The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff– 384 pages
Book Blurb:
1946, Manhattan. Grace Healey is rebuilding her life after losing her husband during the war. One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, she finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs—each of a different woman. In a moment of impulse, Grace takes the photographs and quickly leaves the station. Grace soon learns that the suitcase belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg, leader of a ring of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home, their fates a mystery. Setting out to learn the truth behind the women in the photographs, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent named Marie, whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal.
My Review: 4 stars
The Lost Girls of Paris was another satisfying and compelling work of WW2 historical fiction, by fan fave, Pam Jenoff. This book was highly anticipated after raising the roof with her earlier books, The Kommandant’s Girl and last year’s The Orphan’s Tale. She’s got a slew of others, I just haven’t read them all, yet.
Right now, there’s a trend in historical fiction to find little known stories about women, who played crucial roles in the war efforts both in the United States and Europe. These women train and serve as gunners, pilots, spies and special op agents. I’m loving this trend for many reasons. First, women are often represented equal to men, or close to it – 80 years ago. Second, the reader is learning about heroic women whose stories would’ve otherwise gone untold. Yes, I am aware that these stories are based on real people with a fictionalized story around them, however it still teaches me so much and gets me Googling.
This book reads quite quickly as Jenoff is spot-on in creating well-paced storylines. The tension is felt and she creates characters with distinctive nuances. Three women share the spotlight in this story. All of them played important roles albeit quite differently – one searches for answers, one feels the need to prove herself and one puts her life on the line to give her daughter a better life.
The twelve women sent as SOE spies in occupied Europe spent a lot of time training together. Through them, we see the value, commitment and importance of friendship. Their leader, a rigid woman, finds herself caring for these women as ‘hers’. As they become ‘lost’, her guilt and sense of betrayal is immense. As far as the romantic pairings are concerned, for me, they weren’t necessary. The felt a bit forced but fortunately, didn’t upset the flow or overall plot at all.
This book is told in different time periods, which is quite common these days. What made this one stand out for me is that the time difference only spanned three years. This gave a sense of urgency to the plot with the possibility and hope that the characters would maybe catch up to one another.
After reading this book, I was reminded of a recent trip to an antique store where I found a huge bin of old snapshots. Inside, I found miscellaneous family photos, school pics and wedding portraits. I left there thinking how odd it was that each image holds a story and somehow ended up in a crate in Austin, TX. Maybe if I were like the character in this book, I’d have plucked a photo and searched their story out.
Overall, this is an enjoyable read that should definitely be added to your TBR list.
Quotes I liked:
The truth is sometimes the very opposite from what you expect it to be.”
– “Create a story of which you will be proud.”
-“Every one of us is scared and alone. You’ve said it aloud once. Now bury it and never mention it again.”
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