James Tucker and Loretta Ellsworth in conversation
January 16, 2025 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Free
The Paris Escape:
In this sweepingly emotional story about what it takes to build the life you want, an heiress, her escort, and a young orphan must stick together during the tumultuous beginnings of World War II.
When Laura Powell and Henry Salter travel to Paris in 1938, neither considers the other very good company. Laura is a shallow, spoiled heir to a fortune, and Henry an opportunistic bore—or so they think. But as her father’s protégé, Henry is tasked with accompanying Laura for her safety, even as she continues to scorn him.
Orphaned stowaway David forces the pair to see eye to eye. They can ignore their growing feelings, but they can’t deny the boy’s need for protection. Yet even with this tentative truce, their problems are far from over.
The threat of war continues to grow until the Nazis occupy Paris. But Laura and Henry have opportunities they’re not willing to lose, and a home with David means more than safety outside France.
Before danger overtakes them, they’ll have to decide if the life they’re building can withstand what’s coming…and whether they have the strength to fight for it.
James Tucker is the author of THE PARIS ESCAPE, as well as two acclaimed mysteries: THE HOLDOUTS and NEXT OF KIN, an Amazon Crime Fiction Bestseller and recipient of a Publishers Weekly Starred Review.
In 1944, a fighter plane flown by James’s grandfather was shot down over France, landing in a farmer’s field near Châteaudun. In 2002, the author visited that field, along with the man and woman who saw the crash. On that warm afternoon nearly sixty years after his grandfather’s death, James found pieces of the plane still in the field. For him, France, sacrifice, and freedom have always rhymed.
James grew up near Minneapolis, attending Carleton College and the University of Minnesota Law School. Formerly a lawyer, he’s an executive at a Fortune 40 company. In his free time, James enjoys skiing, tennis, and travel. He and his wife, painter Megan Rye, live with their family near Minneapolis.
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The French Winemaker’s Daughter:
Set during WW II, a novel about love, war, family and loyalty told in the voices of two women, generations apart, who find themselves connected by a mysterious and valuable bottle of wine stolen by the Nazis.
Loretta is the author of four novels for youngers readers, a picture book, and two adult historical novels. She is a graduate of Hamline University with a MFAC in Writing for Children, and a former teacher.
