I loved the introduction, where the author’s parents return from a British Antique Dealers Association ball, and Francelle’s dad is telling her that everyone at the ball had been looking at mummy's cleavage aka actually her war medals that she got for “bashing up the Germans during the war.” (The author was just 6yrs old at this time) From then on, through her childhood, teen years etc her mother used to tell her what she got up to during the war.
I also loved the byline of "The young woman who outwitted the Nazis & became a WW2 hero" after reading the book I think Andree would have found it amusing as she really didn’t see herself as a hero at the time. Rightly so she was awarded war medals for her service and all the risks she took and danger she faced.

To begin with I struggled with the book I found it not personal or humanised enough for me.....it was just a set of facts and felt a little more like a reference book, than the story of a woman who lived in Paris in WW2. Then as the book progressed there were more diary entries used and we got to know Andree more, the book became much more interesting and I became hooked on reading more about Andree and what she did to help the resistance.

Before the war and occupation of France, Andree was working at the Police HQ under the guidance of Monsieur Langeron, and when the Germans invaded all such civil servants were not allowed to resign. Some chose to disappear and escape, leaving France. Some continued to do their jobs keeping their heads down and doing what the Germans told them to, even going so far as to collaborating and giving the Germans information of the whereabouts of Jewish people and those who were helping them. Then there were a few people, like Andree who continued to work at Police HQ and used their position in any way possible to help others and the resistance. She felt somewhat protected by Monsieur Langeron he was sympathetic to the cause, in fact it was Monsieur Langeron that was behind Andree working around all the different departments, so that she had an extensive inside knowledge of how everything worked and therefore she could access an extensive range of documents and information. When Monsieur Langeron was arrested, reinstated and eventually left Police HQ, Andree felt more alone and knew she needed to be even more discreet in what she was doing. In fact, a colleague warned her about taking blank ID cards too often. The colleague had obviously noticed Andree stealing the cards but had turned a blind eye until the point it would personally affect her if Andree was caught, and even then, she just warned Andree and didn’t report her to the Germans. There were those not openly or heavily involved with the resistance but would turn a blind eye if they saw others engaging in activities the Germans would consider as acts against them.

Andree was drawn into the Orion Resistance group by its eventual leader, her brother Alain. It was a risk as resistance members were not meant to associate with each other, never mind be related to each other. I have to say that even had she not joined an organised resistance group, Andree would have found a way to help the Jewish people and hinder the Germans as much as humanly possible. In fact, Andree did small acts of “defiance” like crossing the road to avoid interaction with German Officers. Though she did have an unavoidable friendship with one German Officer due to working at Police HQ which came in very useful later when she needed someone to vouch for her innocence and that she couldn’t possibly be a member of the resistance. I feel at times because Alain trusted Andree so much he would push her to do more and more dangerous missions.

As Andree worked at Police HQ she had access to a fairly plentiful supply of materials to type things up, be that undercover newspapers, leaflets or information to be passed on. At one point Andree’s job gave her access to ID cards so she stole blank ID cards for the resistance to use to help Jewish people. Even when Andree was switched departments, which happened to her a lot, she would return to see her friends and use these visits to gain access to the blank ID cards.
When doing her regular work at the Police HQ grateful clients would gift Andree perfume and cigarettes which she would sell to fund trips she would take.
Andree took many trips with her small suitcase with its carefully designed lining that she could hide documents in. On a later trip she purchased a girdle to sew coins supplied by the Americans to fund the resistance in to smuggle them across the country. Andree used her image of a young, carefree, perhaps somewhat naïve woman to fool the Germans on more than one occasion. On other occasions she channelled her mother’s authorative manner and actually threatened the German Officers and challenged the Gestapo. Andree had many adventures, one of which resulted in her being unable to find a hotel room for the night, approaching the local Police for help and being directed to a brothel to spend the night! Though she didn’t have a great nights sleep there as she woke part way through the night being bitten by fleas!!

