Review: The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Two words. Women Spies. Do need any other reason than to those two words to read this? Well, I don’t think you do because what could be more kick-a$$ than that, but I’ll give you more anyway because there are PLENTY of reasons!

It’s 1946 and the world is has finally ended and the world is a bit lost. No-one is more lost than Grace, who lost her beloved Tom and has been wandering ever since. She’s ended up in New York City, and stumbles upon an abandoned suitcase at Grand Central that contains a handful of photographs – of women, in uniform. Who are these women? Were they soldiers? What happened to them? And Grace is insanely curious, but ultimately feels like she finally has a purpose, to find the answers to all those questions.

The mystery of the photos is told from Grace’s perspective after she finds the case – and also during the war several years earlier in 1944 – through one of the women in the photos and also the owner of the suitcase.

What follows is incredible. Based on true events, these brave women were recruited to join the SOE resistance and trained to operate radios, blend in with their surroundings, and even fight if necessary. All of the men are off to war, so what better way to spy in occupied France than to blend in with those who are left behind – the women. They transmit messages back and forth to London to help thwart their enemies plans and stay one step ahead.

Historical fiction fans will adore this book, and everyone else will love it too – you’ll find yourself rooting for the women, and amazed at their sacrifices and contributions to the war effort. There’s a significant amount of history, mystery, friendship and love – a little something for everyone.

You can get it here on Amazon —> The Lost Girls of Paris

 

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Park Row; Original edition (January 29, 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778330273
• ISBN-13: 978-0778330271

 

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From Amazon:

1946, Manhattan

One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, Grace Healey 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 network 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.

 

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About Pam

Pam Jenoff is the author of several books of historical fiction, including the NYT bestseller The Orphan’s Tale. She holds a degree in international affairs from George Washington University and a degree in history from Cambridge, and she received her JD from UPenn. Her novels are inspired by her experiences working at the Pentagon and as a diplomat for the State Department handling Holocaust issues in Poland. She lives with her husband and 3 children near Philadelphia, where she teaches law.

 

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