Review: The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

From the author of the runaway bestseller The Orphan’s Tale comes a remarkable story of friendship and courage centered around three women and a ring of female spies during World War II.

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.

Vividly rendered and inspired by true events, New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff shines a light on the incredible heroics of the brave women of the war, and weaves a mesmerizing tale of courage, sisterhood and the great strength of women to survive in the hardest of circumstances

Kindle Edition, 384 pages

Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by Park Row 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Kristine's Thoughts:

** I received an advanced readers copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**

The Lost Girls of Paris began in 1946 with Grace when she found a suitcase containing pictures of twelve different women. When she discovered what happened to the owner of the suitcase her curiosity set her on a path to uncover the mystery behind the woman and her pictures. It would lead her back to the war and a group of female secret agents that were sent to Europe to help the resistance, never to be heard from again. They simply disappeared.

The story was told from multiple points of view. There was Grace, in 1946, who discovered the pictures and set out to uncover the mystery. There was also Eleanor, the owner of the suitcase and the head of the women's secret agent program. Lastly there was Marie, one of the women who was recruited to operate a radio in occupied France to assist the resistance in sabotaging the Nazis. Told over a time frame spanning the war and beyond, a fascinating and page turning story unfolded.

I loved all of the voices in this book. Grace, Eleanor and Marie were all extremely interesting characters with even more enjoyable stories. It was easy to like them all. I questioned a few of Marie's decisions and wondered how realistic some of her actions would be but I still enjoyed her. Her connection to "Vesper" was underdeveloped which is why I think I questioned or didn't necessarily understand some of her motives. I also loved how this book focused on a bunch of strong female characters during a difficult time in history that has always focused on the bravery of men. I wanted to know what happened to these heroic women just as much as Grace did.

From beginning to end, I devoured this book. There were a few things that I questioned which leaves me unable to give this book a perfect rating but I still liked it a lot. It was one of those books that I picked up and couldn't put down until long after my head hit the pillow. Pam Jenoff and her novels have that affect on me! It was a thoroughly enjoyable book.

About the Author

Pam is the author of several novels, including her most recent The Orphan's Tale, an instant New York Times bestseller. Pam was born in Maryland and raised outside Philadelphia. She attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Cambridge University in England. Upon receiving her master’s in history from Cambridge, she accepted an appointment as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. The position provided a unique opportunity to witness and participate in operations at the most senior levels of government, including helping the families of the Pan Am Flight 103 victims secure their memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, observing recovery efforts at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing and attending ceremonies to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of World War II at sites such as Bastogne and Corregidor.

Following her work at the Pentagon, Jenoff moved to the State Department. In 1996 she was assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Krakow, Poland. It was during this period that Pam developed her expertise in Polish-Jewish relations and the Holocaust. Working on matters such as preservation of Auschwitz and the restitution of Jewish property in Poland, Jenoff developed close relations with the surviving Jewish community.

Having left the Foreign Service in 1998 to attend law school at the University of Pennsylvania, Jenoff is now employed as an attorney in Philadelphia.

Pam is the author of The Kommandant's Girl, which was an international bestseller and nominated for a Quill award, as well as The Diplomat's Wife and Almost Home.

Connect with Pam

Website/Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads