#{ && connections. vivian lacroix. }

[marjaystuff]

Interview with Renee Ryan and The Paris Housekeeper

Love Inspired Pub Dec 26th, 2023

The Paris Housekeeper by Renee Ryan is very relevant today.  After the October 7th Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians that included the raping of women and children, burning babies alive, and brutal torture, readers will understand why people have dubbed this the Holocaust of the 21st Century.  Ms. Ryan has a knack for getting into the minds and hearts of her readers. 

In this story there are three main characters who become connected through the world-famous Hotel Ritz after the Nazis occupied Paris in 1940. It is a multi-narrative story where readers can see events from several different views. Three women from different socio-economic backgrounds are thrust together. Vivian Miller, a glamorous American socialite widow is chosen by the SS officer Gunther Von Bauer to be his mistress. Both she and he are residing at the Ritz. She appears to be a Nazi sympathizer but is working behind the scenes to help French Jews escape.  Camille Lacroix, a chambermaid at the Ritz, becomes his household maid to support her family back home in Brittany, especially her sister Jacqueline who has emotional issues. Rachel Berman is Camille’s Jewish co-worker and needs her help to survive. Knowing that Vivian can help, Camille turns to her to help save Rachel and her mother. 

The plot is very powerful and moving.  There is suspense and tension as readers take the journeys with the characters.  Some of them are brave, resilient, courageous, while others are self-absorbed and cruel.  The twists and turns enhance this very captivating read.

Elise Cooper: Just as with the characters in this book many people, after October 7th, feel helpless, scared, and angry.  They can find solace in some of the characters’ quotes.  The first quote by the Jewish character, Rachel, “This enemy, these new Germans are hardened, angrier, and more ruthless. Hate lives in their heart.  Hate for people like us.”  Her father says, “We are French citizens.” Rachel responds “No papa. We are Jews.”

Renee Ryan: For me, that quote summed up the Holocaust with the evil of how people looked the other way and rationalized and pretended that nothing was happening. I thought when I wrote that quote about the 1940s, ‘what is wrong with these people. How are you missing this.’  Even though I am not Jewish I wondered why did so many just look away. Today it is happening all over again, where people just turn and look the other way. History is repeating itself.  People are saying it is a two-sided conversation and this is so untrue. It is a one-sided conversation. Everyone should be supporting our Jewish allies and our Jewish people in this country. We should not allow genocide to happen again. We should not be looking away.  It is about people who are our friends, colleagues, and I wonder why we are not standing next to them shoulder to shoulder.

EC:  Can you explain the other quote, people are “clinging to a lie and calling it hope.”?

RR:  I wanted to show in the book how people thought it will not happen to me.  It will only happen to those who are not French born, or it will only happen to the poor, not the wealthy, or it will only happen to people without connections, not us. The goalpost kept moving. Laws in France kept changing during the occupation. It was not the Germans, but the French that were doing the roundups of the Jews and passed the harsh laws towards them. 

EC:  Do you also agree that these quotes are very relevant today?

RR:  Yes.  I wrote this book a year ago. I thought I was writing these quotes about what happened fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty years ago during the Nazi reign. I cannot comprehend that these quotes can be applied to October 7th. It is so heartbreaking. Have we not learned anything. It is very similar to what happened. It is the same rhetoric, the exact same things said in the 1930s, 1940s.  It led to all the antisemitism and for people to look away. People do not want to educate themselves. They only listen to the propaganda about the Jews. I have a quote in the book, “Good people should stop looking the other way and stand up to evil.”  People should stand up with Israel.  Nothing can be justified.

EC:  Where did you get the idea for this story?

RR: There was a news article about Irene Gut.  She had a tragic life. She became a housekeeper for a Nazi official in Poland.  She hid nine Jews in his basement, and they all survived two years of hiding. This was the jumping off point. What would it be like for someone working in a home and hiding Jews right under the nose of someone trying to wipe them out. 

EC: How would you describe Camille?

