The Paris Network by Siobhan Curham-Historical fiction (WW2)
Wartime France: Laurence has said goodbye to her lifelong friend Luc,who has gone to war. She runs a bookshop and has sent him off with a poem to try and keep his heart uplifted. Soon the Germans have taken over and life very much changes for the small rural village. Laurence is determined that the Germans won’t get the better of her and hides her radio- a banned item- so that she can listen to the BBC and find out what is going on elsewhere in the world. Seeing the cafe owner shot in the square makes her determined to do something, anything she can to help the resistance, something she heard a man called General De Gaulle on the radio talk about.
USA 1993: Jeanne has just said goodbye to her mother for the final time when she learns of something that rocks her world. Soon afterwards, she and her father travel to France to find out more about Laurence and how her father met someone he is describing as the bravest woman he ever met.
I loved this, there is a tension between the pages and I took to both Laurence and Jeanne. Both very determined women and Laurence is certainly something very special. A book of hope and determination, of love and life and the ups and downs therein of whatever form. Of tough times that we now can't really imagine but through reading we can learn so much. A truly stunning memorable read.
For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/
Sliding the coded message in between the crisp pages of the hardback novel, bookstore owner Laurence slips out into the cold night to meet her resistance contact, pulling her woollen beret down further over her face. The silence of the night is suddenly shattered by an Allied plane rushing overhead, its tail aflame, heading down towards the forest. Her every nerve stands on end. She must try to rescue the pilot.
But straying from her mission isn’t part of the plan, and if she is discovered it won’t only be her life at risk…
America, years later: when Jeanne uncovers a dusty old box in her father’s garage, her world as she knows it is turned upside down. She has inherited a bookstore in a tiny French village just outside of Paris from a mysterious woman named Laurence.
Travelling to France to search for answers about the woman her father has kept a secret for years, Jeanne finds the store tucked away in a corner of the cobbled main square. Boarded up, it is in complete disrepair. Inside, she finds a tiny silver pendant hidden beneath the blackened, scorched floorboards.
As Jeanne pieces together Laurence’s incredible story, she discovers a woman whose bravery knew no bounds. But will the truth about who Laurence really is shatter Jeanne’s heart, or change her future?
Inspired by true events, an epic and emotional novel about one woman’s strength to survive in the most difficult circumstances and the power of love in the face of darkness. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and The Lost Girls of Paris will be completely gripped from the very first page.
Siobhan Curham is an award-winning author, ghost writer, editor and writing coach. She has also written for many newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Guardian, Breathe magazine, Cosmopolitan, Writers’ Forum, DatingAdvice.com, and Spirit & Destiny. Siobhan has been a guest on various radio and TV shows, including Woman’s Hour, BBC News, GMTV and BBC Breakfast. And she has spoken at businesses, schools, universities and literary festivals around the world, including the BBC, Hay Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Bath Festival, Ilkley Festival, London Book Fair and Sharjah Reading Festival.
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