Blog Tour: The Last Train From Paris by Suzanne Kelman
For this blog tour, we're looking at a solid conclusion to an epic dual timeline WWII series. For this blog tour, we're looking at The Last Train From Paris by Suzanne Kelman.
First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / TheStoryGraph.com), and YouTube:
Solid Conclusion With One Major Facet That Will Be Annoying For Some Readers. As a conclusion to this series, this book is a walk off double. Still awesome, still exciting, could maybe have been a touch different and helped it get over the fence. And like an MLB walk off double... not something I'll ever get anywhere near doing in my lifetime, so that Kelman has done this at all is far beyond anything I'll ever do. ;)
This is one of those finales where you need to have some idea of the previous books, as the kids from each book come together at a week long "therapy retreat", meeting for the first time since the last day they all saw each other in their desperate flight to escape the Nazis during the Paris occupation of WWII. The dual timeline works as well here as anywhere else in the series and even serves to have a few surprises up the sleeve even this late in the game, which was great to see. No, the annoying thing for some readers will be the intense therapy speak for so much of the book. These are people that lived during WWII and saw things that would tear the soul apart of the Millennial crybabies that gave rise to this babble, and while Kelman works it well enough in story, I can tell you as a Millennial whose grandfathers were among those liberating Europe during the events of this story - including both of them being part of Patton's armies racing to Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge - the one of them I knew for the final twenty years of his life would have kicked my ass so hard I'd have gone back to an egg cell in his daughter's body had I even *thought* to subject him to a "retreat" like the one in this book.
Either way, annoyance level at best, and not a reason to skip - or even defenestrate - this book. Hell, there's at least a few dusty rooms here for most anyone, and while it isn't a "Magneto moves the satellite dish" from XMen First Class or a "first morph" from the 2017 Power Rangers movie, there are indeed some very moving points in this book that I'll start to question your humanity if you feel absolutely nothing from. Kelman is perhaps at her best in exactly these moments.
But hey, maybe you like the "therapy retreat" concept. Awesome. Read the book yourself, write your own review, and feel free to call me out however directly or indirectly you feel you need to. Make sure you put your review wherever you found this one too please. :)Overall truly a stunning work and a very fitting and powerful conclusion to this series.
Very much recommended.
And now, the "publisher details" - book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
ISBN: 9781837905287
Publication Date: October 1, 2026
Book Description:
Paris, 1943: Charlotte clutches the children tightly to her as they board the train. “Don’t worry,” she whispers to them softly. “I will get you to safety, I promise…”
Charlotte Villette watches in horror as the train leaves the station in a cloud of smoke. Five innocent children stare back at her through the glass, tears running down their cheeks. She promised to keep them safe but, now they have been separated by the Nazi guards, how can she protect them?
For days, Charlotte searches for the missing children. They know the plan was to travel to her aunt’s village, but could they really find it on their own? When she finally arrives, she is overjoyed to see them. But joy soon turns to fear when she discovers the Nazis are already searching the property, and they must run for safety once more.
When she meets Luc, a Frenchman with his own scars from the war, he offers to help them. As the weeks pass, Charlotte begins to trust him. Sitting with him in the candlelight once the children are asleep, she realises his quiet kindness and bright blue eyes have made her feel safe for the first time in years.
But just as she’s wondering whether there can be light in the darkness of war, a Nazi officer she fears from her past steps back into her life, threatening everything she has fought to protect. How far will Charlotte go to protect those she has grown to love? And will she be brave enough to make the ultimate sacrifice to save them?
The final emotional and page-turning novel in The Paris Sisters series tells a story of unbelievable courage in the midst of the Second World War. Perfect for fans of Roberta Kagan, Kristin Hannah, and Fiona Valpy.
Author Bio:
Suzanne Kelman is a 2015 Academy of Motion Pictures Nicholl Finalist, Multi-Award-Winning Screenwriter and a Film Producer. As well as working in film she is also an International Amazon Bestselling Fiction Author of the Southlea Bay Series – The Rejected Writers’ Book Club, Rejected Writers Take the Stage and The Rejected Writers’ Christmas Wedding. Born in the United Kingdom, she now resides in Washington State.
Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.suzannekelmanauthor.com/
Mailing List: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/suzanne-kelman
X: https://x.com/suzkelman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzkelman/
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0H1DFXMS1social
