Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

This book is one I hope to come back and read sometime but right now I am very deep into fantasy and romance and this is a book that is just not captivating me at the time.

I love novels set during WWII, but especially when there is romance mixed in. I loved learning more about the female correspondents who played such important roles in the war, even though they put up with so much crap for doing so. War is heartbreaking, so this was heavier than the books I usually gravitate towards, but Natasha's writing was lovely and the romance made me smile. I wish the ending were different.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

Written in two timelines, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘖𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯 tells the story of Jessica May, a model turned photojournalist covering the war in France in 1945.

Sixty years later, D'Arcy Hallworth uncovers some famous photographs that connect her mother to a famous photographer from WWII--connections that will change her life forever.

I stayed up way too late finishing this wonderful book. I couldn't help but cry as I read the last chapter.

I loved everything about Jess, for being an unapologetic female journalist surrounded by misogynist military men trying to make her job even more difficult. Then along came Dan, then little Victorine, and my heart was taken.

As if everything about the prose, the unraveling love stories, and the heartbreaking look at the front lines of WWII weren't already perfect, the book was sprinkled with themes that I absolutely loved--my favorite being that anyone can be your family.

All the stars for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘖𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯. Thanks to @readforeverpub and @grandcentralpub for sending along this copy for me to read and share with you! #partner

𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪𝘀

Sexual content - there are a few sex scenes. They aren't uncomfortably descriptive.

Language - Minimal. A few curses.

Rape - not too descriptive, but difficult to read nonetheless.

Suicide - a very brief though slightly jarring description of someone is found who died by suicide to convey the horrors of what soldiers saw in concentration camps.

This one did not disappoint! I was equally intrigued by both Jessica and D'Arcys stories. Lester weaved history in to the fictional story so well and had me hooked until the end.

I loved the cover for this. I love historical fiction style books, especially those setting around WWII. Honestly, reading the synopsis I fell in love. However, I tried to get through the first 100 pages, but it was hard for me. I could not even finish this one because it would not hold my attention. I wasn't pulled in. I wasn't enthralled. I wasn't captivated like normal. Maybe I will try this one another time, but as for right now, the beginning left me wanting little more from it.

I love historical fiction! I’m mainly a thriller reader but I always drift to this genre. It was cool to read about a strong female character that didn’t take no for an answer and worked hard. No matter what obstacles popped up.

I love books that span time periods and have a mystery that connects them. I loved the character of Jess and thought she was an amazing character who flourished throughout the novel. I really enjoyed that the relationship between her and Dan did not take over the whole book and I was so intrigued to see how Jess, Dan. Victorine and D'arcy were all connected somehow. I did feel like the mystery had too many crazy turns and twists. Dan's part was just way too dramatic, Jess's as well and I don't think I fully understood Victorine's. I really loved most of this book except the last 2-3 chapters when everything is spelled out. I am excited to read more by this author. I think Natasha Lester is a fantastic writer.

I read The Paris Seamstress last year and enjoyed it. I appreciated the different angle that was taken to tell another WWII story. Particularly as so much recent historical is centered around that time. When I saw The Paris Orphan and read the description I knew it was a must read for me. Thank you Netgalley and Forever for my e-arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

There are many wonderful things I could write regarding this book as it was truly a gem of a read. However, I'm going to share what really drew me in and that was the plight of female journalists during WWII. Told through the viewpoint of Jessica May, former Vogue model turned photojournalist- we are able to see the blatant sexism that she, Martha Gellhorn, and other women faced in order to have the opportunity to report from the war zones. The lengths they went to be able to report were incredible, the conditions they endured were inhospitable compared to their male counterparts, and they did so all while maintaining their professional cool. I was in awe of them and constantly was cheering them on as they found ways to circumvent the men who were dead set on not allowing them to do their job. And who even went so far as to try and discredit them simply because they were female.

After reading The Paris Orphan I am grateful for how far we have come but also sad for how much work must still be done. Jessica, Martha, and their crew of journalists were vibrant characters and I am so glad to have spent time with them while reading this fabulous book.

Natasha Lester, author of "The Paris Orphan" has written a captivating, intense, intriguing,dramatic.emotional, and powerful novel. There are two timelines in this novel. One is around 1942, and the other is in France in 2005. Both stories and timelines do connect and like pieces of a puzzle connect. The Genre for this story is Historical Fiction. The themes in this story center around World War Two, and the tragedy and turmoil, dark secrets, discrimination, danger, and betrayals. The author discusses the importance of communication, family, friends, love, hope, peace and equality. Natasha Lester describes her dramatic characters as complex and complicated, possibly due to the circumstances of the times.  The author vividly writes and describes the characters, landscape, locations, and their emotional feelings.

