BLOGWORDS – Friday 17 January 2025 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – CATCH-UP BLITZ - BOOK REVIEW – THE PARIS ARCHITECT BY CHARLES BELFOURE

BLOGWORDS – Friday 17 January 2025 – TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY – CATCH-UP BLITZ - BOOK REVIEW – THE PARIS ARCHITECT BY CHARLES BELFOURE

TUESDAY REVIEWS-DAY CATCH-UP BLITZ - BOOK REVIEW – THE PARIS ARCHITECT BY CHARLES BELFOURE

 

 THE BOOK

 

THE BLURB

1942, Paris. Architect Lucien Bernard accepts a commission that will bring him huge wealth - and maybe a death sentence. He has to design a secret hiding place for a wealthy Jewish man, a space so invisible that even the most determined of Nazi soldiers won't discover it. When one of Lucien's designs fails horribly, the problem of hiding a Jew becomes personal, and he can no longer deny the enormity of his project. What does he owe his fellow man, and how far will he go to make things right?

 

THE AUTHOR

I'm an American historic preservation architect who discovered writing late in life. After writing non-fiction architectural works, I tried my hand at fiction. I decided to make an architect and architecture the basis of the plots. My first novel was the New Times Bestselling book THE PARIS ARCHITECT about an architect who designs temporary hiding spaces for Jews escaping Paris during World War II. The second was HOUSE OF THIEVES about an architect in Gilded Age New York who is forced to work for a criminal ring to save his son. The third was THE FALLEN ARCHITECT, a mystery set in the world of British music halls in the early 1900s.

Mt fourth book, THE FABERGE SECRET is set in the Imperial Russian court of Nicholas and Alexandra and is about a Russian prince whose life is changed after he sees the 1903 pogrom of Jews. He is torn whether to to join the revolution to fight injustice against peasants and Jews.

THE PARIS ARCHITECT was a finalist for the Dublin Literary Award in 2015.

HOUSE OF THIEVES was a Target book of the month selection.

THE FALLEN ARCHITECT was a finalist for the Nero Award in 2019.

I still preserve old buildings like the one in the photo. I love cats and Irish Setters and have 3 grandsons.

 

MY REVIEW

Architecture and authoring! My two passions in life! And Mr. Belfoure combines the two in his stories.

In The Paris Architect, the story is itself is a topic near and dear to my heart—the oppressions of Jews. While reading another book recently, it struck me how the Germans coerced innocent citizens, civilians, into doing their bidding.

And so it was for Lucien Bernard. Except that he wasn’t designing for the Nazis. Rather, he was designing ingenious spaces to hide Jews from the Nazis. Knowing, of course, that at any moment he could be discovered. And killed.

The author weaves an intriguing twist [SPOILER] into the story; I held my breath at every encounter.

A page turner from beginning to end.

 

ROBIN’S FEATHERS

FOUR FEATHERS

 

 

I borrowed this book and offer my review of my own free will. The opinions expressed in my review are my own honest thoughts and reaction to this book.

 

 

#Blogwords, Tuesday Reviews-Day, #TRD, Book Review, The Paris Architect, Charles Belfoure