Review: The Paris Notebook by Tessa Harris*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: The Paris Notebook
Author: Tessa Harris
Genre: Historical Fiction

Trigger warnings:  War, Antisemitism, Gun Violence, Violence, Suicide, Parental Mental Health, Parental Loss, Death Of A Parent, Child Death

Rating: ★★★★★

The Paris Notebook is set in 1939 and is the story of Katja, a young woman from Hamburg who is hired as a typist by a local psychiatrist Doctor Viktor. She finds herself tasked with copying the top-secret medical records of a patient treated by Doctor Viktor in 1917 and that patient was none other than Adolf Hitler. The records declare Hitler unfit for office and have the power to change the course of the war if exposed so Katja and Doctor Viktor travel to Paris with the aim of finding someone to publish them. There they meet Daniel, an Irish journalist living and working in Paris, who is determined to help them. But the Nazis have discovered their plan and will stop at nothing to destroy the records.

From the second I read the synopsis of Tessa Harris’ latest historical fiction novel I was hooked and the story itself only exceeded my expectations. The Paris Notebook is an utterly gripping and perfectly crafted piece of historical fiction which is a must-read for fans of the genre. It was clearly meticulously researched as, despite being a fictitious account based on true events, history just seeped through the pages.

The Paris Notebook is mostly told through a split narrative, flitting between Katja’s story in Hamburg and Daniel’s story in Paris, and these two stories are eventually interwoven when their paths cross in Paris. It is perfectly paced and gripping from the very beginning, with so many twists and turns that it was nearly impossible to predict what would happen next.

I was expecting the prologue to be merely a slow-paced world-building exercise but this couldn’t have been further from the truth. The prologue is intense, dramatic and throws you straight into fast-paced action. I don’t think a book has ever had me on the edge of my seat so quickly; two pages in is no mean feat so props to Tessa Harris.

Katja is a wonderful protagonist with such depth to her character. We see her grow in courage and strength as the novel progresses, determined to do all she can to fight against the Nazis. I found the character of Daniel to be my favourite and his character development as he begins to rebuild his life following the deaths of his wife and daughter was a really well-executed aspect of the story. Tessa Harris also writes antagonists exceptionally well and both the characters of Doctor Ulbricht and Commodore Flebert made my skin crawl.

At the heart of both of the characters of Katja and Daniel is a love of literature. Their love story very much centres around this shared passion for reading as they meet in a bookshop and then initially bond over book recommendations. References to literature are featured throughout the narrative and I particularly enjoyed the references to the story of Frankenstein to symbolise the role Doctor Viktor views himself as having regrettably having played in the creation of Hitler as the evil dictator we know him to be.

The Paris Notebook has strong mental health representation and features vivid descriptions of the reality of experiencing depression and anxiety. It also beautifully captures the way in which books can transport you to new worlds, away from the difficult emotions and mental health struggles you may be experiencing in the real world, and this really resonated with me as someone who uses reading as exactly that. In the story we also get a raw exploration of grief, shown both through Daniel’s anguish at the loss of his wife and young daughter and through Katja’s devastation at the loss of both of her parents at the hands of the Nazis.

I did find a couple of the decisions made by the characters to be beyond infuriating, particularly the decision to give the manuscript a very incriminating name and the decision for Katja to continue openly working in a shop the Nazi spies were monitoring in attempts to track her down. But ultimately as both these points added to the drama and tension of the story I can let them slide.

It’s rare I find a book which physically makes tears stream down my face but The Paris Notebook did just that. It is a really powerful piece of historical fiction and definitely has the potential to be one of the standout books of 2023.