This is a beautifully descriptive book. Makes me want to visit Morocco. My favourite genre of WWII historical fiction. This books has dual timelines in 1940's and 2010's Casablanca. Zoe moves to Casablanca for her husband's work and finds a box with a young girl, Josie's, diary and keepsakes under the floorboard of the house she moves in. Two storylines interweave as we learn of Josie's family's time in Casablanca and Zoe's struggles in her marriage. This novel contains a number of themes including Jewish refugees trying to get to America, French Resistance in Morocco, dreamseller/storyteller traditions in Africa, the use of quilts in the Underground Railroad, loss and bereavement, and the current global refugee crisis. Beautifully written! "Papa says kindness is one of the most important things in the world but a lot of people seem to have forgotten that nowadays."

Review – The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy

Zoe and her new baby daughter, finds herself in Casablanca after her husband’s transfer. She has difficulties settling in the new city, finding new friends, and her anxiety nearly stifles her. Zoe notices a loose board in the floor of the baby’s room. Under the boards Zoe finds an old diary and a wooden box. She begins reading the diary.

Josie, a twelve year old girl, flees Paris with her family for Casablanca in 1941. The war is reaching for the family as they are awaiting passage on a ship to America. Several fascinating characters come into each life.

Such descriptive and enjoyable adventures and new experiences await both protagonists. As the story weaves, it brings both females awareness of their desires to belong in the captivating city while learning about themselves in the process. I was thoroughly engaged in this enthralling story.

The storyteller of Casablanca is a story with two narratives, one in the 1940s and one in 2010. Both are a fascinating look into like in Morocco during tumultuous times.

Josie is a 12 year old refugee from Nazi occupied France who has arrived in Casablanca on her way to America. Her story is shared through diary entries of her time in Morocco as her family waits for their visas to travel to America. For a 12 year old, she is remarkably observant, brave and compassionate. She does, helpfully, describe herself as precocious from the outset, which is perhaps to help the reader get used to her remarkably mature voice. Her chapters were the most interesting as she explored her new city and country. However, at one point the modern reader, Zoe, does describe the fear she feels for Josie and that she is getting from Josie herself, but up to that moment, I had not really noticed it.

In 2010, Zoe has also just arrived in Casablanca and is living in the house Josie once did. It is clear that something is going on with Zoe but it is purposefully kept from the reader. While I understand why, it didn’t make Zoe’s reading too compelling. Usually with these types of characters there’s some drive to learn more about the past character because they’re connected, the modern one is a historian, journalist and so on. However, in Zoe’s case, she’s just reading the diary out of curiosity. When she does choose to do research it is incorporated into the story a little awkwardly. You suddenly have the sense of Zoe breaking the 4th wall and speaking to you directly.

Of the two characters, Zoe is less interesting and I probably would have been happy just to read Josie’s story.

One big plus point of the book is the devotion to detail about Morocco, today and during the war. I know very little about the North African front during WWII and have yet to visit Morocco so I deeply enjoyed learning about these things through our characters eyes.

Zoe and her husband move to Casablanca to try to put right their troubled marriage. At the house they move to Zoe uncovers a diary from 1941 written by a 12 year old Jewish/Catholic girl - Josie. Her family have fled Paris as the Nazis rolled in and she tells of their struggle to obtain papers to reach America and safety whilst living under the threat of Nazi invasion and arrest in Morocco. Friendships form with a Moroccan girl and a refugee Jewish boy who lives in much poorer circumstances whilst Josie’s father becomes involved in the local resistance.

The modern day parallel sees Zoe becoming involved in a charity which supports women and children who have escaped torture and struggle in other African countries and we see how their support for each other is a healing force for Zoe.

Set against a Moroccan backdrop, which is a more unusual perspective for WW2 drama. If I have any criticism, it is that Josie’s diary is a little simplistic in style, but that is necessarily so given her age.

I found myself, surprisingly to me, caught up more in Josie’s story and was keen to read the chapters of her life. Very readable book, which draws you in, as tension builds in respect of what will happen to the Second World War family and whether Zoe’s marriage can survive the unspoken issues which have caused its breakdown. Definitely a good read and, as it developed, more and more difficult to put down.

Excellent book! I love all of this author’s books. Fabulous storyline and educational at the same time.

Another first for me in a book by Fiona Valpy. I've read a great deal about the diaspora of Jews and refugees in WW2 but nothing about Morocco. The setting is a perfect place for the story to take place.
The dual narrative switches between 1941-1943 and 2010. In 2010, Zoe and her family have come to Casablanca with her husband's work, in hopes of a fresh start after some unrevealed trauma in the past.
This is contrasted with 13 year old French refugee Josie's diary of life in Casablanca after her family escapes from Paris, waiting to get to America.

Both stories were interesting and kept me intrigued as to what fate awaited their respective characters. I had an idea the twist at the end was coming but it did take me by surprise and brought together the threads of the narrative, explaining the ideas dangled in front of us but never explained.

I really enjoyed the author's descriptions of Morocco and the way she highlights the ongoing global refugee crisis.

I would definitely recommend this book and am very grateful to the publishers and Netgalley for an early release copy.

I got bored reading the diary of a 12 year old, after all I’m an adult who needs to be entertained by my reading. This felt more like a YA book. Not for me.

