A Jewish Girl in Paris

Inspired by true events and set against the backdrop of the Second World War, Melanie Levensohn’s A Jewish Girl in Paris is a powerful novel about forbidden love.

’This beautiful, heart-wrenching novel examines the harsh realities while remaining hopeful and celebrating resilience and love.’ - Adele Parks author of Lies Lies Lies, in Platinum Magazine

Paris, 1940, a city under German occupation. A young Jewish girl, Judith, meets a young man, the son of a wealthy banker and Nazi sympathizer - his family will never approve of the girl he has fallen in love with. As the Germans impose more and more restrictions on Jewish Parisians, the couple secretly plan to flee the country. But before they can make their escape, Judith disappears . . .

Montréal, 1982. Shortly before his death, Lica Grunberg confesses to his daughter, that she has an older half-sister, Judith. Lica escaped the Nazis but lost all contact with his first-born daughter. His daughter promises to find the sister she never knew. The search languishes for years, until Jacobina is spurred on by her young friend Béatrice.

Soon the two women discover a dark family secret, stretching over two continents and six decades, that will change their lives forever . . .

Adapted from a translation by Jamie Lee Searle, A Jewish Girl in Paris is a historical novel for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

’In this vivid, affecting novel of intertwined destinies and the enduring power of love against the bleakest odds, Levensohn weaves a tale saturated with historical accuracy and yet surprisingly intimate’ - Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and When the Stars Go Dark

A German and U.S. national, Melanie Levensohn studied literature and international relations in France and Chile. She earned her master’s degree from Sciences Po in Paris. Later she became a spokesperson for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, reporting from humanitarian crises around the world. From 2006-2013 Melanie worked as a communications expert at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., managing corporate external relations for the Caribbean region. When she got married, she joined her husband in the Napa Valley, California, w here they created an award w inning estate wine over ten years. In 2021, they moved back to Geneva.