The Paris Daughter

The German army invades Belgium and the Netherlands, setting its sights on France. Ruth is afraid the German advance will threaten her family’s safety in Paris. She knows that in Germany it was necessary for many Jewish parents to send their children away to try and save them and fears the same might become true in France. That night, Paul suggests that Juliette return to America with the children. Juliette refuses because doing so would mean leaving Paul and Antoinette’s grave behind. Olivier believes that if Elise were to return to America with Mathilde, it would be a betrayal, so they too stay in Paris. Neither Elise nor Juliette have any remaining close family outside of their husbands and children, but both declare themselves sisters.

Olivier deepens his involvement with communist groups and the French Resistance despite Elise’s fears of retribution and pleas for him to stop. They are constantly at odds with each other, only finding respite and harmony in sex. Elise paints a forest scene on the walls of her studio, with a starry night sky on the ceiling and the words “Under these stars, fate will guide you home” (1, 9, 59). She and Ruth both visit Juliette, and Ruth tells them there is an ongoing round-up of Jewish people in the city and she fears it is only a matter of time before she too is arrested. She received an offer from an underground organization willing to take her children away to safety and hide them. Both Elise and Juliette are horrified on Ruth’s behalf, and each offers to hide the Levy family in their home. Although grateful, Ruth refuses because either option would be too risky. Instead, she plans to accept the offer and send her children away.

Juliette consoles a bereft Ruth in the aftermath of her children’s departure and discovers the Levy family has been living in poverty for some time now. Ruth says her farewells as she now plans to leave Paris and head south, where she has a better chance of surviving to reunite with her children after the war. Elise and Mathilde frequently visit the bookshop; Mathilde and Lucie are as close as sisters. Juliette is anxious about the war, particularly after she experiences her first air raid. The family spends a night sheltering in the cellar wearing gas masks as Allied planes bomb the nearby Renault factory. Elise is stressed about Olivier’s illegal activities, particularly because she believes he is fighting for his own self-gratification rather than to uphold his principles or out of moral duty. She is increasingly afraid of what he might do and how it might put her and Mathilde in danger.

Elise and Mathilde both seek frequent solace in Elise’s painted studio, admiring the mural of stars on the ceiling. One evening, Olivier does not return home, and after five days of absence Elise knows for certain something is wrong. She seeks out his friend, Constance Bouet, the owner of the gallery where Olivier’s work is shown, and asks if he knows anything of her husband’s whereabouts. Bouet tells her he knows nothing and orders her to return home and behave as though all is well so as to avoid suspicion. A few days later he appears at her door and informs her Olivier was arrested and killed by the Nazis. He supposedly betrayed Elise and Mathilde’s whereabouts before he died, though not his fellow communists’, and authorities are on their way to apprehend Elise and Mathilde. Bouet gives Elise false papers pre-prepared by Olivier that should allow her to flee south under an assumed name. He arranged for Mathilde’s papers to see her hidden safely with Juliette’s family. Elise is stricken at the thought of leaving Mathilde but does so in order to protect her. Juliette promises to keep Mathilde safe and to keep her from forgetting Elise.

Elise says her tearful farewells and parts ways with Mathilde. Mathilde is deeply upset at the loss of her mother, and Juliette decides it is both easier and safer to encourage Mathilde to forget about Elise and consider herself a part of the Foulon family instead. Juliette tells the children a bedtime story wherein each of the siblings, as well as Antoinette and Mathilde, are birds in flight.