April in Paris, Michael Wallner
April in Paris, Michael Wallner
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April in Paris

Author: Michael Wallner

Narrator: Paul Michael

Unabridged: 7 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/03/2007


Synopsis

A suspenseful and dramatic story of impossible love between a German soldier and a French Resistance fighter in World War Two Paris.

In 1943, Michel Roth is a young soldier working in the German army’s back offices in occupied Paris. But his fluency in French gets Roth a new task when the Gestapo find themselves in need of a translator for the confessions of interrogated French resisters.

After work Roth chooses another path – he slips out of his hotel carrying a bag of civilian clothes and steals into an alley where he changes personas, becoming Monsieur Antoine, a young Frenchman. He strolls the streets of Paris, where one day he meets Chantal, daughter of an antiquarian bookseller. They fall in love, and when Chantal warns him away from the notorious café Turachevsky, favoured nightspot for German officers and the French women who entertain them, Michel believes it is out of jealousy. Too late he discovers that she is a member of the Resistance, and his naiveté leaves Michel on the other side of the SS interrogation machine.

What follows is a tale of desperate cat and mouse through Paris, and into the devastated French countryside at the end of the war, when neighbours are quick to betray neighbours, and even to take revenge into their own hands.

About The Author

Michael Wallner is the author of several works of fiction, including the international sensation April in Paris and The Russian Affair. He lives in Germany, where he is an actor and screenwriter, and divides his time between Berlin and the Black Forest.Paul Michael is a stage, screen, and television actor of international status. His TV credits include leading roles in a number of British sitcoms. He has acted onstage in plays ranging from Macbeth to The Wizard of Oz.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lori on December 18, 2022

April In Paris takes place in occupied Paris during WWII. Refreshingly,the main character is a young German nazi functioning as the French translater for the Gestapo. As an outlet to his grim,horrifying work observing prisoner torture, on his off hours he dresses as a typical Frenchman and wanders a......more

Goodreads review by Mark on August 04, 2007

Written in a mature style, a quick read but very deep and thought provoking. It portrays mixed identities as true identities and shows sides of people we don't consider very often.......more

Goodreads review by Book Concierge on September 22, 2014

Audiobook performed by Paul Michael Roth is a young German army corporal, assigned to Gestapo headquarters in occupied Paris so that he can use his flawless French as an interpreter during interrogations. He’s disturbed by the torture he witnesses, but fulfills his duty as a soldier, accurately trans......more

Goodreads review by LenaRibka on June 02, 2015

I read it some years ago, and remember that I enjoyed it. I have it as paperback on my real shelf.......more

Goodreads review by Maria on April 08, 2020

Aprilie în Paris nu este o carte pe care decât o citești, este o carte pe care o trăiești. Povestea este interesantă, subiectul este captivant, iar scriitura bună. Deși cartea e încadrată la romane de dragoste, mie mi s-a părut un fel de lecție de istorie, spusă diferit. Roth este un traducător neam......more


Quotes

"Michael Wallner is capable of writing with spare elegance, and he evokes war-ravaged Paris with a deft touch. This is the tale of a young German soldier serving with the forces of the Nazi occupation who becomes entangled with a Frenchwoman--the sort of love affair that's inevitably called 'doomed.'"--The New York Times Book Review"This fast-paced thriller about a young man's unforeseen moral dilemma delivers suspense all the way through to its unexpected ending....Think Alan Furst with a different sort of hero, and a darker, more visceral edge."--BooklistApril in Paris is a thrilling read . . . Michael Wallner writes with great delicacy . . . deftly creating an atmosphere full of suspense.”—Monika Melcher, Lesart“A remarkable story that could only play out in an occupied Paris torn between poetry and drama, and love and death… an enthralling blend of gravity and suspense.”—Harald Loch, Nürnberger NachrichtenApril in Paris is a majestic novel . . . [Wallner] has perfectly captured the language of the era, and explored the moral dilemma of an apolitical soldier torn between obedience and sentiment.”—Frankfurter Neue Presse“A cross between Ken Follet and The Reader by Bernard Schlink . . . April in Paris is a book to share with friends: a love story for men who don’t usually cry.”—Brigitte Magazine