RR:  Trustworthy, loyal, decent, guilty, and courageous.  She was relieved to be in Paris away from the stress of her family. She felt guilty of being relieved that she was not guilty. She struggled with it. She was conflicted and eventually decided to take a stand.

EC:  What was the role of Jacqueline, Camille’s sister?

RR: She represented the mentally ill. There is a scene in the book where Camille discovers the German euthanasia program with the mentally ill. It was refined and then applied to the Jews.  The sister represented that part of the German history.

EC:  How would you describe the Jewish character, Rachel?

RR:  Innocent, helpless, sweet, not a complainer, has a sense of powerlessness because she is scared and bitter. She also feels humiliated, angry, and is being persecuted. Her anger is her saving grace because without it she would not have survived.  The anger is what drove her. While she was fearful and felt helpless, she was also very angry that had her trying to figure out how to escape.

EC:  Was Vivian a complex character?

RR: She is responsible, direct, lonely, and at an earlier age suffered mental and physical abuse. She was also confident and passionate yet could be very selfish and self-centered. In some ways she was the villain yet at the same time she was an anti-hero.  I would not call her a hero. She represents those people today who say if I do a little bit then I am still good. She justifies rotten behavior by a few good acts. She wanted to believe ‘if I do a few good things that erases all the bad.’  Although deep down she knows that is not true.  She also makes a really bad decision.  

EC: How would describe Nazi SS officer Von Bauer?

RR: He is controlling, an opportunist, ambitious, driven, and possessive.  Regarding Vivian he is obsessed with her, likes to steal her dignity, cruel, and demanding.  He represents the abusers of woman. He was to Vivian the ‘devil you know.’ At times she saw in him comfort and familiarity. He was bad because he was a Nazi.

EC:  Why did Vivian get the nickname The Snow Queen versus Von Bauer’s the Raven?

RR:  It comes from the Nordic folklore fairy tale.  They were always in battle.  I think it was a perfect metaphor for their relationship.  They were going to battle until one survived.  Both characters in the fairy tale are evil. Their relationship was based on a tug of war, like a weird chess game. 

EC:  Did the American government really freeze accounts of Americans overseas?

RR:  Yes. Laura Mae Corrigan was a real person they did it to.  It was very much justified. She was very much a Vivian type character, an ex-Patriot living in the Ritz. She left the Ritz because they took her money.  But Vivian stayed at the Ritz because she had a plan.  The Ritz was not shut down because they remained neutral. 

EC:  Was there an interconnection between the relationship of Vivian, Rachel, and Camille?

RR: The Ritz brought them together as three people trying to survive the war.  They are not really friends.  Rachel and Camille are more friendly. They need each other. Camille and Rachel see their families as number one, while Vivian has no family. Vivian is number one to herself. They help each other but always will consider their family first.

EC:  Next book?

RR: It is titled The Last Fashion House in Paris and will be out this time next year. The setting is occupied Paris.  The character from my first book, The Widows of Champagne, Paulette, has her story on what happened to her during the banishment to Paris, the final two years of WWII.  She must redeem herself.

THANK YOU!!

[brutal-nemesis]

Crackwhump III: Audience Participation Edition

Thanks to everyone who sent in questions :D

As usual, I would like to formally apologize for the SHEER level of stupidity

Previous

Now for the Reddit AMA:

From anon: “Corvus are you sure you don't want to at least bite thee iron serpent? Even just to see what it tastes like? It would also be gnarly if you found out your strength surpassed that of the great serpent and you broke free of your shackles, ready to reign terror on those who slighted you.”

I mean I can try. Okay, I tried it and it didn’t work and also my teeth hurt now. That did not taste good. I don’t recommend.

From @legallylibra: “Corvus I would like to hear more about the EGG boys”

Oh, hella lit. There are a lot of us in the frat, so I’m just gonna tell you about the ones I’m camping with right now.

