The Paris Architect

Queen Elizabeth I enacted laws that persecuted Catholics in England; in response, some daring inventors created secret hiding places within Catholic homes to hide the priests from raids. In the 2013 novel, The Paris Architect, Charles Belfour transposes this real historical event into a new context: hiding Jewish people from German forces in Occupied France. The story centers on an architect in Paris who undertakes the dangerous work of designing invisible hiding places, makes new friends, challenges his perceptions, and discovers both family and a sense of self-respect.

Plot Summary

Lucien Bernard is, by his own admission, as selfish as every other Parisian. In 1942, in Occupied France, the order of the day is survival. So, when Lucien receives an offer of a lucrative new design job, he jumps at it—until he learns the opportunity comes with a potentially deadly catch. Auguste Manet, a wealthy businessman, promises Lucien a ridiculously large amount of money, as well as a large factory commission, for a design that will hide a Jewish person on the run from the Germans. Performing such a task is a crime, punishable by death. Ultimately, thanks to a combination of desperation, greed, pride, and Nazi hatred, Lucien agrees to take the job—the first and only, he insists.