The Paris Dancer by Nicola Raynor
The Paris Dancer
by Nicola Raynor
The Paris Dancer by Nicola Raynor will be released by Head of Zeus on 13th February 2025. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for inviting me to take part on the tour.
Synopsis
A heart-wrenching and unforgettable story of courage, friendship and resistance, inspired by the incredible true story of a Jewish ballroom dancer in Paris during WWII, perfect for fans of The Paris Library.
Paris, 1938. Annie Mayer arrives in France with dreams of becoming a ballerina. But when the war reaches Paris, she's forced to keep her Jewish heritage a secret. Then a fellow dancer offers her a lifeline: a ballroom partnership that gives her a new identity. Together, Annie and her partner captivate audiences across occupied Europe, using her newfound fame and alias to aid the Resistance.
New York, 2012. Miriam, haunted by her past, travels from London to New York to settle her great-aunt Esther’s estate. Among Esther’s belongings, she discovers notebooks detailing a secret family history and the story of a brave dancer who risked everything to help Jewish families during the war.
As Miriam uncovers Esther’s life in Europe, she realises the story has been left for her to finish. Grappling with loss and the possibility of new love, Miriam must find the strength to reconcile her past and embrace her future.
My Thoughts
This is a dual timeline story, the first of which is set during the First World War in Paris and the second in New York in 2012. The story about Miriam (Mim) and Esther is beautiful and very emotive at times due to the context in which it is set. However, what I particularly appreciated was that Nicola leaves it to the reader to fill in much of the understanding about what life was like for Jews and how they were treated during the German invasion of Paris.
The story flows seamlessly between the two eras as Mim uncovers the secrets of Esther’s life whilst also coming to terms with what has happened in her own and how the two can be reconciled to enable her to move forwards. You will find yourself warming to these beautifully described characters, their families, friends and everything they have lived through. Secrets that had to be kept in order to survive, trust and at times it’s betrayal during the occupation along with conflicts of interest at different points in the story will have you turning page after page and not being able to put it down.
As you will most likely have guessed, I thoroughly enjoyed this heart-warming , historical, story about love, friendship, loss and misunderstanding and will definitely be looking out for more books by Nicola to read in the future.
About The Author
Born in South Wales, Nicola Rayner is a novelist and dance writer based in London. She is the author of The Girl Before You, which was picked by the Observer as a debut to look out for in 2019, optioned for television and translated into multiple languages. Her second novel, You and Me, was published by Avon, HarperCollins, in 2020. In her day job as a journalist, Nicola has written about dance for almost two decades, cutting her teeth on the tango section of Time Out Buenos Aires. She edited the magazine Dance Today from 2010 to 2015 and worked as assistant editor of Dancing Times, the UK’s leading dance publication, from 2019 until 2022. She continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of finesse.
Social Media Links –
https://twitter.com/AriaFiction
https://www.instagram.com/nicolaraynerwrites/
https://www.instagram.com/headofzeus
https://www.facebook.com/NicolaRaynerAuthor
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