Escape from Paris by Carolyn Hart, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Carolyn Hart goes back in history to the early 1940s to expose some of the horrors the citizens of France experienced and suffered after the German's invaded their country in Escape from Paris, a novel of historical suspense first published in 1983 and newly reissued by Seventh Street Books.

Eleanor Masson and Linda Rossiter are sisters living in Paris. Fourteen years earlier Eleanor had married a French man, who was now missing in action since Dunkirk. They have a 13-year-old son, Robert. Linda had recently returned to Paris after the death of their mother in America. Both women are nurses and it was almost by accident that the first injured RAF pilot came into their lives. When leaving the hospital after her tour of duty, Linda had allowed the pilot to hide in the trunk of her car. She took him to their apartment where Robert knew of a great hiding place, which he had found while playing games with his friends. With the help of a courageous priest, the women are able to help more men slip by the German police. It isn't long before they had access to another apartment where they could take the men. Sometimes the men would be in their care for days, though food was rationed and very expensive. They needed someone to help them financially, but who could they ask and not reveal why, for fear the Nazis would be informed? After they had helped over fifty men to escape from France, a neighbor does inform the police that something odd is happening in Eleanor's home. She is arrested and put into jail. When she refuses to admit her part in saving the British, she is moved to a prison where they tortured anyone who did not cooperate. Linda decides to send Robert on the trail to freedom with the final group of men not really knowing if they would make it.

Escape from Paris is set in a period before the United States gets involved in the war in Europe, a time when the US was officially neutral. As such, an American in Paris under occupation was a somewhat awkward position to be in. Hart does an excellent job of character development with Eleanor and Linda, instilling them with qualities of courage and ingenuity. The escape scenes are realistically depicted and gripping, and a strong element to the story. An intriguing novel, one that will engage readers today much as it did 30 years ago.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Escape from Paris.

Acknowledgment: Seventh Street Books provided a copy of Escape from Paris for this review.

The Devereaux Legacy
Seventh Street Books (Trade Paperback), February 2013
ISBN-13: 9781616147044; ISBN-10: 1616147040

From the Queen
Mysterious Press (eBook), August 2015
ISBN-13: 9781504016476; ISBN-10: 1504016475