The Room on Rue Amélie, by Kristin Harmel (2018)
The Room on Rue Amélie reads like a young adult sanitized version of Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II.
The novel focuses on Ruby Henderson Benoit, a young American woman who meets the French Marcel Benoit in a coffee shop in New York and marries him 6 months later. They move to Paris in the late 1930s against her parent’s objections. She is determined to become a true Parisian. (She had learned French in school and can apparently speak a passable version of the language, albeit with an accent.)
Her marriage soon sours. Marcel spends long hours away from their apartment and never explains his absences. Since his character was not developed, we don’t know why Ruby fell for him in the first place, other than he was very handsome. We do learn, however, that he is involved in the French resistance and has been hiding downed Allied pilots in a secret room in the hallway of their apartment building. Marcel doesn’t want his wife to be involved in the Resistance, she wants to feel useful in the War effort. She learns of the secret room and becomes involved in the escape line for downed pilots.
When the RAF pilot, Thomas, appears at her door, she falls head-over-heels in love. The author doesn’t explain the attraction. Why this pilot? She harbors numerous downed soldiers. We learn as much of some of the other soldiers as we do Thomas.
A Jewish family lives in the apartment next door. Young Charlotte befriends Ruby. When the French police round up Jewish families, Ruby promises Charlotte’s parents she will take care of her should anything happen. Soon young Charlotte, who is forced to grow up very quickly, becomes involved in the resistance as well.
This was a very quick read, and something that I could see myself enjoying when I was about 12 years old. The characters were not fully developed and the book did not depict the actual horrors and fears of living in Paris during the Nazi occupation.
Read: July 6, 2020
3 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment