The Paris Network by Siobhan Curham - Book Review

The Paris Network by Siobhan Curham

Genre: WWII, Historical, Contemporary, Dual Timeline 

3.3 Stars 

One Liner: A few hits and misses

*Minority Opinion*

Paris, 1940: Laurence has her bookshop, The Book Dispensary, and sells books, prescribing poems/ quotes to the buyers. The talk of war seems nothing more than a distant nightmare until it cuts too close to home. The Nazi army camps in her village, and Laurence is determined to not bow down. Becoming a part of the Resistance seems like a natural thing to do. 

But when an unexpected development puts her in grave danger, Laurence knows she has little to no chances of survival. 

America, 1993: Jeanne discovers that her life wasn’t what she assumed it to be. Being a female cop forced into early retirement before her 50th birthday was bad enough. But the truth is disturbing and fills her with questions. What is the story behind the bookstore she inherited? What does a tiny village in France have to do with her? Where do Laurence and Jeanne’s lives merge and how? 

What I Like: 

• The portrayal of resistance is beautiful. It isn’t just about picking up arms or getting into physical fights. Laurence shows how her kind of resistance is equally important. 
• After reading graphic descriptions of the atrocities multiple times, a lighter version was enough for me. 
• Books play a vital role in the story. There’s a list of the resistance book club reads at the end. 
• The side characters are intriguing in Laurence’s track. Together, they create the atmosphere needed for the setting.  
• There’s no forced love track for Jeanne, which I appreciate. 

What Didn’t Work For Me: 

• The dual timeline books always have the risk of imbalance, and it happened here. The focus is more on the past (which I like). The contemporary track feels more like a prop. In fact, the contemporary track could be removed and substituted with an epilogue (either in the third person or from Wendell’s POV). That would make the book even better (not to mention cut it down from 400+ pages to around 350). 
  
  
• I understand the importance of hope, but reading so many hopefully’s annoyed me. The same goes for the number of times we are reminded about Jeanne being a cop. It makes no difference to the story. 
  
  
• I’m not sure if I missed or if there’s no proper reason provided for Gigi’s behavior (whatever is shared and hinted at is not enough). Her character arc is odd, and I still don’t understand why she has so much space. 

To sum up, The Paris Network is a decent book based on true events but doesn’t have the wow factor. Pretty much a mixed bag for me. 

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

#NetGalley #TheParisNetwork