The Paris Housekeeper
Ryan was inspired by the true story of Irena Gut’s heroism; the housekeeper of a Nazi officer, she hid Jews in his basement until their eventual escape. Ryan imagines a suspenseful tale of three interconnected women: blonde, blue-eyed, Aryan-looking chambermaid, Camille, who supports her family back in Brittany; Rachel, a dark-haired French Jew, also a chambermaid at The Ritz; and the final heroine, glamorous, auburn-haired forty-something American heiress, Vivian, who openly dines with Coco Chanel and secretly helps Jews escape occupied France with forged papers. Each woman has her reason for remaining in Paris as the tanks roll in.
Most of the action takes place at the Ritz Hotel from June 1940 to September 1942. The Nazi high command requisitions this luxury hotel as headquarters for Luftwaffe and S.S. officers. The focus is on the relationship between the women. Emotions run high. For Camille it is guilt for not protecting her younger sister; for Rachel it is shame. Throughout, the reader is made aware of Nazi restrictions, then persecution, then expulsion of the Jews. Roundups occur for shipping to concentration camps, culminating in the Vél d’Hiv, as the puppet government in Vichy attempts to appease Hitler. Tension continues to build until Camille, now employed as a housekeeper to S.S. officer Hans-Dieter von Bauer and his mistress, Vivian, hatches a plan to hide Rachel and her mother in the secret underground concrete bunker of von Bauer’s home (confiscated from wealthy Jews). Ryan creates well-developed characters in recounting this slice of life during the Nazi occupation of Paris from three distinct points of view. Perfect for fans of Pam Jenoff.
