Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff (2025 fiction)

It is 1953, and Louise finds a necklace in a box of donations for the thrift store where she works part-time. It is mostly unremarkable, half a heart on a chain, but she feels certain she has seen it before, in Germany, at a POW camp. The necklace is certainly one that a prisoner gave to her friend Franny when they both worked for the Red Cross during the war. But Franny was killed, and her death written off as a tragic accident. Louise is not so sure. Travel back in time with Louise to find out. Meanwhile, in 1938, a young Jewish woman, Helaine, meets the love of her life and marries him against her parents’ wishes. He is an accomplished cellist with the symphony orchestra. They live an idyllic, if frugal, life until 1941 when he is fired from the orchestra and subsequently disappears, leaving her with her half of a heart necklace. In 1942, Helaine is arrested and imprisoned in a little-known camp located inside the Levitan department store, where the prisoners sort and display fine furniture and home goods that were taken from the homes of deported Jews and made available for purchase by the Nazi elite. She manages to hide her necklace in a crack in the wall. This is a fast-moving mystery, complete with plot twists and an unexpected conclusion. Pam Jenoff is the author of 9 previous novels, many of which are set during World War II. She was formerly a diplomat handling Holocaust issues and now teaches law in Philadelphia.

Reviewed by Ginger Russell