Title: The Lost Girls of Paris
Author: Pam Jenoff
Publication: January 29, 2019
Publisher: Park Row
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 385
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
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.
REVIEW:
For the book club that I run with my girl Kristin, we decided to do a historical fiction book. I immediately knew what book I wanted to pick out. The Lost Girls of Paris. I had recently purchased this book from Thriftbooks. I had heard amazing things about this book when it came out. I was excited to start reading it.
Grace is living in a boarding house in NYC. Her husband was killed in a Jeep accident a year prior while on his way to visit her before he was deployed to Europe. She is devastated. She works for an immigration lawyer of sorts. Eleanor works for the SOE in London. She has the idea for women to be spies in the field because they blend in better than the men. Grace finds Eleanor’s suitcase after she was killed by a car in front of Grand Central Station. Inside are photos of women. Grace makes it her task to find out about them. This book was amazing. I did read it in parts because I was reading it in sections so I can write discussion questions, when I do that it takes me longer to read. I really liked the character of Grace I thought that she was just trying to do what was best for her. She showed some amazing detective skills to find out about the women.
I really liked Eleanor. I did think she was a bit of a hard ass but she did seem to have a soft spot for one of her girls Marie. Eleanor was persistent in finding out why her girls kept disappearing. For her to die in the manner that she did was sad. Like she made it that far and was so careful and in one second her life changed forever. I was happy to see that Grace was even able to be happy again in the form of one of her husband’s friends, Mark. Even though it didn’t really end the way that I wanted it to with them I knew that they would eventually find happiness with each other. The fact that this book was inspired by true stores made it even more special. I will have to read about these girls and discover more stories about them. I liked this authors writing so much that I have purchased a few more books by her and plan on making it some of my summer reading.
STAR RATING: 5/5
Pick up your copy of The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and check your local bookstore. Also make sure to add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads and leave feedback for the author when you are finished. You can check out more from author Pam Jenoff on her website HERE, or check out our review of her brand new recent release, The Women with the Blue Star HERE.
