The Paris Network" is a novel by Siobhan Fallon. It's a gripping historical fiction novel set during World War II in Nazi-occupied Paris. The story follows a network of resistance fighters who risk their lives to sabotage the German occupation and aid the Allied forces. As the stakes rise and danger looms at every turn, the members of the Paris Network must navigate treacherous terrain and make difficult choices to protect their city and loved ones. With its vivid portrayal of wartime Paris, compelling characters, and high-stakes drama, "The Paris Network" is a thrilling and immersive read that captures the bravery and resilience of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the narrator and felt that their voice was good for the story. I liked the characters and I hope to read more by this author in the future!
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and to the author for the ARC!

I am drawn to stories that take place during WWII. The personal struggles and sacrifices made by ordinary people wanting to make a difference in the war effort, and the bravery and resilience of those who survived is so inspiring.

The Paris Network is a beautiful written, dual timeline WW2 story with themes around courage strength, resilience, and hope. Engaging and captivating, this slow unraveling story touched on all my emotions. I simply couldn’t put it down.

While both storylines were captivating, and the author successfully stitched together the threads from each storyline to bridge the gap and uncover the secrets of the past, I found I was more drawn to the historic storyline. The protagonist of the historical thread is Laurence, a bookshop owner, who in the face of adversity, joins up with the French resistance. She’s an ordinary person who does extraordinary things, putting herself in harms way to help others despite the risk to her own safety. I love how she uses her love of literature to bring hope to others. She was brave and loyal. The network of friendships she made and her ability to find love despite the horrific circumstances surrounding her life was heartwarming.

The narration by Laurence Bouvard was wonderful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to preview an advance listening copy of this fantastic story in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A poignant historical fiction and as you would expect of any story set during the war, this grips your interest. It was a good listen. Not one of the best in the genre but definitely worth a one-time read. I felt it kept going but nothing much was happening. A good one-time read. A story set in a small village, with a close-knit group of people and a love for books. The latter was the best aspect of it.

3 stars

A small town bookseller becomes a resistance fighter in occupied France, leaving behind many unanswered questions for her daughter. I enjoyed the writing style, characters, & detailed settings. The plot feels contrived at various points, & also melodramatic sometimes.

[What I liked:]

•The book connection as the initial point of being inducted into the resistance is kinda unique.

•There is one German soldier occupying the town who is portrayed semi-sympathetically, & for once the thing that humanizes him (in the MC’s eyes) isn’t because the MC falls in love with him.

•The ending is very touching! I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s very dramatic & noble.

[What I didn’t like as much:]

•How come the store is still there, boarded up & untouched after 50 years? I thought most places have legal provisions for abandoned property, where after so many years it becomes public property & can be auctioned.

•Why oh why do they try to break into the shop instead of going to the local authorities? It seemed like the writer was making an unlikely choice just to add drama. And why the heck would a supposedly top notch police detective try to investigate a dark building without bringing a flashlight?

•This is a comment on the audiobook narration, but I found some of the choices really odd. Laurence narrates most of the book in 1st person, & the narrator uses a French accent only for Laurence’s dialogue lines with other characters. Even when it’s not dialogue lines, it’s still Laurence’s voice, so why switch the accent on & off?

•The other weird narration thing is that the narrator uses a distinct voice for Luc’s dialogue, but when she reads Luc’s letters she uses Laurence’s voice with a French accent. That confused me.

•Laurence being able to get a travel pass on a near weekly basis just to buy stock for her shop seemed a little excessive. Wouldn’t once a month seem a more realistic interval for business trips to stock up?

CW: torture, war, murder, anti-semitism, sexism

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

This is such a beautifully written and narrated story, by the time you finish, your eyes will be clouding with tears.

This book predominantly follows Laurence, a French bookstore owner in a Nazi occupied France. From her account we find out the hardship the French people had to suffer during their occupation, such as rationing of food, banning books who were deemed by Nazis as ‘unsuitable’, and general German cruelty towards the French people.

To start with, Laurence put up with the Germans, however, the death of her boyfriend, Luc changed everything. She joined the Resistance movement and began reading the books banned by the Germans. She would even write short passages taken from the stories on her typewriter and distribute them around her town.

Laurence also recounts her short but remarkable love story between herself and the American pilot. By end of the book, when Laurence was narrating her final speech, I felt very moved. I found her speech poignant and powerful.

In 1993, Jeanne, a retired police woman, discovers a shocking family secret, which prompts her and her father to travel to France. The duo start piecing together the mystery of Laurence’s life. Who was Laurence to Jeanne?

You’ll have to read this book for yourselves to find out. I loved this story from the beginning to the end. Laurence was such a brave and inspirational woman. I really enjoyed her love of books, and how she would write book prescriptions for her customers and people in her hometown to cheer them up in times of hardship.

