Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Paris, 1940: He pressed the tattered book into her hands. ‘You must go to the café and ask at the counter for Pierre Duras. Tell him that I sent you. Tell him you’re there to save the people of France.’
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?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Paris Network to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The first book I read by Siobhan Curham, Beyond this Broken Sky, I enjoyed but this new book completely blew said book of the water. The Paris Network is a fantastic read and is gripping from start to finish. I couldn’t bare to leave it out of my hands so entranced was I by the story. Despite the brutal and emotional subject matter there is such hope and an almost magical feeling spread through out the wonderful and powerful words that unfold with each turn of the page. It slips effortlessly between the past and the present although I will say the past definitely held my attention more so than Jeanne’s story in the present. But I did appreciate the necessity for Jeanne’s inclusion, it was essential for tying the two strands of the story together and did so in a deeply satisfying way.
A brief prologue sets the scene as a woman is imprisoned even though she was only trying to do the right thing and win liberty for France but many innocent women and children will die and she has had to step up. Instantly my interest was piqued, I wanted to know who this woman was and what were the circumstances surrounding her imprisonment? You can feel her anguish and heartache oozing from the pages and desperately hope that the situation will remedy itself. We move forward to 1993 in America and Jeanne is burying her mother Lorilee. She will never get a chance to chip through the invisible barrier that lay between them for so long. There are so many unanswered questions and so many differences that forced them apart. Why was Lorilee so cold, difficult and distant? The years of bottled up hurt come spilling out to her father Wendell and he confesses the truth, Lorilee was not her biological mother. Her real mother was a woman named Laurence who lived in France during World War Two. Wendell presents Jeanne with the deeds to a shop in a small village but he can’t answer all of his daughter’s questions. To do so they must travel to France to see can the pieces of the past be reunited and the truth behind what happened at that time leading to Jeanne’s arrival in America be uncovered.
As I have mentioned up above I found the parts of the story set in the past were what really interested me, that’s not to say Jeanne’s story wasn’t well written, it was it’s just Laurence as a character was someone who I was instantly completely enraptured by. I loved her spirit and sense of self in the face of so much adversity. The short chapters linking what Jeanne was uncovering in the present really helped make sense of unexplained things in the past and also allowed Jeanne to realise it was not a case of a woman forgetting all about her daughter. Going to France helped Jeanne make sense of things and make peace with all the troubles and emotions she had been feeling. It gave her a greater insight into the kind of woman her mother truly was. How respected and valued she was in her small village community. How she sought to do small things with a big heart and the greatest intentions and used books and the power of the written word to do so.
September 1939 and Laurence has transformed her mother’s dress shop in the little country town of Vallee du Cerf into a book dispensary. The shelves are crammed full of all wonders of books and the love Laurence has for reading and transformative power of words is evident through her every waking thought, action and deed. The shop is unique in that Laurence dispenses notes of advice suggesting a particular book/passage or poem to read to help cure an ill, solve a problem or soothe an emotional heart and to change one’s wellbeing. The love she has for her job is clear for all to see. Her hobby has now become a profession and she loves every minute of it.
The use of books throughout this story was just genius. Yes there were terrible things going on but Laurence and her books had the power to make things just that little bit better. Luc, Laurence’s lifelong friend whom she is now courting, has been enlisted into the army but even at this stage Laurence feels she is in a relationship that is not where she wants to be. Tragedy strikes and Laurence is set free but soon the Germans arrive and take control of her special village and the residents lives are changed forever. Strict rules and regulations are enforced leading to Laurence hiding her radio and the Joan of Arc pendant Luc gave her. Both of these objects go on to play vital roles in the book and I thought how cleverly and wonderfully they were woven into the story.
How can the villagers leave alongside those who have killed so many of their own? It will prove shocking as to which residents tend to make their bed on the German side, but Laurence is determined this will never happen to her. She mentions that a bird of hope sings within her and grows ever stronger when adversity, danger and hardship are faced. I loved this analogy, I could feel this bird within her fanning her enthusiasm and dedication to a cause. A trip to Paris to a bookseller friend sees her become immersed in the French Resistance and here is where the book really took off. Through what she reads and learns her anger at Hitler and all he has enforced just grows ever stronger. She wants the French people to see that the Germans have not come to rescue an abandoned reputation instead they have come to destroy the people of France.
To use the words brave, strong, determined and courageous seem very much a cliché to describe Laurence but she was all that and more. It’s been such a long time since I read a historical fiction book where I really connected deeply with the character and feel the words, I have used to describe her are justified. She has such courage and strength to endure a constant fight and repeats the words-liberty- deep within her when times feel as if no good will ever come of her situation. I thought these words were utter perfection in describing the wonder that is Laurence ’Forced me to grow, like a butterfly bursting from its cocoon and I no longer feel like the naïve caterpillar’. Laurence is a solid tower who in her mind will never let the Germans win. I thoroughly enjoyed reading of how she set up a resistance book club and all the other tantalising things she did without question when asked in order to aid the greater countrywide resistant effort. She could have sat back and locked her doors and curled up reading the many books that filled the shelves of her shop but no she will do anything to rid her beloved France of the evil that has invaded it. Her personal contribution to fanning the flames of resistance should never be underestimated. Is she successful and just how did Jeanne come to reach America are just some of the questions that arise throughout the book and to get the answers get a copy of this book as soon as you can.
The Paris Network is a brilliant read and one I would very much highly recommend. It’s an utter triumph from Siobhan Curham that is haunting, absorbing, tense, powerful and packed full of raw emotion and resilience all in the name of liberty for France. This is a beautifully crafted story that pays homage to those who fought for liberty for France and Laurence epitomises this to perfection and she makes for a very memorable character. I think this story would make for an interesting film and would really strike a chord with viewers as I know it will with many readers. The struggles the characters endure are delivered in a delicate and informative way and this makes for a story that will make you want to go back to the beginning and read it all again. As the author herself mentions in her end notes this is a celebration of the power of the written word and the bravery of all those who fought for freedom and it certainly makes your passion for books run deeper than ever before. Do yourself a favour and make sure you don’t miss out this fascinating, meaningful and remarkable read.
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