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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Paris Maid is told over two timelines: Nicole (present day) in England and Louise, Nicole's grandmother (1944) in France. Louise works in a hotel in Paris which had been taken over by the Nazis. As a cleaner she is no-one and picks up a lot of information that had been disgarded but is she a Resistance agent or a Nazi supporter. Nicole doesn't believe she could be a collaborator and goes looking for answers. Another powerful but emotional story from Ella Carey - I have learned so much more from reading her novels than I ever did in my history lessons at school! You will need tissues.
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#booksontour #netgalley #theparismaid #booklover #lovereading #bookstagram #booksofinsta #bookreviewer #lovereading #lovebooks #instabooks #instabookreviewer #bookstagram
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to preview the book. This historical fiction book drew me in from start to finish. It's a dual timeline story that begins during the present day, when Nicole, receives a shocking photo of her grandma with a swastika on her forehead. Is it possible that she was a traitor? It takes place mainly during WWII when her grandma Louise is working at the Paris Ritz as a maid. It was there that a lot of the high-ranking Nazis stayed. As a maid she was invisible and she relayed the information she learns to the French Resistance. When a mysterious young woman arrives that looks a lot like her and she shakes things up. It also follows Kit, a British pilot who is shot down in enemy territory, along with his brother, and is hidden by the resistance as they figure out where to send him. I enjoyed this story and loved learning about the different perspectives of the time during WWII.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An enjoyable historical fiction book by the author Ella Carey set during World War Two in Paris. Louise works as a maid at the Ritz hotel and she has a secret.
Two American brothers are shot down while trying to take out a bridge just outs Paris. Each are trying to find out if the other lived. Both are brought to Paris one quickly the other in a roundabout fashion by the resistance.
Nicole receives an old photo from her aunt of a picture of her grandmother with her head shaved and a swastika on her forehead. She is very confused.
This book has many twists and turns and identities, please pick it up you won’t be disappointed!
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Two American brothers are shot down while trying to take out a bridge just outs Paris. Each are trying to find out if the other lived. Both are brought to Paris one quickly the other in a roundabout fashion by the resistance.
Nicole receives an old photo from her aunt of a picture of her grandmother with her head shaved and a swastika on her forehead. She is very confused.
This book has many twists and turns and identities, please pick it up you won’t be disappointed!
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Louise works as a maid in fancy hotel, which happens to be the home to the most powerful Nazis in France. As she cleans, she listens and watches and then reports her findings to the resistance. One day, a young Allied pilot is smuggled into the hotel. He is being hunted by the Nazis but Louise feels a special connection with him. Years later, her granddaughter Nicole finds herself at the hotel, reeling from the shock of seeing a photo of her grandmother branded a traitor.
I love historical fiction set during World War II. I always feel like there are so many stories to be told. Told in multiple timelines, we see Nicole uncover the truth about her grandmother. I will say I enjoyed the past timeline better than present day, but I think the timelines worked well together to unfold Louise’s story. If you are a historical fiction fan, you will enjoy this one! Thank you Bookouture, Netgalley and Ella Carey for the review copy and my spot on this tour
I love historical fiction set during World War II. I always feel like there are so many stories to be told. Told in multiple timelines, we see Nicole uncover the truth about her grandmother. I will say I enjoyed the past timeline better than present day, but I think the timelines worked well together to unfold Louise’s story. If you are a historical fiction fan, you will enjoy this one! Thank you Bookouture, Netgalley and Ella Carey for the review copy and my spot on this tour
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I found this book very difficult to finish but I am SO glad I did. The ending had me in tears. I wish I had appreciated the entire story as much as I did at the end.
Spoilers below
What I didn’t like:
- I found some details pretty far-fetched. The many family connections are just too coincidental/unrealistic. Also, the way the characters know at least two famous people- Arletty and Coco Chanel. Then they come across Ernest Hemingway. It just seemed like a reach to me.
- For me, it was hard to follow. There were a lot of characters here, several going by other names as well.
- Some important details felt rushed. It needed more to fully develop.
- Finally, it had to many similarities to The Nightingale for me (i.e. estranged sisters, a father who had become a drunk and abandoned his family after WWI only to actually be fighting against the Nazis, extreme bravery as several females rescue and protect displaced soldiers, the main character’s children not knowing their parent’s brave past, etc.). I’m sure this wasn’t the author’s intention but with so many similarities to an extremely popular book, it comes across as trying to also reach that level of popularity without being original.
