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A review by reagannixon
The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
3.0
3.75 stars
Normally I can’t read WW2 books but this is more of a story of three women in the 1940s and the sexism / patriotism issues that plagued that time and unfortunately still persist today.
I became invested in three women narrators more than the story—the overall story was just so-so but I so loved the women and wanted to know what happened to them.
If you can’t stomach another ww2 book like me, this is still readable bc the war isn’t a character or setting — it’s needed to facilitate their jobs.
SUMMARY: three narrators. 1) a war widow in 1946 that has moved to NYC and works as a typist / lives in a women’s boarding house and is realizing she wants to be this modern self-sufficient woman. She also finds a suitcase which belongs to another narrator, 2) Eleanor who is now dead. Eleanor was the head of a department of female transcribers (pseudo spies) and had picked/trained the third narrator, 3) Marie. Marie was a single mother who took the job bc it paid well.
In alternating chapters you flash back to WW2 when Marie was in France sending messages — you experience her day to day life and challenges there. You also hear from Eleanor who is back in London supervising Marie and others.
Then there is the “now” 1946 story where the woman is trying to figure out who the suitcase belongs to which leads her to learning about Eleanor and others and so she “investigates” to find out who these women (lady message sending skies) are and what happened to them.
IMHO the cover and title of this book do not (in anyway) capture what this story is actually about. Hopefully my summary helps.
Lastly, this story pales in comparison to THe Nightingale and Code Name Verity BUT if you want more from that specific genre, or one with less “action” this is a good choice.
Normally I can’t read WW2 books but this is more of a story of three women in the 1940s and the sexism / patriotism issues that plagued that time and unfortunately still persist today.
I became invested in three women narrators more than the story—the overall story was just so-so but I so loved the women and wanted to know what happened to them.
If you can’t stomach another ww2 book like me, this is still readable bc the war isn’t a character or setting — it’s needed to facilitate their jobs.
SUMMARY: three narrators. 1) a war widow in 1946 that has moved to NYC and works as a typist / lives in a women’s boarding house and is realizing she wants to be this modern self-sufficient woman. She also finds a suitcase which belongs to another narrator, 2) Eleanor who is now dead. Eleanor was the head of a department of female transcribers (pseudo spies) and had picked/trained the third narrator, 3) Marie. Marie was a single mother who took the job bc it paid well.
In alternating chapters you flash back to WW2 when Marie was in France sending messages — you experience her day to day life and challenges there. You also hear from Eleanor who is back in London supervising Marie and others.
Then there is the “now” 1946 story where the woman is trying to figure out who the suitcase belongs to which leads her to learning about Eleanor and others and so she “investigates” to find out who these women (lady message sending skies) are and what happened to them.
IMHO the cover and title of this book do not (in anyway) capture what this story is actually about. Hopefully my summary helps.
Lastly, this story pales in comparison to THe Nightingale and Code Name Verity BUT if you want more from that specific genre, or one with less “action” this is a good choice.