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Sebba, Anne,

Les Parisiennes : how the women of Paris lived, loved, and died in the 1940s / Anne Sebba. - London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2016 - xxii, 457 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), map ; 24 cm

Includes bibliographical references (pages 388-422) and index.

Prologue: Les Parisiennes -- PART ONE: WAR -- 1939 : Paris on the Edge -- 1940 : Paris Abandoned -- 1941 : Paris Divided -- 1942 : Paris Ravaged -- 1943: Paris Trembles -- 1944 (first half) : Paris Awaits -- PART TWO: LIBERATION -- 1944 (second half) : Paris Shorn -- 1945 : Paris Returns -- 1946 : Paris Adjusts -- PART THREE: RECONSTRUCTION -- 1947 : Paris Looks Newish -- 1948-1949 : Paris Americanized -- Epilogue: Peacetime Paris : Some Beginnings and Some Endings -- Cast List

"What did it feel like to be a woman living in Paris from 1939 to 1949? These were years of fear, power, aggression, courage, deprivation and secrets until--finally--renewal and retribution. Even at the darkest moments of Occupation, with the Swastika flying from the Eiffel Tower and pet dogs abandoned howling on the streets, glamour was ever present. French women wore lipstick. Why? It was women more than men who came face to face with the German conquerors on a daily basis--perhaps selling them their clothes or travelling alongside them on the Metro, where a German soldier had priority over seats. By looking at a wide range of individuals from collaborators to resisters, actresses and prostitutes to teachers and writers, Anne Sebba shows that women made life-and-death decisions every day, and often did whatever they needed to survive. Her fascinating cast of characters 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 women, like the heiress Béatrice de 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. A young medical student, Anne Spoerry, gave lethal injections to camp inmates one minute but was also known to have saved the lives of Jews. But this is not just a book about wartime. In enthralling detail Sebba explores the aftershock of the Second World War and the choices demanded. How did the women who survived to see the Liberation of Paris come to terms with their actions and those of others? Although politics lies at its heart, Les Parisiennes is a fascinating account of the lives of people of the city and, specifically, in this most feminine of cities, its women and young girls"--Publisher's website.

ISBN: 9780297870975 0297870971 9781474601733 1474601731

Subjects--Meeting Names:
German Occupation of France (1940-1945)
World War (1939-1945)

Subjects--Chronological Terms:
1900-1999

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Women France Paris History 20th century. --History--France--Paris--20th century.
Women France Paris Biography. --France--Paris--Biography.
World War, 1939-1945 Social aspects France Paris. --Social aspects--France--Paris.
World War, 1939-1945 Influence. --Influence.

Index Terms--Genre/Form:
Biographies.
Biographies.
Biography.
History.

LC Class. No.: HQ1620.P2 / S43 2016

Dewey Class. No.: 305.40944/361