The Room on Rue Amelie by Kristin Harmel

Title: The Room on Rue Amelie

Author: Kristin Harmel

Read by:  Madeleine Maby with Jacques Roy

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: Approximately 10 hours and 7 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

American Ruby Henderson meets the romantic Frenchmen Marcel Benoit and is swept off her feet.  They marry and move to Paris…in 1939.  What Ruby had envisioned as a romantic life soon becomes a life of unhappiness as the Nazis take over France.  What is Marcel hiding from her?

Ruby’s neighbor Charlotte is a young Jewish girl.  Charlotte and Ruby become friends and Charlotte helps Ruby out during a time of need. As life becomes more difficult for Charlotte, her friendship with Ruby helps her out during these trying times.  How will Charlotte survive as a Jewish girl in Nazi occupied France?

Thomas Clarke is doing his duty in the British Royal Air Force when he discovers that his only family member, his mother, has been killed during the Blitz.  Shortly thereafter he himself is shot down over France.  Remembering a tip from a friend, he finds his way along the trail of the French resistance and into the lives of Ruby and Charlotte.  Will Thomas be able to make it safely home?

The story is narrated through the view points of Ruby, Charlotte, and Thomas.  I liked that a male narrator, Jacques Roy, was used for Thomas while Madeleine Maby had a different voice for both Ruby and Charlotte as narrators.    I like audiobooks with different voices for different character narrators and I thought this worked well.  The plot was intriguing and kept me very interested on my long commute.

The story in this novel really brings you in as a reader and made me really want to know what would happen at the end.  I was invested in this story and cried some bitter tears as it ended.  I thought the three main characters were all very interesting, and I once again was disturbed thinking about how people were able to make it through such tough times during World War II.

My only negative on this audiobook is that it was a bit jarring when Thomas started his narration and I was confused on why he was there, but he soon was a part of the story and it all worked together.

Overall, The Room on Rue Amelie was an intriguing look at a fascinating point in history.  It’s a great World War II story that I think fans of The Nightingale would enjoy.