Heather Dune Macadam & Simon Worrall, authors of Star Crossed: A True Romeo and Juliet Story in Hitler’s Paris

In 1940, Paris has fallen under German Occupation and the pursuit of art, culture, and jazz have become bold acts of defiance among patriotic Parisians. During this time, a forbidden romance blossoms between talented and spirited Jewish teenager Annette Zelman, a student of Beaux-Arts, and Jean Jausion, a dashing young Catholic poet. Despite the vehement opposition from their families, the young couple finds acceptance at the famed Café de Flore, whose habitués include Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Pablo Picasso, Django Reinhardt, and other luminaries of the Latin Quarter’s creative world.  For a time, the couple seems to have escaped the cruel Nazis and their parents’ threats and demands.  However, as the restrictions on the Jewish community escalate, the evil forces gathering around the young lovers set them on divergent and tragically inevitable paths.