About this Event
Gramercy Book Club's April pick is by New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff, her tenth novel, inspired by the true story of L vitan--a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi Pr*son during WWII. Alice Conklin, Distinguished Professor of History at Ohio State with expertise in Modern France in the twentieth century, will facilitate the group discussion and interview Jenoff, who will join via Zoom in the latter portion of the evening.
A ticket to this program includes a copy of Last Twilight in Paris. It is strongly encouraged that registrants read the book prior to the program.
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY is Gramercy’s Community Partner for this program.
London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before, when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe --and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war.
Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history. The necklace leads them to discover the dark history of L vitan--a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi Pr*son, and Helaine, a woman who was imprisoned there, torn apart from her husband when the Germans invaded France.
Louise races to find the connection between the necklace, the department store and Franny's death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever. Inspired by the true story of L vitan, Last Twilight in Paris is both a gripping mystery and an unforgettable story about sacrifice, resistance and the power of love to transcend in even the darkest hours.
Pam Jenoff is the author of several books of historical fiction, including the NYT bestseller The Orphan's Tale. She holds a degree in international affairs from George Washington University and a degree in history from Cambridge, and she received her JD from UPenn. Her novels are inspired by her experiences working at the Pentagon and as a diplomat for the State Department handling Holocaust issues in Poland. She lives with her husband and 3 children near Philadelphia, where she teaches law.
Alice L. Conklin is a Distinguished Professor of History and a faculty affiliate at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University. She is a cultural, political, and intellectual historian of Modern France and its Empire with a focus on the twentieth century. She taught at the University of Rochester for thirteen years before moving to Ohio State in 2004 and has received several national and international awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a German Marshall Fund Fellowship and a Fulbright Senior Scholar Fellowship. In 2016, she was one of six OSU faculty to receive a Distinguished Scholar Award.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Gramercy Books, 2424 East Main Street, Columbus, United States
USD 31.00
