Tandem Readalong: The Barman of the Ritz

I gave this WWII historical fiction book 5 STARS, and I was crying by the end.

The Barman of the Ritz by Philippe Collin was my first readalong with Tandem Collective,

and I had so much fun with the whole experience.

But let’s talk about the book. This is set in Paris during the German occupation, and it follows Frank, a Jewish bartender working at the Petit Bar inside the Ritz. And the man is surrounded by German soldiers every single day… while secretly being Jewish himself.

Frank is deeply compassionate, and he’s constantly trying to help and protect Jewish families while also navigating this incredibly dangerous situation himself.

My rating of The Barman of the Ritz: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

As seems to be the case with every historical fiction book set around WWII that I read, I was crying by the end. There’s also an appendix about the characters you follow throughout, because this is a story based on real events and people. Knowing what happened to the characters after the war made the ending hit even harder for me. 

But it’s SO GOOD.

Thank you once again to Tandem Collective and to Simon & Schuster Canada for including me in this readalong and sending me this book to read!

If WWII historical fiction is your thing, definitely add this one to your list.

Question of the day:

What’s a historical fiction book that completely wrecked you emotionally? I’ll go first: In addition to this one, it has to be The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel (which is also set during WWII). Now your turn!