The Keeper of Happy Endings

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses antisemitism.

Portions of The Keeper of Happy Endings take place in Paris in the 1940s against the backdrop of World War II. In May 1940, the German army attacked France, and by mid-June 1940, the Germans occupied the city of Paris. The French government left Paris for Vichy, and millions of Parisians, mostly those with the means to do so, fled to the countryside and south of France. Those who remained in Paris were subject to food and goods rationing, with clothes and materials like fuel and tobacco scarce in the city. French goods were funneled to Germany first to support their war efforts, with the French getting whatever was left over. The Germans imposed a strict curfew, flew swastikas on the city’s buildings, and used French radio and press for propaganda. Jewish people in the city were subject to the harshest treatment, with restrictions on their travel, professional life, and access to public places. Starting in 1942, any Jewish person over the age of six was made to wear the yellow Star of David badge. When the roundups of Jewish people began, many in Paris were sent to Auschwitz to be exterminated.