*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 Lost Song Of Paris
Author: Sarah Steele
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★
The Lost Song Of
Paris is told through a dual timeline narrative, sharing the stories of Sophie
(aka Agent ‘Colette’) in the 1940s and Amy in 1997. Amy is an archivist who was
recently widowed and is researching Agent Colette, leading to her meeting the
agent’s MI6 'godmother' Verity Cooper. Much of Agent Colette’s story is told
retrospectively as an elderly Verity tells Amy the story she has kept secret for sixty
years. We also get a story within a story following Amy trying to process her
grief following the death of her husband Michael.
The idea of a
character being shunned by her friends and neighbours for being a ‘Nazi
collaborator’ when truly she was an undercover operative for the Allies was a
fascinating premise which was really well executed. The story perfectly
captured how crucial the work of SOE agents was to the war effort and ultimate
Allied success. I also enjoyed the double identity aspect, with Verity despising
Sophie, his brother’s girlfriend, and having full admiration for Colette,
despite them being the same person.
The Lost Song Of
Paris was impeccably researched and historical details were seamlessly woven
into the narrative. Although the story is largely fiction, certain plot points
such as the SOE agent discovery of the existence of V1 and V2 rockets truly
happened and it was nice to give a little nod to the real SOE agents who were
involved in this.
The narrative was
relatively slow paced for the first half of the novel as they took the time to
world build and establish the characters but this pace was dramatically
increased during the second half and it had me on the edge of my seat. Whilst being
mindful of avoiding spoilers, I thought the ending was really cleverly crafted
to include the elements of a happily ever after many readers crave whilst also
capturing the horrific impact of war and Nazi persecution.
I enjoyed the
exploration of Verity’s fear of having to return to being a housewife after the
war as this was a common experience of woman called up for war work. Bill’s
deep rooted misogyny and view that his wife should not be working and
contributing to the war effort because woman belong in the home as wives and mothers
honestly made my blood boil but I recognise how common this viewpoint actually
was eighty years ago.
One of the things
I struggled with in The Lost Song Of Paris was the way the narrative
continuously jumped forward suddenly, missing out months or even years at a time.
This was a particular issue with regards to Sophie’s initial escape from and
then later return to occupied Paris. Sophie’s travel from occupied Paris to
London via Spain is glossed over when it could have been a really interesting
aspect to the story. And then, following her time in London and her starting to
regain her memory, we are suddenly jumped forward two years to 1943. This
missed out further crucial aspects of Sophie’s story, including her retraining
as an agent following her memory loss and reintegrating herself into her undercover
life in Paris. Whilst I can in part understand a need in WW2 Historical Fiction
to feature occasional jumps forward in time in order to cover the full six year
war where appropriate, in this case it felt like the jumps forward cut out
really important parts of the wartime experiences of the character, therefore affecting
the flow of the novel overall. It felt overall that the book needed to be a
couple of hundred pages longer to fully tell the story and do it justice.
I do feel like
the murder of one of Sophie’s close Jewish friends deserved a lot more
attention than it was given. Her death was mentioned in a single sentence in
Chapter 20 and then the narrative was moved on and I think this was a mistake as
ultimately, it’s a significant contributing factor to Sophie’s motivation for continuing
to fight against the Nazi regime. Exploring the persecution and ultimately murder
of her Jewish friends and neighbours and Sophie’s feelings towards this would
have given us further insight into what has spurred her courage and
determination to keep fighting against the Nazi regime.
Overall, The Lost
Song Of Paris is a powerful and moving story which perfectly captures the
bravery of the SOE agents during the Second World War. Sarah Steele has an
enchanting way of storytelling which had me hooked and she’s created a story which
is a must-read for fans of historical fiction.