Orion Agents had no formal training, it was set up & managed by French men & women living in their own country familiar with their surroundings. The Orion group never used radio transmitters Alain thought them too risky, it was too easy for the Germans to pick up on radio frequencies. They may have used other resistance operatives & British & US Intelligence service radios but they never had their own. Alain insisted that if a courier was in danger they were to destroy whatever information they were carrying and try to lose whoever was tailing them, but not to lead them to their home or the home of other members. They were not to socialise with other members of the group, in fact the least they knew of each other the better. That way if they were ever caught and tortured, they could not reveal a lot of information. It was later after Alain’s training with the intelligence services that they were issued with cynanide capsules to take if absolutely necessary. Orion’s main instructions came from the “top, top man” Henri d'Astier de la Vigerie and were to make contacts & gather information that may be of use to intelligence services. On the whole Orion was quite successful but it mustn’t be forgotten is caught they would inevitably be tortured and either sent to the camps or simply shot. Orion only lost 2 of its 18 full time agents. These agents were young people. Alain was the youngest resistance group leader and all but 4 of his agents were still under the age of 24yrs at the end of the war. There were only 2 women in Orion, Andree Groitteray White & Margit Ehrart Hutton. Though other women did help Orion they were not full time members.
It was thought at the time that the Germans were less suspicious of women which is why the resistance recruited them, though they were still in as much danger and at times more danger than male recruits. There was always the threat of moles reporting them to the Gestapo, or Vichy. It could be a concierge at the building they lived in who reported them, a work colleague, a double agent or even a “friend”. There were roughly 2,500 German agents, 6,000 French agents and an estimated 24,000 people informing on their neighbours, colleagues and even their friends. These groups such as Orion were not really linked to other resistance groups and there were many such groups however, they did support and work with the SOEs. In comparison to the “untrained” Orion Agents, the SOE Agents received 6 months intensive training in the UK before being parachuted or travelling by sea into France. The SOE sent in 470 Agents - 118 did not return. Of the 470, 39 were female agents, 13 of those died in action. Wireless operators had a life expectancy of 6 weeks!!

I found the initial 20% or so hard going which annoyed me as I so wanted to read about this amazing young French woman & her brother who were part of the Orion resistance. Then as more and more of Andree’s own words are used within the book from her own diary entries made at the crazy dangerous time, I became more and more absorbed. The thing is Andree doesn't believe herself a heroine she sees herself as a normal French woman so doing what she can to help rid her country of unwanted invaders. I found reading about what “normal” life in Paris under the German rule interesting too. On one hand people were starving, yet on the other there were restaurants and hotels that still offered extravagant food. It was interesting to read about Andree’s family life, the way her mother knew her daughter was taking part in dangerous work being a courier of information yet they didn’t openly talk about it. Again it was better that the rest of the family knew no details of operations.
Though it was Alain and Andree that were deeply involved in the resistance they and their family had to know if they were caught that there would be serious repercussions for the whole family. It was amazing to read of the French citizens who all played a small part in the greater goal of the resistance.

Andree’s daughter Francelle, the author of this book used her mother’s diaries, spoke to other resistance members and her Uncle Alain as well as the memories of the stories her mother had told her. Francelle continues Andree’s legacy of helping others as the proceeds from this book are being donated to an Alzheimers & Dementia charity set up in her mothers name.

Summing up, I found the book intriguing, informative and fascinating. I think the word I’d use to describe how the book is presented/put over is pragmatic....... ”pragmatic” the way Andree had to be to survive. Andree didn’t think herself special or a heroine, she was just doing what she could to help the Jewish people and help to get the invading Germans out of her home country.

'I am nineteen and I want to have fun but we are at war!'

Andrée Griotteray is just nineteen years old and working at Paris's Police Headquarters when the German army parades down the Champs-Èlysèes to claim the city. Everyone is horrified, terrified, so many still have relatively fresh memories of WW1. For the Griotterays though, Andrèe and her brother Alain in particular, there is only one option, 'We have to think of victory and shout 'Vive la France''. Starting, by producing and circulating anti-Nazi news, Andrèe soon utilises her administrative position to steal blank ID cards to help Jews escape. Soon, Andrèe and Alain were asked to recruit even more members to their group, officially becoming known as Orion, so that information could be passed on to the British and Americans. Their teenage efforts lasted the entire war - they lasted the entire war - despite setbacks and betrayals.

