Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Bookoutre, and author Sharon Maas for the advanced reader copy of this book. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

3 1/2 stars

I did not realize until I was about halfway through The Last Agent in Paris that it is based on a real person. Noor Inayat Khan was a real agent for the British aiding the French resistance during the Nazi occupation of France. In the afterword, the author, Sharon Maas, does a terrific job outlining what was true and what she improvised based on creating a good story.

Noor was born to an Indian father and an American mother in Russia just prior to the Russian Revolution. Her father was an itinerant musician who traveled the world. As the children came, though, he and his wife settled in Suresnes, on the outskirts of Paris. There, he began championing peace and soon developed a following. Although not wealthy, Noor grew up a bit privileged, able to study music and the arts to her heart’s content. When her father died, Noor assumed the family responsibilities as her mother fell into depression. She made sure the bills were paid and her younger siblings were taken care of, all while continuing her studies.

When the Nazis invade France, Noor and her family flee to England. Her siblings were born there so they are considered British subjects despite being raised in France. Although Noor and her brother consider themselves pacifists, they recognize the evil of the Nazis and that they must be stopped. Noor first joins the WAAF, then becomes involved in F-Section, an unofficial arm of British Intelligence that is aiding the Resistance of France. Soon, she finds herself in France as a “pianist” – that is, a radio transmitter to keep the Resistance network in touch with London.

At first, I struggled with The Last Agent in Paris. It was not an easy read. Writers usually go by the mantra “show don’t tell” and I felt there was a lot of telling in this book. There were pages and pages of descriptive paragraphs on Noor’s life that felt like it could have used a heavier hand by an editor. However, once I realized that we were talking about a real person here, I knew why she did this. When you’re telling a story, the focus is on moving the story along. This is almost a biography, which is read in a different tone. Following the war, Noor’s best friend Jean set out to document what happened to her. This is where most of the material comes from. It’s important to know who this woman was and why she made the choices she did that often seemed contradictory.

Maas filled in a bit here and there when the story wasn’t completely known. The result is a pretty good read that also puts the reader inside the French Resistance in a very real way. Rather than a story that glamorizes the Resistance, Maas shows that it was a hodge-podge of well-meaning people who very often made mistakes. Agents were regularly found out by the Nazis, even with the training and aid given them.

The Last Agent in Paris was a very different book than the usual historical fiction. I believe that’s because it was based on a real person. It’s well-written and interesting, although I found that it dragged a bit giving Noor’s background and childhood. Still, it’s a very interesting read about someone whose story was lost to the ages until now.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought the author did an excellent job with the characters and the story line. I thought it was gripping and heartbreaking at the same time. I was hooked from the beginning, and I couldn't put it down. I admit that a few tissues were used during the reading of this book. It was an excellent read, and I can't wait for more from this author. I highly recommend this book to history/historical fiction readers.

Thank you Net Galley, Bookoture, and Sharon Maas

Inspired by a true story about Noor Inayat Khan, who worked for the S.O.E ( Special Operations Executive) as a wireless operator in Paris. Who was betrayed to the Nazi's and lost her life.

It's:
Dedicated to the last agent in Paris,
Commitment,
Historical Fiction,
Empowerment,
Loving deeply,
Strength,
Resilience,
A young lady who is a poet, writer, dreamer, loves music & is very spiritual,
Sufi philosophy,
Dual timeline,
Teaches you about other cultures,
Well written and researched,
Loss,
Loyalty,
Survival,
Emotional,
Real - life heroine,
Powerful,
Going to have you cheering & crying,
Family trials & tribulations,
A book that is going to occupy a piece of your heat always.

As the bombs rained down on Paris, my family fled before the Nazi's could take us. I never thought l'd see my beloved ho,e again. Ive come back to fight for the people I love. Now, I'm the last agent standing. The freedom of the world rests on my shoulders.

Paris, 1940. Nazi soilder's march down the Champs Elysees, Noor's heart si shattered. Her family is forced to flee their home to England. Noor watches the French coast disappear in the distance, She vows to do everything she can do to stop Germany from devouring her beautiful country.

Training as a wireless operative in England, Noor's perfect French makes her the ideal candidate for undercover work in her beloved Paris she is soon assigned to an illustrious spy network leg by a mysterious man named Prosper.

Day after day, Noor walks the treacherous streets of Paris looking for safe places to broadcast messages to London. Nazi officers luck around every corner, and Noor's heart thunders in her chest as she evades detection, tightly clutching the briefcase containing her radio equipment. She knows it would take just one stop and search for her life to be over.

With each passing day, her mission becomes more lethal as 1 by 1 , her fellow agents are captured. Someone is betraying them, but who? Noor becomes the last agent in the network. Can she keep the links with England alive to help win the war?

@coffeandpages2021

I liked this one, but it took awhile for it to get going for me. The language early on is very flowery and I almost put it down. I’m glad I kept going with it, because learning about Noor’s life and service was so interesting. WWII continues to intrigue me and I am learning about the many different sides and people that were involved.

What a compelling book, written with a mixture of fact and fiction.
A woman of immense courage, yet hardly mentioned in the history books..
Whilst reading the book, I found myself researching the main characters.
A brilliant book.