It is such a shame that her love story was cut short, but it made this book even more powerful. Life is short and we are all on borrowed time, therefore we should make the most of it and enjoy every minute.

I definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Bookouture for accepting my NetGalley request to listen and review this book. It’s been a pleasure!

This was a brilliant historical fiction book that I struggled to put down. I really enjoyed the story-line and the real sense of community that came through from the book. It was so interesting. And being centred around a bookshop how can we not love it. I listened to the audiobook and loved the narrator and thought she brought a wonderful sense of atmosphere and tension to the reader. I took to the characters straight away and loved the fact it took me on a real roller coaster of a ride. I thought the author did an excellent job at bringing through her story real emotions.  

Many thanks to the author and publishers for creating this wonderful intriguing story.


The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-paris-network-by-siobhan-curham-bookouture-4-star either under my name or ladyreading365 or lady Reading365 or ladyc reading

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the listen. Enjoyed it very much. Narrator did a great job narrating. Will recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for an audio copy of The Paris Network in exchange for an honest review.

in 1939, Laurence has recently lost her mother and transforms her mother's old dress shop into a thriving book dispensary. Laurence is passionate about books and believes that they can be as useful as medicine or air; she has even taken to writing "prescriptions" to her clients of some of her favorite poems or books. She lives in La Vallee du Cerf, France, and her readers need her medicine more than ever as the Germans have began to occupy her small town. As the occupation progresses Laurence becomes more and more agitated, wanting to become a part of the resistance like her hero Joan of Ark. When books start to be banned in France she sees a way to be a little rebellious as she starts a book club to read all of the books on the banished list. She travels to Paris to visit with her favorite book seller to get supplies and some of the black market reads. There she is brought deeper into the actual resistance changing her future forever.
In 1993, Jeanne has recently lost her own mother but at her funeral Jeanne discovers that she was adopted and was really born in France during the occupation. She has inherited a bookstore in the small French town. She travels to France with her father to see if she can discover what happened to Laurence and her own mysterious past.

This is a good historical fiction novel for fans of female stories set in WWII. While there is nothing new in that regard, the author does a good job of developing the characters and town enough to keep the story interesting. It was a good mix of resistance, love and mystery. It is told through dual timelines and the perspectives of Laurence and Jeanne and I think it was done well. I had the audio version narrated by Laurence Bouvard who did a beautiful job, her accents and characters were believable and she was a joy to listen to.

**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book**
Narrator, 2 stars because of the voice.
The story 2 stars because I just couldn’t get into it and it just isn’t my style.

This one was pretty good. I liked but didn't love it. Historical fiction is my favorite genre so perhaps I am a harsh critic because there are so many great options, but I felt this one was longer than it needed to be. Overall, though, the 2 interwoven plots kept my interest and I think other historical fic fans will enjoy.

A riveting tale of love and loss, this book was captivating from beginning to end. The Paris Network is an intricately woven story told from both the perspective of a resistance fighter in Paris during WWII and her daughter who is just discovering the incredible truth of who her mother was. Laurence, resistance fighter and mother to Jeanne, owns a book store in World War II and is bravely determined to resist the Germans through books - by reading ones they have banned, creating a forbidden book club, and distributing flyers of material the Germans don’t want the French to know. Her bravery comes at a cost, but will it be too great? Alternating between the voices of Laurence and Jeanne, this fast paced book keeps readers on the edge of their seats.

The audio is expertly paced, and the narration is wonderfully done with appropriate inflection and a convincing french accent. The characters voices are distinct and makes the narration understandable and easy to follow.

A beautiful book about standing up for what is right, comes to a poignant ending when the two story lines merge into one. Wonderful read!

Many thanks to Bookouture Audio and Net Galley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book, although having the audio version might have been a mistake.
I wasn't overly keen on the narrator, but i liked the book all the same.

I chose to listen to this as I enjoy mid 20th C history. I have to say that I found the tenure of the writing somewhat light hearted and almost amusing at times. Perhaps this was intentional but I found it alongside the accent of the narrator, somewhat off putting and not in line with the serious nature of the historical content.
It seems to be a current trend to write stories in two time frames, one often looking back on the past. This can work but often, as in this case, means that one time frame, usually the former, works better than the other.
In conclusion, this was not a favourite book for me, but I can see that for someone who likes a little more quirky humour in their historical fiction and doesn't mind a girl in France being narrated with an American accent, it would be a hit.

I really enjoyed the audio version of The Paris Network. Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres so this was right up my street. I liked the narrator and thought she did a great job of the accents.
I liked the way the story switched between present day and war time to tell Laurence’s story of bravery and heart break. A good 4 stars.