Big spoilers:
I loved the shock at the end. I was completely stunned to find that their grandmother/mother was actually Sasha. And to learn that the Louise we had believed escaped and lived a wonderful life had actually been murdered- devastating. I cried. I especially cried reading the epilogue. I wanted so badly to find that Charlie and Louise did in fact end up together after the war and that Charlie was their grandfather/father. To know that he always loved her was so sad and beautiful.
I was tempted to give this book just two stars because it was so hard for me to get through for the reasons listed at the top of this review, but that ending really did me in. 3/5 for me!
Spoilers below
What I didn’t like:
- I found some details pretty far-fetched. The many family connections are just too coincidental/unrealistic. Also, the way the characters know at least two famous people- Arletty and Coco Chanel. Then they come across Ernest Hemingway. It just seemed like a reach to me.
- For me, it was hard to follow. There were a lot of characters here, several going by other names as well.
- Some important details felt rushed. It needed more to fully develop.
- Finally, it had to many similarities to The Nightingale for me (i.e. estranged sisters, a father who had become a drunk and abandoned his family after WWI only to actually be fighting against the Nazis, extreme bravery as several females rescue and protect displaced soldiers, the main character’s children not knowing their parent’s brave past, etc.). I’m sure this wasn’t the author’s intention but with so many similarities to an extremely popular book, it comes across as trying to also reach that level of popularity without being original.
Big spoilers:
I loved the shock at the end. I was completely stunned to find that their grandmother/mother was actually Sasha. And to learn that the Louise we had believed escaped and lived a wonderful life had actually been murdered- devastating. I cried. I especially cried reading the epilogue. I wanted so badly to find that Charlie and Louise did in fact end up together after the war and that Charlie was their grandfather/father. To know that he always loved her was so sad and beautiful.
I was tempted to give this book just two stars because it was so hard for me to get through for the reasons listed at the top of this review, but that ending really did me in. 3/5 for me!
I generally really enjoy historical fiction but to me this book wasn’t very remarkable and it was all quite surface-level. I think this is probably just my personal preference and other historical fiction readers may really enjoy the book. I liked the characters and thought the story was entertaining, however I didn’t really care for the present day story line that much and preferred the past story line. The twist at the end was unexpected but it came off a bit confusing to me, I had to reread a couple bits to fully understand what was going on. Overall, I thought the book was fine, I wouldn’t read it again but I still had a nice time reading it.
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I just finished reading The Paris Maid by Ella Carey and here is my book tour stop review!!
The Ritz hotel has been overtaken by the Nazi’s and it’s Louise Basset's unpleasant job to clean up after them. The sad thing about being a maid, you go unseen. The best part of being a maid in the resistance? You go unseen. Louise risks her life daily sharing information she finds left lying around by arrogant men and when a young pilot crash lands and is found by the resistance, she knows she must do more to help the people of Paris and the beautiful man she enjoys spending time with.
Her granddaughter in the present day, works to find out why there was a photo of her grandmother with her hair shaved off and branded a traitor. This is not the woman she knew growing up and needs to know the truth about her heritage.
Who was Louise? Was she a loyal resistance fighter or was she the traitor that Paris made her out to be?
I loved this book! Loved it. The book comes from the POV of Louise in 1944 Paris and Kit, a pilot that crashes fighting against the Germans. Modern day time follows Nicole and her search for answers. The character development was charming and I felt fully connected to all the people the author introduces us too. I loved Louise so much. All the women during that war who didn’t hide, they fought like heroes. I love books like this and I have read many so this book had a lot to measure up to and it is definitely in the top 5 of best WW2 novels ever written for me.
The plot was fantastic and I usually don’t like multiple POV but it really rounded out the story to have them all and gave more depth to what was happening to other people and how they felt.
So cleverly done. I did shed a few tears and the little plot twist at the end I really didn’t see coming and just added real value to the story as a whole!
Brilliant! I highly recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction and especially world war 2 books.
5 stars
Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for my copy of this book and my views are my own
Merged review:
I just finished reading The Paris Maid by Ella Carey and here is my book tour stop review!!
The Ritz hotel has been overtaken by the Nazi’s and it’s Louise Basset's unpleasant job to clean up after them. The sad thing about being a maid, you go unseen. The best part of being a maid in the resistance? You go unseen. Louise risks her life daily sharing information she finds left lying around by arrogant men and when a young pilot crash lands and is found by the resistance, she knows she must do more to help the people of Paris and the beautiful man she enjoys spending time with.
