#BookReview The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff @parkrowbooks @FreshFiction

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

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

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THE LOST GIRLS OF PARIS is a book about sacrifices, courage, friendship, and about moving on.

1946 - Grace Healey is living in Manhattan and is trying to live a life without her husband who died during the war. While passing through Grand Central Terminal one morning, she finds a suitcase with some photographs that she in a moment of impulse snatches. Later on, she learns that the suitcase belongs to Eleanor Trigg, who was the leader of a ring of female secret agents during the war. Among the spies was there a young mother, Marie, who was sent to France to help the resistance.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!

#CoverCrush The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

For new visitors do I want to explain that Cover Crush is something that my friend Erin over at Historical Fiction Reader came up with and I adopted the idea together with some other friends. And, now we try to put up a Cover Crush every week. You can check below my pick of the week for their choices this week!

Pam Jenoff’s breakout novel The Orphan’s Tale was an instant New York Times bestseller and has now sold over 350,000 copies and counting! Following up on this incredible success is a remarkable story of friendship and courage centered around three women and a ring of female spies during World War II. Based on true events, this is perfect for fans of The Alice Network and Lilac Girls.

1946, Manhattan.

Grace Healy 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 the 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.

Thoughts:

The cover for The Lost Girls is spectacular. The woman standing in the clocktower, looking out (or at someone? Since she isn't directly looking out). And the planes. The cover truly has a WW2 feeling. 

Check out what my friends have picked for Cover Crush's this week:

Stephanie @ Layered Pages

Heather @ The Maiden's Court

Holly @ 2 Kids and Tired Books

Colleen @ A Literary Vacation

Meghan @ Of Quills & Vellum

Erin @ Historical Fiction Reader

#BookReview Cirkusflickan (The Orphan's Tale) by Pam Jenoff (SWE/ENG) @PamJenoff ‏

Cirkusflickan by Pam Jenoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SWEDISH REVIEW

Året är 1944 och andra världskriget rasar i Tyskland. Den sextonåriga Noa försörjer sig som städerska på en tågstation efter att ha blivit utslängd hemifrån. Då hon en kväll följer ett märkligt ljud upptäcker hon till sin fasa en godsvagn fylld med övergivna judiska barn. Innan hon hinner tänka fattar hon tag i ett spädbarn och flyr hals över huvud ut i vinternatten. Noa och barnet, som får namnet Theo, räddas och tas om hand av ett kringresande cirkussällskap, och för att smälta in tränas hon till trapetsartist.

Hennes lärare är den några år äldre Astrid, en kvinna med ett hemlighetsfullt förflutet som starkt ogillar Noas uppdykande. Men kriget kommer närmare och deras skyddade tillvaro på cirkusen hotas alltmer. Theos liv är i fara och snart inser Noa och Astrid att deras enda chans att överleva är att släppa taget om sina hemligheter och våga lita på varandra.

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CIRKUSFLICKAN är en berättelse om att förlita sig på andra, att våga lägga sitt liv i andra händer. Det är en berättelse om Noa som blir utslängd hemifrån efter att hennes far har upptäckt att hon är gravid med en tysk soldats barn. Noa hankar sig fram så gott det går, men en ödesdag upptäcker hon en tågvagn fylld med judiska barn. Utan att tänka efter tar hon ett barn och detta beslut gör att hon måste lämna sitt jobb för att rädda barnet. Hon räddas av ett kringresande cirkussällskap och där får ett ultimatum. Blir trapetsartist eller lämna cirkusen. Hennes lärare Astrid tror inte att Noa kommer klara det, men Noa ger inte upp så lätt.

Cirkustemat kändes väldigt nytt för en andravärldskriget bok. Men livet på cirkusen speglar politiken i Tyskland under 40-talet. Judehatet sträcker sig ända in i cirkusvärlden, där man inte alltid kan lita på andra människor samt när som helst kan nazister dyka upp för att söka igenom cirkusen efter judar.

Bokens styrka vilar på vänskapen som växer fram mellan Noa och Astrids. Deras vänskap är fängslande att läsa om. Det är dock ingen lätt vänskap, i början kan man knappt tro att de kommer att kunna ens vara hövliga mot varandra. Speciellt inte Astrid som fattar agg mot Noa redan från början. För mig var boken en stark läsning vars enda svaghet var en romans mellan Noa och en yngling i en Fransk stad. Jag fann den sidohandlingen föga intressant att läsa om att jag önskar att författaren hade hållit sig till att skriva om relationerna på cirkusen istället.

CIRKUSFLICKAN är den andra boken jag har läst av Pam Jenoff, den första var The Kommandant's Girl som precis som denna bok är mycket bra!
Tack HarperCollins Nordic för recensionsexemplaret!

ENGLISH REVIEW

A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan's Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep. When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.

Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.

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THE ORPHAN'S TALE  is a story about relying on others, about daring to put one's life in other hands. It's a story about Noa who is thrown out of her home after her father has discovered that she is pregnant with a German soldier's child. Noa tries to survive the best she can, but on a fateful day, she discovers a train car filled with Jewish children. Without thinking she takes a child and she realizes that she has to leave her job to protect the child. She is rescued by a traveling circus company and there is an ultimatum. Either train to become an aerialist or leave the circus. Her teacher Astrid does not think Noa will be able to do it, but Noa does not give up so easily.

The circus theme felt very new to a WW2 book. But, life in the circus reflects the politics in Germany in the 40s. The hatred towards the Jews reaches right into the circus world, where you cannot always trust other people. At any time, Nazis can suddenly turn up to search the circus for Jews.

The book's strength rests on the friendship that emerges between Noa and Astrids. Their friendship is captivating to read about. However, there is no easy friendship. At first, you can hardly believe that they will be able to even be courteous to each other. Especially not Astrid who takes a dislike towards Noa right from the start. To me, the book was a strong book, the only weakness for me was the romance between Noa and a boy in a French city. I found it to be of little interest to read about that. I wish the author had kept to writing about the relationships on the circus instead.

THE ORPHAN'S TALE is the second book I've read by Pam Jenoff, the first one was The Commandant's Girl, which just like this book is very good!

Thanks HarperCollins Nordic for the review copy!