The Paris Secret by Lily Graham @bookouture @lilygrahambooks

Book Description:

The last time Valerie was in Paris, she was three years old, running from the Nazis, away from the only home she had ever known.

Now as a young woman all alone in the world, Valerie must return to Paris, to the bookshop and her sole surviving relative, her grandfather Vincent, the only person who knows the truth about what happened to her parents. As she gets to know grumpy, taciturn Vincent again, she hears a tragic story of Nazi-occupied Paris, a doomed love affair and a mother willing to sacrifice everything for her beloved daughter.

Can Valerie and Vincent help each other to mend the wounds of the past? Valerie isn’t after a fairytale ending, she only wants the truth. But what is the one devastating secret that Vincent is determined to keep from his granddaughter? 

An unputdownable and unforgettable story of love, fear and courage in a time of war. Immerse yourself in a Paris where soldiers’ boots echo on cobbled streets and the air is full of whispers. Fans of Before We Were Yours, Kathryn Hughes and The Paris Wife will be absolutely hooked by this beautiful, tragic tale.

My Thoughts:

This is a story that goes back and forth between different time scales so we get to learn, along with Valerie, the truth about her departure from Paris as a young child.

You really get a sense of Paris as well as sadly the war. The descriptions of the shops and café’s and the buildings, it really makes you fall in love with the place, even though a lot of it is set at a time in history that no one would to be party to.

I was fascinated when we are transported to the parts to do with Valerie’s mother. It really does make for some emotional reading as we see what life was back then and in fear of the Nazi’s. I was gripped wanting to rush through the pages to see why Valerie had been taken to England yet wanting to savour all that I was reading.

This is very much a story of discovery. Valerie’s story will have readers totally engrossed and taken on an emotional roller coaster of a ride as we share the highs and lows of her families history.

The Paris Secret is a heartbreaking and emotional read that will have you reaching for the tissues more than a few times. Sometimes in happiness and others in sadness. A captivating and beautifully written story that ingrains itself in the readers hearts and minds.

My thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

The Paris Secret is available to purchase from Amazon. (Please note that link used is an affiliate link).