For the Love of Paris

by Thomas M. Rutter, Booksurge LLC (Editor)

To a passerby strolling Boulevard St. Germain, the man and woman ensconced at the café table could be lovers. In truth, they are nearly strangers, an American writer recording the wartime experiences of a dying Frenchwoman. Christine came of age in Paris in 1937, embarking upon a series of love affairs and a career as a journalist in the glittering city of lights, living in true French fashion, with irrepressible *joie de vivre*...even as Adolf Hitler's fascist regime begins its march into France. When Christine pens a series of articles criticizing the appeasement of the Germans, she draws the ire of Nazi spies. Her Jewish husband is arrested, leaving Christine with a brutal succumb to a liaison with a Nazi General or forfeit her life and that of her family. As this intriguing novel unfolds, Christine's deep courage and unfaltering faith in the face of overwhelming odds becomes an object lesson in the importance of individual choice and the power of love and forgiveness. This second edition contains adult language and situations. An Abrideged version is available with the same For the Love of Paris - Abridged. The Abridged version does not contain adult language.

476 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at a used book sale. I started it and did not like it, but slipped to the latter part of the book which made it seem interesting, so I went back and read the whole thing. It's definitely "different". It's a heart-wrenching story of a woman during WWII (I won't say more). I thought the author finished up the ending beautifully.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by my good friend Tom Rutter; therefore, my opinions may be favorably biased or perhaps unfavorable as overcompensation. But I will endeavor to be completely honest. An intervening consideration is that an analysis of this book is hard for me because I’m not adept in the genre—I read few novels. Fortunately for me, the story isn’t entirely fiction. It’s a historical novel, so it contains elements of non-fiction and offers some teaching moments. The downside is that in some respects, a historical novel is “worse” than fiction because it deceptively pretends to be non-fictional. The upside is that it gives you a chance to live in the historical moment and perhaps gain a realistic and personalized perspective on a historic event, whereas standard historical third-person accounts tend to be theoretical, impersonal, emotionally sterile, and (unless you’re a history geek like me) mind-numbingly boring. But enough about genre; what about this book?

In a nutshell, Tom weaves a fairly complicated story using a complex of literary techniques to elucidate a true, although not widely known, historical event. Along the way, he engages in some interesting philosophical considerations and visits a variety of moral dilemmas. For example, on a stylistic tone, he manages to withhold the name of all of the story’s main antagonists, and he pulls it off without it sounding clumsy. This serves a number of purposes, among them: enhancing their mystic, making them historically untraceable and thereby more plausible, creating a challenging dynamic that runs through the entire story, and, at the same time, intensifying the reader’s relationship with Christine, the protagonist. Also on the level of style, there were certain times when, while exploring a philosophical idea, the author adopted a rhythmic dialogue that kept ratcheting up a philosophical thought process. Even if I didn’t agree with the philosophical viewpoint, the presentation style kept my interest in the argument. I thought it important, too, that the author presented different perspectives through dialogues with different characters.

At other points, though, the story fell off—for me, anyway. These were when the book took on a conventional storybook flavor, elaborating on romantic fantasy and relationship dynamics. In hindsight, these had a certain contextual necessity from which to measure Christine’s relationship with the story’s extreme-antagonist, but they left me bored at the time presented. There were some other situations in the story where I thought the big moral dilemma (to collaborate or not to collaborate) could have been more paradoxical, and that the paradox was not fully exploited. I ended up wrestling with this on my own and came up less convinced of the protagonist’s hero status and greatness of character. Either way, this catharsis made the story more compelling. In a way, it was almost as if the author was in love with the character he had created, but I, the reader, was not. I was sympathetic, but essentially saw her as a complex but flawed person, a victim of circumstances no less of herself. Then again, maybe all of that is what Tom intended.

For me, the book really took flight a little over half way through. This is when history kicked in to high gear and the question of Paris’ WWII survival loomed large. Even though I knew the outcome, I didn’t know how the characters would play into that outcome. It was also here that the story took a few ironic twists which brought to light the tenuousness and delicacy of each character’s position. We all walk a fine moral line.

All in all, the book is not the amateur attempt of a first-time author or the formulaic yarn of a journeyman writer. Tom’s assembled a multi-dimensional story narrated in a clear, distinct voice. He’s written a book worth reading, particularly for novel readers, because while it has the escapist elements of a fictional novel, the reader—like the book’s characters (and like all of us)—cannot escape the moral dilemmas foisted upon them by love and hate.

[Joanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly wish I hadn't wasted my time on For the Love of Paris. It was poorly written, full of mechanical and grammatical errors, pedantic and boring. I usually love historical novels. This, however, was merely a textbook on the occupation of Paris masquerading as a novel. The author points out at the beginning that there is an edited version of the book for young readers. Why would any high school students want to read this ridiculous version of the history of WWII?

I found the author to be not only pedantic and boring, but at some points downright insulting, as when he characterizes American wives (of the period? or perhaps in his own marriage?) as "unattractive physically, mentally and in their dowdy clothes...who view their husbands as a meal ticket or a personal servant...[who] have chosen to give up their sexuality and are no longer interested in a man." He continues in this manner blaming the American's infidelity on his wife by saying, "If a man like me is already predisposed to sexual wanderlust, you can imagine what happens when his wife becomes matronly, hostile and sexually cold."

This was Mr. Rutter's first novel and it reads like a "first." Hopefully, if he continues to write, he will take a course on grammar and hire a better editor to review his work. Nevertheless, I don't think I'll be coming back for any of his work.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a complicated book to write about. I did not think I would like it as much as I did, and parts of it were strange. I think the fact it is about a woman and her innermost feelings, but written by a man is the oddest part. As a woman, I do not think any man can really know how female emotions work. Aside from that, I loved the historical saving of Paris.The method of writing was much better than I expected. Altogether, I enjoyed it.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this amazing story! Lots of sex and history.