American model/photographer Jessica May arrives in Europe around 1942, to take pictures and write about the war in Europe. Many of the soldiers give her a difficult time, and she is lucky to meet a few friends. Jessica does make friends with Captain Dan Hallworth who does try to accommodate her needs. Besides being in charge of a large number of men, Captain Hallworth has rescued and is providing care for an orphan named Victorine.

In 2005, D'Arcy Hallworth is offered the opportunity of packing up and assessing the photographs that were done during the war by an artist that prefers to keep their name secretive. These pictures are extremely artistic and show life and death.  Little does D'Arcy know how her life will change forever.  

I highly recommend this book for readers who appreciate Historical Fiction. I had trouble putting this book down.

I loved this book so much!! I will definitely be telling anyone to read it. I’m hoping to choose it for my next book club read.

I’ve always loved WWII fiction, it was one of the first genres I became really obsessed with as a child and teenager (shout-out to the American Girl Molly series!) The Paris Orphan easily became one of my favorite WWII stories that I’ve read as an adult.

This year I’ve had a hard time reading dense HF books, I really enjoy reading about the time period but sometimes I have a hard time focusing on all the details. The Paris Orphan felt so different from the other WWII books I’ve tried (and failed) to finish this year. The story contains an equal amount of dialogue and details. Having the story told in this way through conversation made it both easier to stay focused and also made the tragic moments all the more gut wrenching. My goodness, my heart could barely handle some of the things that the characters went through in this book.

I fell in love with Jess almost immediately, she’s such a badass female character. Jess knows she can do more than work as a model during the war, and sets out to live her true dream. She’s based on the extraordinary life of war correspondent and photographer Lee Miller. The story is told through the eyes of a few characters in multiple timelines, but Jess’ sections were especially gripping. The shock and horror she experiences when she arrives in the war zone and realizes Americans back home know absolutely nothing of what was really going on, it hit me right in the gut.

I didn’t know much about Lee Miller before reading The Paris Orphan, but I kept having to pause the book to look up details of her life. The photographs she’s famous for are incredibly powerful (highly recommend having your phone handy to look them up while reading!) It’s clear Lester used a lot of care and research when describing these moments in the book.

The love story between Jess and Dan felt so real, and so heartbreaking. I won’t sugarcoat, but parts of this book basically destroyed me (apologies to my husband who tried to have dinner conversation while I was in the middle of a really tragic part).

The ending felt a smidge rushed, but it also made it even more heart wrenching. The Paris Orphan was a five star read for me. I highly recommend checking it out!

Wow, just WOW! I'm honestly not sure I can do this book justice with a review, but I'm going to try. Historical fiction is one of my two favorite genres and this is definitely in my top five books. I gave up sleep to continue reading later than I ever should have, but I don't regret one moment of lost sleep. I highly recommend this to everyone. It is a highly emotional read that will stick with you long after you've finished.

What I loved about this book:

What I liked most of all is how Lester emphasized the important role women correspondents played during the war and how much they endured to get their articles back to be published. While this took place way before the me too movement, my heart broke as I thought of the thousands of women who were forced into bed with strangers against their will (many of these women were raped more than once). These women were left scarred and often had to deal with the repercussions on their own.

This book also talks about the stress the soldiers endured and the resulting mental illness and addiction that followed. While this was long before a PTSD diagnosis was given, it was obvious that many of the soldiers that returned home suffered. While the women stepped up to preform jobs that were left empty, the soldiers sent into combat lost a bit of their soul and decency each day they had to kill or be killed.

I absolutely loved how well this book was researched and how much of it was inspired by the real female war correspondents of WWII. While we may never know all of what these women had to say due to extreme censoring and sexism, I'm in awe of the determination and courage it took for them to do what they did. I've enjoyed adding many of these women's articles to my reading list and I know I'll be reading a lot more about these amazing women.

UNFORGETTABLE QUOTES:

Every word I write is as difficult as tears wrung from stone.

She’d tried letting her photographs speak for her and it wasn’t working. Time to unleash a different weapon.

The war was marching on without them. Their male counterparts were the only ones reporting anything worth reading.

she knew the moment she caught it that it was the image that would show America what war had become. Not a gallant and heroic jousting for glory but a savage and bestial destruction of humankind.

I implore you to believe this is true.

I’ve Got a Pistol and There Ain’t Nobody Going to Stop Me Having Her

Fiction is all about what is possible and both of these examples made me believe that it was possible for Victorine to have been accommodated in a field hospital for a few months.