Her granddaughter in the present day, works to find out why there was a photo of her grandmother with her hair shaved off and branded a traitor. This is not the woman she knew growing up and needs to know the truth about her heritage.
Who was Louise? Was she a loyal resistance fighter or was she the traitor that Paris made her out to be?
I loved this book! Loved it. The book comes from the POV of Louise in 1944 Paris and Kit, a pilot that crashes fighting against the Germans. Modern day time follows Nicole and her search for answers. The character development was charming and I felt fully connected to all the people the author introduces us too. I loved Louise so much. All the women during that war who didn’t hide, they fought like heroes. I love books like this and I have read many so this book had a lot to measure up to and it is definitely in the top 5 of best WW2 novels ever written for me.
The plot was fantastic and I usually don’t like multiple POV but it really rounded out the story to have them all and gave more depth to what was happening to other people and how they felt.
So cleverly done. I did shed a few tears and the little plot twist at the end I really didn’t see coming and just added real value to the story as a whole!
Brilliant! I highly recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction and especially world war 2 books.
5 stars
Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for my copy of this book and my views are my own
The Ritz hotel has been overtaken by the Nazi’s and it’s Louise Basset's unpleasant job to clean up after them. The sad thing about being a maid, you go unseen. The best part of being a maid in the resistance? You go unseen. Louise risks her life daily sharing information she finds left lying around by arrogant men and when a young pilot crash lands and is found by the resistance, she knows she must do more to help the people of Paris and the beautiful man she enjoys spending time with.
Her granddaughter in the present day, works to find out why there was a photo of her grandmother with her hair shaved off and branded a traitor. This is not the woman she knew growing up and needs to know the truth about her heritage.
Who was Louise? Was she a loyal resistance fighter or was she the traitor that Paris made her out to be?
I loved this book! Loved it. The book comes from the POV of Louise in 1944 Paris and Kit, a pilot that crashes fighting against the Germans. Modern day time follows Nicole and her search for answers. The character development was charming and I felt fully connected to all the people the author introduces us too. I loved Louise so much. All the women during that war who didn’t hide, they fought like heroes. I love books like this and I have read many so this book had a lot to measure up to and it is definitely in the top 5 of best WW2 novels ever written for me.
The plot was fantastic and I usually don’t like multiple POV but it really rounded out the story to have them all and gave more depth to what was happening to other people and how they felt.
So cleverly done. I did shed a few tears and the little plot twist at the end I really didn’t see coming and just added real value to the story as a whole!
Brilliant! I highly recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction and especially world war 2 books.
5 stars
Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for my copy of this book and my views are my own
Merged review:
I just finished reading The Paris Maid by Ella Carey and here is my book tour stop review!!
The Ritz hotel has been overtaken by the Nazi’s and it’s Louise Basset's unpleasant job to clean up after them. The sad thing about being a maid, you go unseen. The best part of being a maid in the resistance? You go unseen. Louise risks her life daily sharing information she finds left lying around by arrogant men and when a young pilot crash lands and is found by the resistance, she knows she must do more to help the people of Paris and the beautiful man she enjoys spending time with.
Her granddaughter in the present day, works to find out why there was a photo of her grandmother with her hair shaved off and branded a traitor. This is not the woman she knew growing up and needs to know the truth about her heritage.
Who was Louise? Was she a loyal resistance fighter or was she the traitor that Paris made her out to be?
I loved this book! Loved it. The book comes from the POV of Louise in 1944 Paris and Kit, a pilot that crashes fighting against the Germans. Modern day time follows Nicole and her search for answers. The character development was charming and I felt fully connected to all the people the author introduces us too. I loved Louise so much. All the women during that war who didn’t hide, they fought like heroes. I love books like this and I have read many so this book had a lot to measure up to and it is definitely in the top 5 of best WW2 novels ever written for me.
The plot was fantastic and I usually don’t like multiple POV but it really rounded out the story to have them all and gave more depth to what was happening to other people and how they felt.
So cleverly done. I did shed a few tears and the little plot twist at the end I really didn’t see coming and just added real value to the story as a whole!
Brilliant! I highly recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction and especially world war 2 books.
5 stars
Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for my copy of this book and my views are my own
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced