A review by thebookishpersuasion
The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy

3.0

The Storyteller of Casablanca tells two intertwining narratives of two women who lived in the same house decades apart. Josie is a teenager whose family has moved to Casablanca, Morocco to escape the Germans while Zoe is escaping her own traumatic past with a husband who has become a stranger. Zoe discovers Josie's journal in the floorboards of her house and follows Josie's story as she adjusts to life as a refugee in Morocco.

Overall, I enjoyed this story, but I thought it was too long and that the storylines didn't pick up until about a third of the way through the book. I'm not a huge fan of the two-storyline books, and while this book did a great job at weaving them together, the separate plot lines didn't really start until later in each story. I did love the research done into Moroccan history and culture and hearing about the lives of the different refugee communities--that was so interesting and well done. I just didn't find the plots themselves all that intriguing. Of the two main plot twists (Zoe's and then the main one), only one was a big surprise, although I did love it.

This book could have been better if it was shorter and the plots were stronger and started earlier, but still a good read!