MY THOUGHTS:

Female photojournalists during World War II were treated unfairly, and that is an understatement. Jessica May has just lost a contract with Vogue magazine. Jess may have lost her livelihood, but not her drive. Actually, she has had another desire all along. Having spent years learning about photography while her parents were alive, along with a yearning to write, she strives to become a woman taken seriously in the world of photojournalism.

First Italy. Then Paris, with many places in between. Jess not only sees the very worst war has become, she must fight another battle. This is one of becoming worthy of being taken seriously, despite the fact that she is a woman. Jess, along with a few other women, fight tooth and nail to get access to the important stories. They want to report on the travesties of war, just like their male counterparts.

Not only does Jess have to fight to be in a place that counts, she fights one man in particular, Warren Stone. Stone would rather Jess fail on many levels. However, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Hallworth opens many doors for Jess, keeping her as safe as possible so that she can prove her incredible value. Meanwhile, Dan casts a protective net around a little girl named Victorine, keeping her as safe from the horrors of war as possible.

The story begins a back-and-forth shift from the war to 2005. We then meet D'Arcy Hallworth, an art handler and curator hired to protectively package countless photos from an unnamed artists. The scope of the job is a bit out of the ordinary for her, but it is a once and a lifetime opportunity for her, so she travels to Paris. When D'Arcy arrives, she meets people who will change her life forever. This will also affect the relationship she has with her mother, Victorine.

What an emotionally charged story! Having read dozens of historical fiction novels still left me woefully unprepared for what I was about to read in The Paris Orphan. The realities of war, dark, brutal and devastating, left me in tears more than once. I was drawn into the characters as much as I was drawn into the effects of the war. Those named, and those unnamed. For starters, There are Jess, Dan, Victorine, Martha Gellhorn, Lee Miller, D'Arcy, Josh and Jennings. Then there were the victims of the war.

Although fiction, Natasha Lester did a tremendous amount of research (as revealed in the words at the end of the book), that allowed her to include historical facts, characters and places in the affecting story. This book gets the highest rating I can give. Can I say I loved it? In some ways, no. I was heartbroken. However, it is history that contained an incredible amount of realism and that allows me to highly respect it and find the tremendous value it offers tor lovers of anything historical related to war.

I usually read my books straight through, but this book took a few sessions. I had to think about it, dry more than a few tears, and realize how thankful I am to live in a land unaffected by war. It saddens me, however, that there are yet entire populations still suffering the unimaginable in today's times.

Thank you, Ms. Lester, for writing such an impressive book. I also want to thank the author for writing Jessica May's story that was actually based on the life of Lee Miller. I encourage readers to discover for themselves why this book wasn't about Lee (although she was a secondary character) and why Ms. Lester chose to create the character of Jess.

Many thanks to Forever and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This is my honest opinion.

Intensely personal and extrapolated from the real-life women and men who served as photojournalists during World War II, Lester has given us Jessica May, a well-regarded model in 1940’s New York, one who takes photos and writes articles in hopes of something more. When her ex decided to scuttle her modeling career in hopes of ‘putting her in her place’ she is determined to go to Europe and write of the events of the war. With help from her editor and friend at Vogue, she obtains the credentials and is soon on her way to Italy, expecting to be embedded with the nursing corp. But, the hospital is on disputed territory, and the CO of the outfit, one Dan Hallworth not only keeps her safe, but the two are entangled in an attraction that neither will admit. A solid friendship forms, and the two are inexorably linked, when Jess photographs Dan with four year old Victorine, an orphan that Dan has “inherited’ from his brother and his wife, both killed by Germans.

2008 in a chateau in France, D’Arcy has been hired to package and ship photographs for an exhibit in Sydney. Not knowing the photographer, she is met by the agent, who is also unwilling to share details about his very private client. But, D’Arcy spots a photograph that is attributed to Jessica May, lost to history and her more renown male counterparts, and D’Arcy is determined to get to the bottom of the story. Well versed in Jessica May’s work, known and attributed, she did a thesis on “the Photographer” and her hard work, and some personal connections have brought her to see the archives: thousands of photographs, some known, others not- all by Jessica May.

Two stories, intertwined as Lester takes us through the stories of Jessica on the front lines (or desperately trying to get there) with the other female reporters: Margaret Gellhorn, Lee Miller and others – all fighting the inherent sexism, harassment and dangers, yet doing the job, as well, or better than the men. Their eye and perspective is different – the first shots of concentration camps, the bravado of young soldiers not yet battle tested, and the haunted look of those after surviving and seeing things unimaginable. D’Arcy’s growth and revelations, as she finds her own footing – always tentative about putting herself out there – with all she learned, despite her fears, she’s moved forward and onward, hoping to find a new path that will guide her. Utterly gripping and with a full set of notes and information about these women who have been lost to history but provided images that brought the war home to thousands, not as a glorified series of battles from which the allies stood heroes – but as a true human tragedy, one that sent shockwaves throughout the world for years to come.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=:” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-avR/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

World War II 1942 and Jess is working as a model in New York City. She decides she wants to do more for the war effort and applies to become one of few female photojournalists covering the war. Her job isn’t easy by any stretch with male officers doing everything they can to make her life difficult. There are a few friendships that keep Jessica May going in the field and the love of a little orphan called Victorine is one.

