The War Begins in Paris

by Theodore Wheeler

I had the pleasure to meet Theodore Wheeler on a few occasions recently and to hear him talk about his most recent book: The War Begins in Paris.

The story of two women who meet in Paris in the late 1930s and become inextricably linked for the duration of World War II. This book is a story in two parts. The first part is a character profile of the two women — Marthe Hess, an Iowa farm girl cast out of her Mennonite community, and Jane Anderson, a real-life journalist who was sympathetic to the Nazi movement. The second half of the book leads us on an action adventure as the former woman pursues the latter across Europe, driven by a vision to kill, by plunging a sword through Jane’s chest.

I was enraptured by both parts of the book. It is a fascinating look into the people, places, and times that were Europe during World War II. I particularly enjoyed Wheeler’s characterization of the Nazis as the worst of humanity, despite their proclamations of creating the master human race. It’s a lesson I suspect many of today’s fascists have failed to learn. As for the book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Theodore Wheeler’s website

Goodreads book link