What a joy! Treat yourself to The storyteller of Casablanca and let Fiona Valpy wit, poignancy, and insight take you away' A real treat!
Let this book take you away to another land for a few hours of pure delight.

This was a wonderfully descriptive novel that takes place in Morocco, mostly Casablanca. You can almost see, hear, touch and smell the surroundings in the novel. I’ve been to Casablanca just once, many years ago but this book has peaked my interest into perhaps thinking about visiting again at some point when the world has opened up again.

The book is written in a dual time line. Our main character is Zoe, who is fairly new to Casablanca and trying hard to fit in to the expat community with the help of a few welcoming and helpful women. Her husband Tom has been transferred with his job to the city. There is also their baby Grace filling up Zoe’s days. However, Zoe is lonely and spends many hours on her own while Tom works late. While in her daughter’s bedroom, she finds a loose floorboard and underneath is a little box with a few trinkets and a diary. The diary is of a young girl of 13 called Josie written during the second world war. Josie and her family had left Paris to go to America to escape the Nazis in France. Their time in Casablanca was to be a stop-over, just for a short while until their papers for the United States came through. Zoe begins reading the diary and soon finds herself intrigued by the young author of the diary and wondering what became of them. She starts doing a little bit of research of her own.

It took me a little while to get into this novel but once I did, I was very interested. There was the hint throughout the book that something wasn’t right in Zoe and Tom’s marriage and you need to keep reading to understand what happened to this couple in order for them to seem so broken.

I enjoyed the two timelines in the novel. I equally liked the two main characters but I was particularly interested in Josie’s story. We hear about WWII in various places throughout the world but this was the first time I’ve read a story about Morocco during the second world war.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book will be included in my Most Favorite Books Read in 2021 list. I was moved by so many things in this incredibly beautiful book. Ms. Valpy's story telling of these two women in two different times is beautiful, the setting is magical. It's a book I'll be sharing with family and friends for a long time to come.

I was totally immersed in this book and absolutely loved it. I have enjoyed all Fiona Valpy's novels and her interweaving of present day stories wit historical fiction is mesmerising. The underlying narrative of coping with grief resonated with me very strongly personally. Superb!

Having read and enjoyed The Skylark’s Secret by Fiona Valpy, I had to request this book. I was not disappointed. It is a story written in dual timelines. Zoe, young , married with a baby, goes to live in Casablanca when her husband accepts a posting there. He works for a shipping company and spends a lot of time at work. Zoe is befriended by some of the other expats, and is encouraged to take part in some of their activities. One day, she finds a loose floorboard in her daughter’s bedroom. When she tries to fix it, she discovers a wooden box containing a journal, hidden underneath. The journal was written in 1941, by a 13 year old Jewish girl, who had fled, with her family, from their home in Paris to escape the Nazis. It describes life in Casablanca during the war years and the difficulties refugees were facing there.
I loved the little fables interspersed in the story and also liked the descriptions of the Medina, the people, the landscape and life in general.
I was not expecting the final turn in the story.
My thanks to NetGalley, Fiona Valpy and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC copy of this lovely story.

Zoe is having a hard time adjusting to her new life in Casablanca. After finding a box containing a journal of a 13 year old girl, Josie, that was written in the 1940s.

The story switches back and forth as Zoe reads Josie’s story and begins to fall in love with the city that Josie describes so well.

I loved that Josie’s writing in her journal matured as she did. The detail and research done for this book was phenomenal.

A wonderful tale that toggles back and forth from current period to 1940s period. The writing develops throughout the story as the child, Josie, in the 1940s matures through the actions that surround her. In addition, Zoe finds the strength within the writing of the child to provide a new direction in her life. The descriptions of the landscape, cities and people of Morocco, are wonderfully descriptive and provides a view into a place I have not visited to date. The history of Morocco during WWII, told in Josie’s diary, were informative and well researched. A diary written by an 13 year old and the current day events of a troubled young married woman, switches frequently between each one’s story. The characters were well portrayed and were mostly enjoyable characters. I enjoyed the different perspective of the war and how it did have far reaches that might not have always been the mainstream.

My thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing/Lake Union Publishing for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Initially I found the narrative immature, but then had to revise my opinion as the story unfolded. It was apt for the tale and surprisingly, Josie’s narrative did mature over time.

With a love for Morocco I could not resist requesting this book. Despite containing descriptions of the landscape, cities and people of Morocco, bringing back fond memories of my recent visits, it’s not a page-turner. The history of Morocco during WW2, as retold in Josie’s diary, were informative and well researched. A diary written by an 13 year old and the current day events of a troubled young married woman, switches frequently between each one’s story. The characters were well portrayed and for the most part likeable.

Zoe is finding it almost impossible to settle into her new life in Morocco, with her husband and a new baby and being so far from home. While investigating her new home, she finds a wooden box under the floorboards in her daughter’s bedroom. In the box are the diary and letters of Josie, a young girl waiting with her family in Casablanca in 1940 for transport to the United States, as they try to stay one step ahead of the Nazis. In Josie’s diary, Zoe is able to explore a city and a time long vanished, both the beauty and the terror. This is an unforgettable read, you can almost smell the cinnamon and allspice of the bazaar