Cam: This guy is WILD. Anytime you want someone to break into an abandoned gas station or boil Tang with, Cam is your man. He helps me pull pranks on our bros all the time, like that one time we accidentally donated Sam’s skateboard to charity.

Riley and Jonesy: These two are basically the same person. I thought they were like, connected by destiny, since they said they’d had the same tattoo since birth, but I later found out they actually got the tattoos after they were born. They’re big hockey guys and they’re always finishing each other’s sentences. You can’t play Cards Against Humanity with both of them though cuz they’ll just keep giving each other the win.

Jarrod: He’s the biggest gamer of all of us. Anytime we play FIFA or Mariokart he dominates, man. He’s horrible at Jackbox games though. The guy is NOT funny, even when he’s drunk. He always laughs at his own jokes and we all just kinda sit there.

From @dramaticcollapse: “Would you rather fight 1 horse-sized duck or 10 duck-sized horses?”

Duck sized horses all the way, man. I’ll just borrow my boy Riley’s hockey stick and go to town on the little glue boys. Easy win since they automatically die if you break their legs.

From anon: “are you gay”

I’m totally straight dude. Nothing against the BLT community though! I see people eating peanuts on campus all the time and, like, love is love, ya know?

From @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi: “QUESTION CORVUS: What's your go to slurpee flavor??”

Blue razz all the way. It’s my favorite fruit, even though they never seem to have it at the store.

“Are you afraid of the great beyond??“

Nah man. All that’s out there in space is a chocolate donut that keeps multiplying itself and will eventually suffocate everything, which’ll be kind of a baller way to go.

“How many lizards have you caught?” 

With my hands? 27. With my feet? 2. With my mouth? That’s a secret ;)

“Fried gator or frog legs? (i'm on the fried gator side)”

Gator gang rise up! It’s like if there was a chicken version of LaCroix that was ocean flavored.

 “How many numbers are there?” 

2 billion, since that’s how high the calculator on my phone goes. At least I think so. Flynn took my phone, so I was without the internet for like, eight hours, until I hacked into his laptop to do this lol.

“Opinion on shoes?” 

Not gonna lie, I think they should be optional for like, 90% of places. They’re just not a vibe, man.

“How many states are there?” 

42 because that’s the number of presidents we’ve had, duh.

“What kind of car do you drive?” 

A gray Jeep named Vivian. She’a a trouper, let me tell you. Drives on those swampy back roads like they’re nothing.

“When was the last time you drank just plain water?”

I can’t count that high on my fingers. 

“How's the weather there?” 

Cold as balls. I don’t know how the hell that stupid surfer dude is sitting out there in just swim trunks. He doesn’t even look cold! And he keeps sticking his hands in the snow. Honestly, I’m only grateful to be in here cuz it’s heated. Camping is way colder than I thought it would be. 

“Are you happy with your place in the universe?” 

Technically no, but I will say this couch is hella comfy. If I could be on this couch with my boys playing some COD and also not chained to the wall, that would be ideal. So I guess I’m happy with my place in the universe, like physically, because couch, but not the whole “kidnapped” part of it.

“Why are you the way that you are?”

Damn bro, you my mom? She used to ask me that all the time lmao. For real though, I think it’s because they started putting fluoride in the water.

“I love you.”

Uh...do I like, know you, bro? I mean thanks for asking me all the questions and everything but like, chill (unless you’re that girl in the apartment above me. In that case, hey).

From @galaxywhump: “Corvus, how long do you think it will take your bros to find you?”

Lowkey I’m kinda the brains of the group so I’m a little worried they’ll just assume I was eaten by a mountain goat or something. Also our flight back to Florida leaves in four days and I don’t know if they’ll be able to do it before then. It’s alright though, I can get away from this surfer dude myself. I just need to do something really un-vegan to scare him. Assuming he’s vegan. If not I’m screwed.

#flynn is not vegan lol #crackwhump #corvus #the surfer whumper #flynn isn't even in this but that's like the series name I think #thanks y'all let's do this again sometime #i think i'm funny af part three #i wrote something