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The Paris Architect

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The Paris Architect

By: Charles Belfoure
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
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About this listen

Like most gentiles in Nazi-occupied Paris, architect Lucien Bernard has little empathy for the Jews. So when a wealthy industrialist offers him a large sum of money to devise secret hiding places for Jews, Lucien struggles with the choice of risking his life for a cause he doesn't really believe in. Ultimately he can't resist the challenge and begins designing expertly concealed hiding spaces - behind a painting, within a column, or inside a drainpipe - detecting possibilities invisible to the average eye. But when one of his clever hiding spaces fails horribly and the immense suffering of Jews becomes incredibly personal, he can no longer deny reality.

Written by an expert whose knowledge imbues every word, this story becomes more gripping with every life the architect tries to save.

©2013 Charles Belfoure (P)2013 Random House Audio 20th Century Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Jewish Literary Fiction War & Military World Literature Military War

Critic Reviews

"Words like 'riveting' and 'compelling' aren't strong enough to describe this remarkable novel narrated by Mark Bramhall and set in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1942." (AudioFile Magazine)
"A beautiful and elegant account of an ordinary man's unexpected and reluctant descent into heroism during the second world war." (Malcolm Gladwell)

"Belfoure writes like an up-and-coming Ken Follett... There's plenty of detail to interest architecture buffs, too." (Booklist)
All stars
Most relevant  
Beautifully read. Beautiful story. I was spellbound to the very end didn’t want to stop listening. 100% recommend.

Captivating

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Liked everything. hard to put down!
Good characters, to like amd loathe, and a satisfying plot line with twists and turns. it got the painting done! I wont spoil it for you..

great story, well told, well narrated

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Each hand to Lucien’s shoulder signalled he beginning of a transformation. It was wonderful to experience such exquisite subtle beauty in the face of horrific ugliness. I didn’t like it at first - perhaps the subject matter but I loved it in the end.

A Hand To A Shoulder Will Never Be The Same

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The story was hard to stop listening to. Very gripping. I was sorry when it finished

Not what I expected

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I have only read about an hour but it just stopped. I’m enjoying so far.

Bug report. Can’t listen to file. It just stopped

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