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Michelle Wright
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Small Acts of Defiance: A Novel of WWII and Paris Kindle Edition

by Michelle Wright (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 out of 5 stars 174 ratings

"In Small Acts of Defiance, Michelle Wright paints a beautifully intimate portrait that celebrates the courage and resilience of the human spirit."— Jane Harper, author of The Survivors

A stunning debut WWII novel from award-winning short story writer Michelle Wright, about the small but courageous acts a young woman performs against the growing anti-Jewish measures in Nazi-occupied Paris.

“Doing nothing is still a choice. A choice to stand aside and let it happen.”

January 1940: After a devastating tragedy, young Australian woman Lucie and her mother Yvonne are forced to leave home and flee to France. There they seek help from the only family they have left, Lucie’s uncle, Gérard.

As the Second World War engulfs Europe, the two women find themselves trapped in German-occupied Paris, sharing a cramped apartment with the authoritarian Gérard and his extremist views. Drawing upon her artistic talents, Lucie risks her own safety to engage in small acts of defiance against the occupying Nazi forces and the collaborationist French regime – illustrating pro-resistance tracts and forging identity cards.

Faced with the escalating brutality of anti-Jewish measures, and the indifference of so many of her fellow Parisians, Lucie must decide how far she will go to protect her friends and defend the rights of others before it’s too late.

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  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    William Morrow Paperbacks
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    July 19, 2022
  6. File size
    3.3 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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From the Publisher

A stunning WWII novel
Jane Harper quote
Laurie Steed quote

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Small Acts of Defiance, Michelle Wright paints a beautifully intimate portrait that celebrates the courage and resilience of the human spirit." — Jane Harper, author of The Survivors

"Michelle Wright has deftly combined a sweeping history of a city under occupation with the tiniest details of family life and the tenderness of friendship. Small Acts of Defiance asks questions from the last century that we're having to ask all over again: when is it no longer possible to look away?" — Jock Serong, author of The Burning Island

"A powerful and nuanced book, so evocative of place and time while being timeless. I found it thoroughly absorbing; the characters felt authentic, and the details of Paris in the forties and under occupation fascinating. In these stories of war, in particular those which touch on the atrocity of genocide, it's easy to simply pile on the horror. Wright offers a more human, honest version without diminishing the importance of the Holocaust which is intrinsic to the time, place and characters. A truly fine novel." — Graeme Simsion , author of The Rosie Project

"Small Acts of Defiance is a gripping, meticulously researched novel, and a nuanced, poetic and deeply serious exploration of the difference that individual choices can make in a society crumbling physically and morally. Wright recreates occupied Paris with immediacy and with melancholy tenderness, and asks questions about personal responsibility that are just as relevant today as they were eighty years ago.This is a book to savour and treasure." — Lee Kofman, author of Imperfect

"A powerful and elegantly wrought story of women's resistance. This is required reading for our times." — Myfanwy Jones, author of Leap

"Small Acts of Defiance is an evocative, deeply moving evocation of war-torn 1940's Paris. It's a brave, beautifully written novel about what it means to be human in the face of brutality, and why it matters. Put simply, it's magnificent." — Laurie Steed, author of You Belong Here
"Small Acts of Defiance is a story that attains the rare, elusive jewel of flawlessness. An engrossing, deeply-satisfying read, one of 2021's outstanding, not-to-be missed debuts." — Melissa Ashley, author of The Bee and the Orange Tree

About the Author

Michelle Wright is an award-winning writer who brings to life a remarkable range of characters, winning many awards, including The Age short story competition. Her collection of short stories, Fine, was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript and published in 2016. Michelle's debut novel, Small Acts of Defiance, is the fruit of her deep love for Paris - her home for 12 years - as well as her decades of passion for French language, culture and history.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09JP8QKY5
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 19, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.3 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063223899
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 out of 5 stars 174 ratings

About the author

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Michelle Wright

Michelle Wright

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Michelle Wright is an award-winning writer who brings to life a remarkable range of characters, winning many awards, including The Age short story competition. Her collection of short stories, Fine, was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript and published in 2016.

Michelle's debut novel, Small Acts of Defiance, is the fruit of her deep love for Paris - her home for 11 years - as well as her decades of passion for French language, culture and history.

In 2017, Michelle was awarded a six-month Australia Council for the Arts residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris to carry out the extensive research needed to create her vivid portrayal of life in occupied France.

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3.9 out of 5 stars
174 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Mrs. Helen Sibbritt
    4.0 out of 5 stars I thoroughly enjoyed this one
    Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2021
    This is a really well written debut story that is set in occupied Paris during World War 2, taking in the terrible things that happen to the Jewish people we meet a young Australian girl sixteen year old Lucie who has arrived in Paris at the start of the war with her French mother Yvonne after tragedy in Australia, times were very hard and Lucie grew from strength to strength, from child to woman.

