A review by verityball
The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

I have so much to say about this book. It initially reminded me of Victoria Hislop's style of writing, where there is someone in the modern day world reflecting back or investigating the past. There was a difference in that character set in the modern day really had her own story to tell as well as the story of the story she was finding out about in WW2 Casablanca. 

The main character Zoe is dealing with moving to an unknown country as an expat and trying to work out her local community as well as encountering some problems in modern day Morocco. I felt I could draw a number of parallels between Zoe and myself when I first moved to Bahrain. 

13 year old Josie, whose diary Zoe finds, is a kind and unfailingly optimistic character and I loved reading about her experiences. The only (very slight) issue I had was that Josie's diary entries were written with very advanced language and style that I found slightly hard to believe from a 13 year old French girl who was practicing English. 

A few twists and turns at the end with some very emotional final chapters. Will definitely be reading another book by Fiona Valpy.