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The Last Train from Paris 

I’m amazed and grateful for the wonderful reception for The Last Train from Paris, published by Storm Publishing –  including the kindle edition getting to number 19 in the UK kindle store and into the top 100 in the US!

You can grab a copy HERE: 

The Last Train from Paris is a story I’ve been longing to write, ever since I was a little girl and my mum first told me about studying French near Paris on the day war broke out in 1939. I couldn’t imagine then what it must have been like to have been a 17-year-old English girl on her own, catching the train to Calais through a country preparing for war and finding herself on a ferry in the middle of the Channel, stalked by a German submarine.

It’s a story that’s haunted me, especially since we found the letters Mum exchanged with my dad in London, and the scribbled note she sent him when she finally arrived in Dover.

Some of the letters my mum exchanged with my dad while she was near Paris in August 1939

I also remember visiting her French friends and relatives, some of whom were forced to flee, heading from Paris towards safety with nothing more than they could carry.

This is me as a 17 year old at the inspiration for the chateau just outside Paris

All the characters in The Last Train from Paris are imaginary, as are their stories, but they are woven from my research and things my mum told me, along with memories of my teachers at school, several of whom were refugees from France and Germany, along with Holocaust survivors. These were people I viewed simply old at the time, but I hope can now see more clearly as the young girl who survived a concentration camp, the German teenager fleeing alone through war-torn Europe as his only chance of survival. All survivors of human cruelty, saved by human kindness, who lived their lives forever touched by what they had experienced.

A family meal under the trees at my cousin’s house in France

 

The Last Train from Paris

For Iris, each visit to her mother in St Mabon’s Cove, Cornwall has been the same – a serene escape from the city. But today, as she breathes in the salt air on the doorstep of her beloved childhood home, a heavy weight of anticipation settles over her. Iris knows she’s adopted, but any questions about where she came from have always been shut down by her parents, who can’t bear to revisit the past.

Now, Iris can’t stop thinking about what she’s read on the official paperwork: BABY GIRL, FRANCE, 1939 – the year war was declared with Nazi Germany.

When Iris confronts her mother, she hits the same wall of pain and resistance as whenever she mentions the war. That is, until her mother tearfully hands her an old tin of letters, tucked neatly beside a delicate piece of ivory wool.

Retreating to the loft, Iris steels herself to at last learn the truth, however painful it might be. But, as she peels back each layer of history before her, a sensation of dread grows inside her. The past is calling, and its secrets are more intricate and tangled than Iris could ever have imagined.

The year is 1939, and in Paris, France a young woman is about to commit a terrible betrayal… 

A beautifully written and addictively compelling historical novel about the terrible choices ordinary people were forced to make in the horrors of World War Two. If you loved The Tattooist of AuschwitzThe Alice Network and The Nightingale, you will devour this book.

 

What readers are saying about Juliet Greenwood:

“This was fantastic! Perfect for a Kate Morton or Lucinda Riley hangover, this book will draw you in and won’t let go until you’ve read the last page. This book was unputdownable – fascinating characters, excellent writing, and a plot that keeps you turning the pages. I loved every second of it.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I found myself reading chapter after chapter, unable to put it down. A first-time read by this author but certainly not the last.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“For readers of Kate Morton and Lucinda Riley, this book will be one of your favorites… A historical novel that will keep you reading until the end.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An absolutely brilliant read. I could not put it down…I loved how the war changed everyone and it was a gripping story… I really loved it. Cannot recommend it enough.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Did everything that I was looking for… it left me wanting to read more from Juliet Greenwood.” Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