2005 France : Living in Australia, D’Arcy is asked to Curate a collection of wartime photographs by a well known photographer that wants to keep their identity a secret. Flying all the way to France and working in a stunning castle in the French countryside is just what D’Arcy needs. Unknown to her, D’Arcy is about to uncover much more than the secret of who the mysterious journalist may be.

I liked The Paris Seamstress also by Natasha Lester but The Paris Orphan is by far the favourite of the two. I was emotionally pulled into this book and could not stop until it was finished and when it was finished I was sad it was over. A beautifully woven tale of war, hardship, friendships and love. There were definitely tears shed while reading this book and in my eyes that is a winner.

Thank you to Net Galley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

An American soldier and an enterprising photographer brave occupied France during World War II to help give a little girl the one thing she's never had--a family--in this gripping historical fiction from the internationally bestselling author of The Paris Seamstress.



New York City/Paris, 1942: When American model Jessica May arrives in Europe to cover the war as a photojournalist for Vogue, most of the soldiers are determined to make her life as difficult as possible. But three friendships change that. Journalist Martha Gellhorn encourages Jess to bend the rules. Captain Dan Hallworth keeps her safe in dangerous places so she can capture the stories that truly matter. And most important of all, the love of a little orphan named Victorine gives Jess strength to do the impossible. But her success will come at a price...



France, 2005: Decades after World War II, D'Arcy Hallworth arrives at a beautiful chateau to curate a collection of famous wartime photos by a reclusive artist. It's the opportunity of a lifetime, but D'Arcy has no idea that this job will uncover decades of secrets that, once revealed, will change everything she thought she knew about her mother, Victorine, and alter D'Arcy's life forever



My thoughts:

Rating :5

This is the first time I've ever read anything by this authour and I have to agree with others that she has away of being to life her stories , and making you feel all the feelings that your suppose to feel while reading a world War II historical fiction , she also has a way of bringing to life her characters and showing the the struggles not only they went through ,but also the people of Paris. And since this is and was my first time reading her I had no idea that my emotions would be so strong, because it's intense powerful emotional and a very moving story that once you start reading it you won't want to put it down, it's not only a WW 2 historical fiction it's a story of two people meeting and felling in love and the love they have for a little orphan girl , and even though heartbreaking it brings to live that love somehow finds away to survive no matter what ,wither it's distance or years. With that said I want to say thank you to Netgalley as well as Grand Central publishing for sending me a copy and letting me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion.

Available September 3: The Paris Orphan

***** 5 stars, Loved it and stayed up all night reading: The Paris Orphan is another must-read WWII drama and one of the best books we've read in 2019.



Recommended readers:

If you like novels with WWII history and drama
If you want an action-packed, historical read
If you like strong female characters
Here's my Rankings:

5/5 for characters
5/5 for plot
5/5 overall
REVIEW FROM BOOKS FOR HER:
I knew I  had to read The Paris Orphan. The previous book by Natasha Lester was one of our  favorite books of 2018. And what I loved about the first, I love about the second: dual plot-line in WWII and current times tying together in the end, more excellent storytelling and even more bittersweet love and heartbreak.

The Paris Orphan weaves together the story of Jessica May - once model now one of the only female journalists allowed to  document the war from various locations - and modern day 20-something art curator D'arcy Hallworth, who's been commissioned to visit a French Chateau and review the work of an reclusive artist. The tragic, dramatic times of World War II create a powerful backdrop to a heartbreaking story of selfless love, sacrifice and ultimately peace. Another must-read WWII drama and one of the best books we've read in 2019.

Available September 3: The Paris Orphan

Where do I start? This book was fantastic!! It was so realistic and fascinating for me I was dreaming about it when I went to bed.... my husband heard me talking in my sleep asking if the war was over! Lol! The character Jess model/photojournalist is loosely based on the real person Lee Miller and the tribulations a woman had to go through in a mans world to be able to photograph the war. This story has love and loss in it and a character that will not stop until she is able to photograph and write about the things she saw. This book had me crying like a baby at the end so be prepared for your heart to break! I was so fascinated by this character I did some of my own research through Wikipedia and a documentary on Lee Miller. I highly recommend this awesome read!!