'The Paris Girl' is Andrèe's war story, pieced together using snippets of her diary as well as contextual narration formed from conversations with family and other Orion members. What the story really conveys is how a couple of untrained teenagers, with nothing more than a patriotic lineage, and pluck could (and would) become medal-bedecked war heroes. It makes you re-think all the times you tell yourself that a problem is 'too big'.

'It is unbearably hot at the moment. We are leading the most awful life'.

Francelle Bradford White’s The Paris Girl is a historical account documenting Andree’s (the author’s mother) role as a courier for the French Resistance during World War II. This book is truly a labor of love, as the author pieces together her mother’s stories, diary entries, and interviews with people who were involved in the war effort.

There are a lot of different characters introduced, so we don’t always get a full background of their role (and honestly, it was naturally harder for me to follow all of the individuals mentioned). However, because this novel is telling a story of something that is not as commonly known and Andree’s work impacted a lot of people and brought her into contact with many, I can understand the author’s decision to lay down all the details and stories to ensure that the story is told as accurately as possible.

We definitely need more stories to be told about feminine heroes and activists, especially during difficult times in history.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing a complimentary eARC for review.

The Paris Girl is a fascinating account of young Andrée Griotteray, a French Resistance fighter (and the author’s mother). Documentation through diaries, letters, conversations, and interviews provide the details and historical record of Andree. Ms. Griotteray was honored with many awards from France over the decades for her work in the Resistance. Many Resistance fighters and leaders, including her younger brother, are included and the roles they played. There is an entire chapter devoted to the politics and history of France during World War II.
The story is captivating as we follow Andree who is a young nineteen-year-old at the beginning of the German takeover of Paris. Many descriptions of meals at hotels and at home are detailed. The effort to find food supplies to make these meals emphasizes how challenging the day-to-day life was for the Parisians. Andree, despite the depressing circumstances, manages to have a life with music, theater, dates, and vacations out of Paris. Her actual job, working for the Paris Police Administration, provides many opportunities to assist the Resistance with special passes for travel, amongst other things. Her job in the Resistance was primarily that of a courier. However, that position became much more dangerous as the war continued. She was actually captured and interrogated at one point.
I highly recommend the fascinating book, The Paris Girl, by Francelle Bradford White.

This is a story of WWII told from the records and diaries of a French Resistance Agent during the war. The story is largely based on the diary entries of this incredibly brave young woman. The story is compelling and the diary entries are very interesting to read Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

THE PARIS GIRL is an engaging and remarkable book for anyone interested in the French resistance during World War II. A very personal story, it traces the experiences of the author's mother as she worked with the underground patriots who fought however they could to rid their country of the Nazi invasion. This young woman, who would later receive her country's highest honors, displayed incredible aplomb, courage and dedication to the job of fighting one of the worst enemies the free world has ever faced. The reader can walk in her shoes as she works within the Paris Gendarmerie after it fell under the control of the occupying Nazis to do whatever she could to frustrate their efforts to control her country, to identify French Jews and to sink its tentacles into the lives of the French people. Following along through the dangerous missions, travel fraught with the possibility of failure and the threat of death is a revelation of the lives of those who chose to fight rather than submit to the invaders, let alone to collaborate. Highly recommended for any reader interested in the true stories of the average citizens who survived and witnessed the global conflict in the most personal way.

I just love historical fiction based on true stories. The Paris Girl was the latest I’ve read. I enjoyed it so much.

Interesting memoir of a young woman, Andrée, a French resistant. The book also provides much information about the French protectorates in North Africa during WWII. I found it fascinating to read about those young people (no older than than 24 at the end of the war!) who risked their life to free France. Which is even more remarkable is that they never had professional training as spies. They organised themselves very much on their own and accomplished unbelievable tasks! Even though the writing style is not perfect, this book remains an interesting piece of work.
I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.

A stunning bio written by the daughter of a brave female French Resistance member. I could not put this down and readers intrigued by WWII won't be able to either. Thrilling!