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    Paris Noire: A Novel
    Paris Noire: A Novel
    Paris Noire: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Paris Noire: A Novel

    Written by Francine Thomas Howard

    Narrated by Neva Navarre and Madisun Leigh

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The dawn of postwar Paris in the 1940s: for one family, it’s a time of celebration, danger, and liberating romance in a breathtaking novel by the author of The Daughter of Union County.

    Paris in 1944 is emerging from a devastating war. So are proud Martinican immigrants Marie-Thérèse Brillard and her two children, Collette and Christophe. In their vibrant neighborhood of Montmartre—a multicultural haven for artists, musicians, and writers—Collette and Christophe long for romance and excitement. As they’re swept up in the jubilation following the Nazis’ departure, they embark on love affairs that are the stuff of impossible dreams—forbidden, too, in the eyes of their vigilant and apprehensive mother.

    Christophe stumbles into the arms of an irresistible woman who harbors a secret that could change both their fates. Collette has a defiant passion for a white Frenchman. Even Marie-Thérèse’s attraction to a handsome black soldier is not without its risks. For each of them, love could be a new beginning…or it could cost them everything.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 20, 2011
    ISBN9781455831777
    Paris Noire: A Novel
    Author

    Francine Thomas Howard

    Francine Thomas Howard is the author of The Daughter of Union County, Page from a Tennessee Journal, and Paris Noire. A descendant of an enslaved African, Howard writes stories that explore the multicultural legacy of African-descended people throughout the diaspora and reflect her own African, European, and Native American heritage. Raised in San Francisco, Howard earned a BA in occupational therapy from San José State and an MPA from the University of San Francisco. She left a rewarding career in pediatric occupational therapy to pursue another love: writing. Desiring to preserve the remarkable oral histories of her family tree, she began writing down those stories with little thought of publication. That all changed when she turned a family secret about her grandparents into Page from a Tennessee Journal. Francine Thomas Howard resides with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information visit www.francinethomashoward.wordpress.com.

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    Reviews for Paris Noire

    3/5

    9 ratings3 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Basic Unstimulating far removed, Meh. ...... ... .. . .
    • 3/5
      African American troops and artistic ex-patriots in Paris after the war. Sounds exotic and exciting, right?Not so in this book. Paris Noire may be a necessary read if you know someone who actually lived this type of life, but for those of us who are looking for an entertaining and enlightening read, this book is simply not it. I wanted to like this book and after getting halfway through it and not liking it much more than I did at the beginning, I was disappointed that it never bacame what I'd hoped for.But just what is the problem? The story is about a 50 YO single woman, her two children (both in their 20s) and their relationships with fellow Parisiennes right after the end of the war in 1944. But the main character, Marie-Therese, is a highly annoying busy body who is dead set on telling her two grown children how to live their lives and with whom they will do so. She's meddlesome, small-minded, and basically afraid to live. She looks up to Glovia Johnson, an African American expat who sings for a living at her club, Le Chat Noir (the Black Cat). But when MT meets one of the American soldiers who frequent the club on leave from the military, she's all insecurities and self-deprecating behavior. And she's also a bigot.The story is told in 3rd person POV, and I suspect that's the problem. I'm not really sure; I obviously didn't write the book, but there's just something amiss in the story and it has to be more than just the annoying mother. I was able to get a mental picture of the characters, I was able to picture Paris (haven't been there but have seen enough photos) and there's tension and suspense when she writes about the military operations of a few characters. But for some reason, the book doesn't really work. I think it may have more flavor if it was told from Glovia's POV; she's a fairly intriguing character. But we don't really get inside her head. Pretty "interesting" what she did for Paris during the war.Some events are predictable as well. Perhaps I wanted to be surprised and I just wasn't. I applaud the author for her contribution to this body of work. But for this reader, it was more of a chore to read than a pleasure.
    • 3/5
      It’s the summer of 1944 and Paris is coming out from her dark Nazi occupation into the glorious light of rebirth. The Brillard family has more to celebrate than most, they immigrated from Martinique years before, descendants of both white French and tribal African and have settled in Montartre an eclectic and forward thinking part of Paris, home to artisans from around the globe, even some Black Jazz musicians and singers from America looking for more equality than was offered at home.The matriarch Marie-Therese’s first and most important role is that of seeing to her children’s welfare even though they are grown and in doing so may just miss her one and only chance at happiness for herself.Collette is in love with her banker boyfriend and they want to marry but she knows that her mother will not be happy that the man she loves is true French.Christophe meets the woman of his dreams as the city welcomes the American liberators. But happiness is fleeting at best and impossible at worst as this family goes through the highs and lows of love.Francine Thomas Howard brings this multi ethnic and cultural novel to life in a very personal way as she fictionalizes the story of one of her own Grandmother’s in Paris Noire and does so in a way that brings a taste of realism to the tale as we follow the suffering and the blessings of this family. She does this with a dialogue of broken English that let’s us not only understand the crisis and prejudice but feel it in the tone of her narrative while at the same time giving it a definite French flavor. Her characters will run the full spectrum from the Free French freedom fighters, to the American GI’s, to the ordinary everyday citizens of Paris. Her main characters are constantly pulling our heartstrings because we want the best but know in our heart of hearts that it’s not always possible. She uses realistic scenes of violence, lust and love so her readers have a bird’s eye view of the happenings.This is a very different look at WWII and the people who fought and lived through that time. It’s also a wake up call that diversity is as natural as a turning leaf in fall and should be celebrated for the immense cultural medley it brings. So if you like your novels based on fact, if you like WWII novels, novels with ethnic tastes and characters or if you’re just looking for a great read to take you to a different place. This is your next must read.Ms, Howard thank you for the first class passage to France and for the adventure once I got there, I’m looking forward to another adventure with you soon.