Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s

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In the aftermath of the war, the book goes on to tell the tale of what happened next, and this makes very interesting reading, as people are brought to account for their actions. Raising big questions of whether everyone should be blamed for their actions, particularly when these women were practically left to fend for themselves amongst the enemy.

Moulin Roty Les Parisiennes Tea Set - Little Tiger Gifts Moulin Roty Les Parisiennes Tea Set - Little Tiger Gifts

Les Parisiennes has been translated into Chinese, (SDX) Czech (Bourdon) and French (La Librarie Vuibert). In 2018, a reviewer in Le Figaro Magazine [21] coined the phrase "La Méthode Sebba" to describe the author's method of linking interviews with living people and archive material to create a tableau of women during the dark years. It was women who came face to face with the German conquerors on a daily basis – perhaps selling them clothes or travelling alongside them on the metro, where a German soldier had priority over seats. By looking at collaborators to resisters, actresses and prostitutes, as well as teachers and writers, including American women and Nazi wives, spies, mothers, mistresses, fashion and jewellery designers – Anne Sebba shows that women made life-and-death decisions every day, and, in an atmosphere where sex became currency, often did whatever they needed to survive. Her fascinating cast includes both native Parisian women and those living in Paris temporarily: American women and Nazi wives, spies, mothers, mistresses, and fashion and jewellery designers. Some like the heiress Béatrice Camondo or novelist Irène Némirovsky, converted to Catholicism; others like lesbian racing driver Violette Morris embraced the Nazi philosophy; only a handful, like Coco Chanel, retreated to the Ritz with a German lover. This was a horrific time and it was interesting to read how many women, from all walks of life, reacted to the Nazi's. Some fought, some hid their heads in the sand, some collided, many did what ever they could to survive. This part I loved but as I said the constant name changes, focuses often broke up the narrative if one could even call it that. It sometimes felt like just a recitation of names and facts. So in essence well researched, but frustrating nonetheless.Lewis, Roger (2 September 2011). "That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor by Anne Sebba". Daily Telegraph. London. Since working as a correspondent for Reuters, [3] Sebba has written for The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, Times Higher Education Supplement and The Independent. [4] She has been cited as an authority on biography. [5]

Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died

A criticism is that the tales of the women are interspersed as you go along and this can be a bit confusing but I got used to it and didn't mind so much. There were some notable omissions such as Jacqueline Baker and Virginia Hall? I'm not quite sure why, perhaps it wasn't possible to include every woman.

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She's also acute on the politics of what happened after the Liberation of Paris: the incomprehension with which returning camp prisoners were met, the retaliations for 'collaboration', especially the female crime of collaboration horizontale or sleeping with the enemy.

LES PARISIENNES, Paris - Gros-Caillou - Updated 2023 LES PARISIENNES, Paris - Gros-Caillou - Updated 2023

Kamm, Oliver (5 June 2021). "Ethel Rosenberg by Anne Sebba review — j'accuse! Ethel Rosenberg was no Dreyfus". The Times . Retrieved 6 June 2021. (subscription required)

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The lives of the victims are portrayed vividly, and highlights the aftermath for them. An experience that no one could ever put aside. Anne Sebba writes in her extensive history of the lives of Parisian women during WWII that it’s our task to understand, not to judge. And the women whose lives are covered range across such a broad spectrum, from those with selfless motives and actions to those who didn’t act as honorably as might be expected.