The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure

This is me getting the jump on my fall book club meeting by reading the book during the summer! I'm a book club superstar! I also happen to be temporarily unemployed...

I hadn't heard anything about this book when it was selected for our club and I don't remember when I bought it. It has been on my shelf for a few months and I finally picked it up last week.

This is the story of Lucien Bouchard who, as you can probably guess from the title, is an architect based in Paris. The year is 1942, so Paris is under German occupation during WWII. The occupation is definitely hindering Lucien's ambitions of becoming a famous architect. There is little to no work to be found. Lucien is approached by a very wealthy man with a challenging proposition. Can Lucien create a space where Jewish people can safely hide during Gestapo raids? It has be better than a false wall in the back of the closet. If he is successful he will be given commissions to design factories for the Germans which means he'll finally be able to prove to the world that is a talented architect.

Lucien is a selfish man. He has never done anything just out of kindness. Hiding Jewish people is a death sentence for anyone involved and their family. He doesn't love his wife, but he still doesn't want to put her life at risk by getting involved. Yet the money provided by these jobs will allow him to once again enjoy some of life's luxuries that he had been missing since the occupation began. So he takes the job, but only for the money. He wants no part of helping these people, but it's the only way to advance his career during war time.

As you can imagine this creates a series of problems for Lucien and his life takes turns he was not expecting. It's a wonderful story with fantastic characters. It's an interesting look at why we do the things we do and how taking a risk can lead to something amazing. I just read that the film rights have already been purchased and I think it will make a beautiful movie.

I don't remember which of my book club members chose this book, but whoever she is, I'm glad she did! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one and highly recommend it. And to any book club members reading this, my copy is available to borrow before the September meeting, first come, first served!