*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 Agent
Author: Kelly Rimmer
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★
Twenty-five years
after the end of the year, ageing British SOE operative Noah Ainsworth is
reflecting on the secret agent who saved his life when a mission went wrong
during his perilous, exhilarating years in occupied France. He never knew her
real name, nor whether she survived war.
His daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers. What
follows is the story of Fleur and Chloe, two otherwise ordinary women who in
1943 are called up by the SOE for deployment in Frances. Taking enormous risks
with very little information or resources, the women have no idea they're at
the mercy of a double agent within their ranks who's causing chaos.
As Charlotte's search for answers continues, new suspicions
are raised about the identity of the double agent, with unsettling clues
pointing to her father.
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The Paris Agent
is the latest emotionally compelling historical fiction novel from
author Kelly Rimmer. This was my first time reading anything from Kelly Rimmer
but her captivating storytelling had me hooked from the prologue and it is easily
one of my favourite reads of 2024 so far.
The story is told
through a well-paced dual timeline, set between France during the Second World
War and England in the 1970s. The earlier timeline was particularly
interesting, weaving together the stories of different female SOE operatives through
multiple first person POVs. It was really interesting to see how their stories
overlapped and how they linked to the later timeline where Charlotte is trying
to piece together her father’s wartime experiences.
The history was
clearly meticulously researched and you are fully immersed into the time period
and the story by Kelly Rimmer’s captivating writing style. Whilst being mindful
of avoiding spoilers, at times the story had me absolutely bawling my eyes out,
which is testament to her storytelling ability.
In Josie (referred to
through her operational name Chloe) and Elouise (referred to through her
operational name Fleur) we have two courageous female protagonists who were based
on the real heroic women who worked for the SOE during the war. As you may be
able to tell, there are lots of code names to keep track of but that
helped to make the narrative feel really authentic to the time period. Charlotte
was another fantastic protagonist whose relationship with her Dad, and determination
to support him, was wonderful to see.
Within the story there
is fantastic chronic illness representation through the character of Josie.
This is not something I’ve seen before within WW2 historical fiction but it was
fascinating to see how chronic illness was managed during wartime. We also had
some LGBTQIA+ representation which was great to see.
Overall, The
Paris Agent is a really powerful and compelling piece of historical fiction
which is truly going to stay with me for a long time. It’s a
must-read for fans of the genre and one of my standout books of 2024 so far.
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