coming back for more. I felt as though these characters were friends and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Very sad

Struggled to finish the book
Too many memories of the terrible times
Well read
Too stark reality

expected me

I think I was expecting more, since it was so often compared to The Nightingale. Most of the story was kind of boring, no true character development. good stories, but they just fell flat with me. The ending was good, but that was literally the last 5 minutes.

Excellent!

Loved everything! Kudos to the author. And very well recited also . I enjoyed the book

Good

Female narrator's voice was not my favorite, but ok. Overall, the book was great! Thanks.

A great WWII story

I enjoyed this touching story about life in Paris during the war. The actions of the Resistance were told in detail, and the strong characters seemed so real. Strength, bravery, and love were in full display.

Surprising twist at end

(As posted in GoodReads)
I finished the book several days ago, but we had the book club meeting about it tonight, and I have been able to use it to solidify some of my thoughts.
I generally liked the book, but the end was a total surprise. At the start, there are man and a woman are not the expected characters, and I suppose that it is a little unsettling – not necessarily in a bad way, but in a surprising way. Overall, as a Jewish American my historical introduction to World War II has been concentrated on the US and the Holocaust. This book gave a little more substance to my knowledge of the war and its effect on the rest of Western Europe and the rest of the world other than Germany and the US. We Americans are so concentrated on US and how things affect us (Americans)! Observing the war from France's viewpoint is, I think, an important addition to my overall view of World War II.
The book itself, well, the dual romances were disconcerting, and I feared that it would end up being primarily a romance book. Fortunately, that fear was unfounded, but the reunion of Thomas and Ruby was more than a little unlikely… Overall, though, the book was worthwhile.

The Room on The Amelie

This was book was narrated in a way that carried the emotion of the characters. It was a hard book to put down. The characters came to life in a story that depicted a war that scared the lives of millions.

Amazing through paths of lives lived bravely!

Great read... such purpose and heart. The ending will take you to a place you don’t see coming! Splendid.