“But the truth was when it came to grief, each person was an island, alone.”
War is not just for men. During World War II, several governments recruited women for various jobs that would help the war effort – and some of those were on the frontline. England brought women into the Special Operations Executive and trained them to send messages and sabotage the enemy. That is the stage that The Lost Girls of Paris sets its historical fiction tale of the women of SOE and a war widow who stumbles upon their story.
I saw The Lost Girls of Paris in a bookstore and being a lover of historical fiction, I added it to my to-read list. My book club picked it as the July book club choice and I was excited to delve into another story that told women’s involvement in World War II. I was on the wait list for it at the library, but I saw it as a deal one day on BookBub bargains email, so I bought the ebook.
When Grace finds an abandoned suitcase in Grand Central Terminal in New York City, she feels drawn to try and find its owner. When she opens it, she finds a stack of photographs of women, some in uniform. Sirens distract her and when she leaves to get to work, she still has the photographs with her. The women’s stories are told to the readers while Grace tries to find out who the women are and who the photographs belong to. Her path leads to the solution of a mystery both for herself and for the women in the photographs.
The Lost Girls of Paris is a very interesting story of a little known group of women who worked with the French Resistance in the time leading up to the invasion of Normandy. I enjoyed learning about these brave women and the storyline of a war widow finding their photographs added to the plot. However, the characters weren’t as captivating as some of the other WWII historical fiction I’ve read. I would still recommend it to readers who enjoy historical fiction and learning about people in history that aren’t normally written about.
How much do you know about what women did to serve their countries during WWII? Share on the blog!