    When Lucie and her mother arrive to live with her uncle Gerard there is a lot of worry and tension as the Germans are taking over Paris and Lucie is shocked and horrified by the things that they seem to be doing and life was very different from the one she had known but Lucie still had her sketchbook and pencils and was capturing the faces of the people as she learned her way around Paris.

    It wasn’t long before Lucie met up with Aline a young university student and her family they are Jewish and Lucie is soon helping as much as she can with drawing tracts that are being left around Paris with the hope that people will stay strong and stand up to the Nazis. Things are getting harder and the Nazis are taking the Jewish people away to who knows where but still Lucie helps anyway she can in dangerous conditions.

    I have read a lot of stories set in this era lately and they involve the Resistance with this one MS Wright has taken a really good look at the plight of the Jews in Paris and the cruelty that they had to put up with but it also showed the strength and courage of those who helped them and supported these people, people like Lucie and her mother Yvonne even when the danger was so strong with neighbours reporting each other. This is a heart wrenching story at times but it also showed what people can do even if they seem to be small acts of defiance to stand up to the cruelty in the world.

    A fabulous debut, one that I would highly recommend the characters are bought to life and the emotions flowed.

    My thanks to Allen & Unwin for my copy to read and review.
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  • B. J. Taylor
    5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and beautifully written
    Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2022
    In the first chapter of this book, there is a very powerful quote from Lucie’s father - “There’s no such thing as doing nothing. Doing nothing is still a choice. A choice to stand aside and let it happen.”

    Michelle Wright gives us a sensitive depiction of life in WWII’s Occupied France. In 1940, after the death of her father and the loss of their home, 16-year-old Lucie and her French-born mother Yvonne are forced to move from Australia to Paris to live with Yvonne’s brother in a cramped apartment. Lucie soon becomes friends with Aline, a young French university student who is Jewish. Aline keeps telling Lucie that even small acts of defiance are important, so Lucie takes that to heart and knows she cannot make the choice to do nothing. So she begins to take a courageous stand by joining Aline in small acts of defiance.

    Surprisingly, this beautifully written and well-researched book is Wright’s debut novel. She made the characters real to me. I felt the confusion, disbelief, and outright fear all the occupants of Paris were traumatized as the Nazis took over their city.

    The Jews were targeted by the Nazis and taken away never to be seen again, while the French saw their city and their countrymen changed. Some were quick to throw the Jews under the bus and become collaborators, while others fought against the Nazis. There is a focus here mainly on how ordinary women were taking a stand against the Nazis.

    While this is a heart-wrenching story at times, I took away from it just how brave and resilient the people living under occupation had to be.

    I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy WWII historical fiction. I received an advance copy from Harlequin Trade Publishing, an imprint of Harper Collins.
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  • J. Sunday
    4.0 out of 5 stars Totally captivating
    Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2022
    This book takes you into a dark space in Paris during WWII. We know the ending but we read to learn.

    It’s 1940 and Hitler is making “war” a word to fear. He has invaded Poland and he is moving towards other areas of Europe including Great Britain. The Blackburn family lived in Australia – now caught up in the war. Lucie’s father gave her a sketch pad for her 16th birthday. He said, “It’s a brutal place. You’ll need art to make sense of it.” Shortly after that, their house burned down. Lucie’s mother, Yvonne, lost her husband and told her daughter it was time to move on to Paris. That’s where her brother lived and that’s where she felt he could help them although it seemed like a risky place to be.

    Lucie quickly had to deal with the difficulties of her new life in a tiny home with her conservative Uncle Gerard. She noticed all the differences in people on the street: more men than women and lots of fear with people running scared. She saw swastikas, German flags, closed stores, limited bicycle paths and closed cinemas. Lucie was told by her Jewish friend to “be careful what you say out loud.” She didn’t understand this new world and “why must they be so heartless.”

    The book created a feeling of emotionally distress with her detailed descriptive characters and settings. Lucie, Yvonne and their friends felt real from their confusion, exhaustion and hopelessness. I liked how the author used art as a tool for Lucie to express herself with “small acts of defiance.” It was clear how the people were faced with intense sadness and great dangers throughout the war and when it finally ended, they were exhausted and no longer cared to remember. In the process, everything changed at a rapid, unexpected pace and what really moved me is thinking about how it can happen again.
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  • BeckyVH
    3.0 out of 5 stars Naive main character
    Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2023
    The premise was interesting but I had a hard time relating to the main character. She was very naive and didn’t have as much growth during the novel as I was hoping for. The supporting characters were a mix of trying to teach her and also enabling. I usually appreciate historical fiction in this category but had a hard time pushing myself to finish it.
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