Introduction

Paris: 1942 Three lives intertwined in Nazi-occupied Paris: Paul, a brooding banker whose family was killed by the Gestapo, Rachel, a teenage Jew who leads her family's escape from the Germans, Claire, a demure bookstore owner who finds courage and conviction - all confronted by an infamous Nazi collaborator. In the sprawling network of catacombs underneath the Left Bank of Paris, they hide thousands of Jewish refugees, giving them new identities and leading them to safety. Together they move forward, outsmarting a ruthless enemy, overcoming obstacles, defying danger, moving farther and faster, almost invincible. Until an innocent bystander notices something amiss and their entire world collapses around them.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1
Paris, France
July 17, 1942
It was the French police who came for the Jews. Over thirteen thousand were selected, their names chosen by raffle. But they were foreign Jews, mostly from Eastern Europe. That was supposed to make it acceptable to a city crushed by the Nazi occupation. But it didn’t. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

What inspires you to write?
The common theme in my novels are ordinary people compelled to do extraordinary things, driven by events or tumultuous times. My first three books are about WWII, but not generals or admirals or politicians, but a reporter, a violinist, a bookstore owner. They become heroes, just as ordinary people became heroes during the war.

How did you get the idea for the book?
When I started When Darkness Comes, I wanted to write about a man who gave up everything to save others – his wealth, his reputation, his family, his future – and I created Julian Junot. But often when a novel is conceived, and other characters developed, their stories become just as intriguing.

What inspired you to create the main characters?
While researching the book, I created Paul, Claire, and Rachel from fragments of sentences I found in historical records. Each described tragedies endured by those in the French Resistance – a man who lost his wife and daughter, a young woman killed by the Germans, a teenage Jew who defied the Nazis. I thought they deserved more than a few words in a forgotten WWII journal and felt compelled to tell the stories, even if fueled by my imagination.

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