I love stories set during the WWII time period. And this one was a pleasure to read. I actually listened to the audiobook and enjoyed it immensely. I think the narrator did a great job juggling all the different dialects. It was a plus that Laurance’s thoughts were expressed with an American accent. That made it easy to distinguish between her dialogue and when she was thinking to herself. The dual timeline was well done and the characters well developed. This was a love story amidst the horrors of the Nazi regime. But it wasn’t sappy sweet. I continue to be amazed at the courage so many individuals displayed during a time of pure evil. This will have you grabbing for a tissue as you experience strength, resilience, love, longing, and extreme courage. This is definitely one to put on your to-be-read list!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoutre for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

I enjoy historical fiction and this book was no exception. I loved the main character and her book shop. I wondered throughout the story what was going to happen. I enjoyed learning about her town and her neighbors there. I would recommend this to any of my historical fiction loving friends, and I will listen to it again. Thank you NetGalley for sharing this with me.

As a bookstore owner in a small town outside of Paris in 1940, Laurence has no way of knowing that World War II is about to change her life. When she is given the opportunity to help her fellow citizens, will Laurence risk her own safety to save others?

After the death of the woman that she knew as her mother, Jeanne is told the truth by her father. Hoping to uncover the secrets of the past, father and daughter embark on a trip to France. Will certain revelations change everything for the pair?

Many historical fictions are written in a similar manner, with the past being uncovered by someone in a more present timeline. Although this does not usually bother me, there are some inconsistencies that I could not ignore. In particular, certain word choices for the 1940's do not seem consistent with the time period. I do not like the repetitive nature of the dialogue, especially Laurence. The fact that she finds similarities to, and comfort from, her heroine Joan of Arc, is mentioned too many times throughout the novel. Having read many novels about World War II in France, including other books about booksellers or librarians, The Paris Network just does not stand out.

That being said, narrator Laurence Bouvard did an excellent job bringing Laurence to life. I was not as convinced by the presentation of Jeanne, as her voice itself came across as too young for a woman of middle age. I did find the narration to be engaging and I enjoyed listening to The Paris Network, as a result.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Audio Copy of The Paris Network by NetGalley and the publisher, Bookouture Audio. The decision to review this book was entirely my own.

The Paris Network takes place in two timelines, during WW2 beginning in 1939 and 1993. In 1939 La Vallee du Cerf, France, Laurence Sidot has turned her family store into The Book Dispensary. As the name hints to a pharmacy, she calls herself the book doctor and gives “prescriptions” of books/poems to her customers based on their emotional requirements. Laurence's parents are dead and there are rumors of horrible things happening inside and outside of France. When the Germans take over her town, people she has known for years are shot and deported. Laurence decides to fight back. Her response varies from reading all the books on the banned list to actively participating as a member of the French Resistance. In 1993, Jeanne's mother has died and after the funeral, she finds a a dusty old box in her father’s garage. From it's contents she learns she has inherited a bookstore, in a tiny French village, from a woman named Laurence. Her dad tells her little about this woman that he once knew so they travel to La Vallee du Cerf to attempt to claim her property and to find out who she was and what happened to Laurence.

This story is told from two POVs, Laurence and Jeanne. With most dual timeline stories, I preferrred the past story more than the present. Laurence made a great heroine. She is smart and intuitive and uses her brain to get herself out of trouble more than once. I enjoyed seeing her character grow in this story. Jeanne was an okay character, but didn't pull me in like Laurence. I was intrigued by Laurence's storyline. I learned more about the resistance and the way their various activities were carried out. Of course, I loved the pride of place books played. From the "book prescriptions" to book discussions, hiding and reading banned books to publishing of them, my bookish brain was engaged. I found it interesting how much the Nazis tried to cow the citizens by numbing their brains. The present day timeline didn't capture me as much as I would like, but it was used to shed light on the past, as well as show the reverence people had for Laurence. I would have been happy if it has just been the historical story, bookended by the 1993 one. I did a read/listen and definitely preferred reading. The audiobook was hard to follow at times as the narrator used the same voice when narrating both character parts, including their inner thoughts. Dialogue however, has individual voices and accents, so maybe it was just me at that time. Overall, the historical timeline was interesting and educational and I recommend this book for that reason.

The Paris Network by Siobhan Curham is the tale of love during oppression, of broken hearts finding hope and healing, and of what it means to be free from oppression. Jean is almost fifty and has been forced into early retirement. Her mother has recently died and the day of the funeral, she discovers that the mother she has always known didn't give birth to her. During WWII, in Nazi occupied France, Jean was born to her father and Laurence, a resistance fighter. As they both fight for freedom, the ultimate price must be paid. Will Jean find the truth, and, in doing so, find healing? A beautifully written story, full of hope and resilience. I enjoyed the narrator very much. She had just the right accents for each part she portrayed. I look forward to more! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to enjoy and learn from this story. All opinions are my own.