“She wanted to save her country. She would risk her life for love”

  • Book: The Paris Network
  • Location: Paris, United States (USA)
  • Author: Siobhan Curham

Review Author: Yvonne@FictionBooks

Location

Content

Warning! I’m not usually much of a crier over books or films, however I defy this story not to bring tears to the eyes of the most steadfast reader!

Whilst the ‘bare bones’ of this WWII premise may sound all too familiar, believe me, there is an amazing twist in this particular telling of the tale, which for all my fellow bibliomanes and bibliophiles, will take this story to a whole new level, as well as evoking some pretty strong feelings and emotions – but to say any more would give away far too many ‘spoilers’!

This multi-layered story is so much more than a poignant and beautifully portrayed war time romance, although that is obviously its core theme. However, wrapped around that, there is a layer of social and cultural history, which shines a spotlight on just how frightening it was to live in a war time occupied France, how terrifying it was to be Jewish in a Nazi occupied country, how dangerous it was to belong to the local French Resistance movement and how courageous were the allied forces who sought to help liberate an oppressed population. Peel back the layers even further and surrounding all of that, there is a contemporary coming of age story, of finding oneself, discovering your family roots and experiencing a true and honest sense of belonging and inclusion; that totally connective feeling of coming home!

A small town, just outside Paris, France in 1939: –

The war is no longer a distant and passive event for this small rural population, as the German troops flex their military muscle and invade France. Their mighty, destructive footprint spreads way beyond the Parisian environs, as the troops make themselves at home and settle in for the duration. The new regime is harsh and unforgiving as it takes what it wants from the community, is brutal and swift in meting out justice against any form of subversion, whilst at the same time being more than willing to openly bestow benefits on those who would collaborate with their new masters, pitting friends and family against one another. For Laurence there is much to lose, as her ‘Bookshop Dispensary’ immediately comes under intense scrutiny, with whole shelves of books whose authors and content the occupiers deem to be inappropriate, needing to be removed from sale. For Laurence and a small group of trusted friends, what begins as any small acts of defiance they can commit to disrupt the newly imposed status quo, soon becomes a much more organised, if small scale off-shoot, of a quickly spreading French Resistance Movement. Can Laurence keep her heart, her head and show her true courage, when the situation becomes desperate and the reprisals are too terrible to countenance?

Fast forward to the USA in 1993: –

A deliberately vindictive, throw-away comment at her late mother’s wake, sets off an unimaginably traumatic and emotionally charged chain of events for Jeanne and her father Wendell, as Jeanne goes in search of a past she doesn’t remember, Wendell seeks the answers to questions he has been unable to ask, and they both try to connect with the one person who shaped their lives together and made them the people they are today. A distraught Wendell, comes clean with Jeanne about the truth of her birth and shares with her the scant few possessions he was untrusted with by her mother, during his dangerous mission to rescue the most precious of cargo from a certain death. Jeanne and Wendell decide to return to France, in search of the closure they both so badly need, little knowing that the experiences they are about to share, will forge a new and even stronger bond between them and despite the individual decisions they consequently make about their respective futures, the new and genuine friendships they make along the way will change them forever.

Author Siobhan Curham has crafted a fluid and richly atmospheric, desperately intense, dual timeline story, with strong women at its heart; which tells of bravery, courage, happiness, loss, love and longing; together with a powerful strength and resilience in the face of adversity, of loyalty to friends and those who are held most dear, a sense of doing the right thing and of fearlessly and selflessly fighting for a just cause against the common enemy.

The alternating timeline of the story, was beautifully structured and seamlessly written in short, well signposted chapters, which drew me into the action, totally immersed me in the unfolding events and held me captive in its thrall until the very last page; when the slightly claustrophobic air of suspense, suspicion and tension, finally gave way like a gentle sigh and the release of a long-held breath, to a future full of calm fulfilment and promise. The compelling and profoundly touching words of the narrative and dialogue flowed effortlessly from the pages, surrounding me and allowing me to bask in their vividly visual descriptive sense of time and place, which had me at Laurence’s shoulder as she typed her ‘prescriptions’, sat in front of the fireplace as the the ladies discussed their latest illicit reading and rushing to the forest clearing with the brave Pere Rambert, as he discharges his final promise to Laurence and places his precious bundle into safe hands.

Siobhan affords that same attention to detail and and visual inclusion, to her cast of characters, no matter how small a part they play in the whole. They are well developed and defined, and whilst not all are easy to connect or empathise with, the overall dynamics and synergy between them, makes them completely investable, genuine and authentic in their individual roles. A complex jigsaw of human emotions were laid bare, when the fragility of the lines between life and death, defeat and survival, love and hate, trust and duplicity, were drawn. However a raw addictive passion and the will to survive, overcame all the odds making them stronger, determined and more united as time went on.

Ultimately, this strangely uplifting tragedy, is the culmination of an all too brief affair between a man and a woman, whose everlasting love transcends everything, including death and whose enduring memory lives on in the life of their daughter. I was afforded a unique and individual experience, by an author who fired my imagination and stimulated my senses beyond all expectations, making this a journey which you really need to make for yourself, to see where it leads you!

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