I have enjoyed other Sharon Maas books and really wanted to love this one, and I did, up until the end. I know that its based on a true story and a real person, but the ending wasn't what I was expecting as I was not familiar with the true story of the main character before reading it. The ending felt very abrupt and I didn't get the closure I would have hoped for.

A woman who wants to do more for the war effort becomes a wireless operator and then a spy in France against the Nazis.

In 1940, Noor flees Nazi-occupied Paris with her family, vowing to find a way to fight for her beloved country. Once she is trained as a wireless operative in England, she returns to Paris as part of a covert spy network, risking her life broadcasting critical messages while evading Nazi patrols. As fellow agents are captured and betrayal looms, Noor becomes the network’s last hope to keep vital communication alive and help turn the tide of the war.
I first heard about Noor Inayat Khan a few years ago, so I was interested to read a fictional telling of her life. This book is written in what I can only assume are like little photographs into her life, beginning with how her parents met. While this was interesting, these quick scenes left me feeling as though I was on the outside looking in and I didn’t really get to know her.

It wasn’t until she was sent to France that it really grabbed my attention. I was hoping for some kind of explanation/speculation about why she wrote down her messages and kept them, something she had been trained not to do, but I didn’t get that. And then, it was just sad, knowing how it turned out.

Overall, this was an interesting read. I would have liked to feel like I knew her, but readers of World War 2 will no doubt enjoy this one.

This is an interesting book which is based on real events and real people. Ever since she was a child Noor has always been a sensitive soul, one that gets caught up in her emotions but one that’s also determined to do whatever it takes to look after her family. When the second world war breaks out, Noor and her family end up fleeing their home in France for one in England, but Noor, like her siblings is determined to make a difference no matter what.

This is an emotional book that starts off with a gripping first chapter about an unknown woman having been captured by the Gestapo in Paris in 1943. This initial chapter sets up an exciting plot opening before the action goes back to the early years of Noor’s life, in fact to the time when Noor is just a baby onwards. The book is separated into five parts, with each part being about Noor’s life as she learns certain things from her upbringing, her father who is a Sufi leader, and we soon see into the sensitive soul that is Noor. These early chapters about Noor slow the pace down and at times I did find it hard to get through, certain parts were a bit long for me, but they slowly show us the character that Noor is, sensitive, creative and strong willed.

As each part of the book ends there is a chapter set back in the current time of 1943 as we soon see more about the unknown woman who has been caught. These scenes are exciting and keep you wanting to read on though the other parts of the story, to find out what will happen next. As Noor grows older we discover more about her character as well as that of her siblings and parents. I like what happens, how Noor is shown as both a sensitive person but also full of heart and determination to make a difference, especially when the war soon breaks out. When the story moves to England it begins to speed up as well and we learn more about the various volunteer work Noor does and how she feels about her calling when she finally gets the chance to become an SOE agent.

I don’t want to give away what happens, but when the action moves into her training and then back to Paris it was so exciting I just couldn’t stop reading. It took a while to really connect with Noor at the start of the book, but when she is an adult and working towards her calling during the war, I really felt connected to her character and loved her resilience despite what happens when she enters France. There are lots of emotional moments in this story, especially later in the book with Jannick and lots of moments while in France. The story is exciting and at the same time an emotional one as we find out certain things happening to the spy network Noor is involved with.

As the story builds up towards the conclusion, we eventually see how the earlier snippets of a tale around a certain character catch up with events following Noor. There are lots of dramatic moments and you really feel for the characters and Noor when you see what is happening. The ending is a bit of a difficult one for me though. I didn’t feel satisfied by it, in fact I was left a bit of an emotional wreck after reading this whole book as the ending (particularly involving Noor) felt a little abrupt and to be honest very sad. The epilogue was written more like a non-fiction book than a fiction one which made it feel a little strange, and I did feel a little numb after reading what happens at the end of the story, but it’s not until you read the author notes that you discover that most of the story is based on true events and that makes this quite a sad and poignant tale, but also a necessary story to tell about this woman who I hadn’t really heard of before reading this.

There is one use of the f swear word and some milder occasional words in English and other languages, as well as mentions of deaths, bombings and of course the fear and horror that the Second world war brought on people, however the story doesn’t really have too much violence or anything, though it is bound to make you emotional reading it and its ending might not be the most satisfying one if you were hoping for a happier ending. It is a good read though, especially as it delves into such detail into Noor’s background and who she was as a person before showing what happened to her as she became an agent in France. Overall a good story, though I secretly wished there was a happier fictional ending to this one.

Historical fiction can be hard to read at times, and when it comes to wartime fiction, this can be even harder. “The last agent in Paris” is definitely one of the toughest I’ve read. Telling the story of Noor (and heavily inspired by the real story of Noor Inayat Khan) and the role she played as a British spy in Paris, with devastating but long reaching consequences.

From the beginning I knew it wouldn’t be an easy read, but Noor still managed to draw me in. How could she not, with her love of music, her desire to write, her ability to see and remember the fairies, her commitment and passion for her family and the immense sense of purpose she had in the role that would change her life forever. Sharon Maas tell the story in a mix of what amounts to a fictional biography, with many of the details well researched and filling in the framework for her book. It is a heartbreaking story, even while it’s also a story of encouragement and hope. This is such powerful and engaging storytelling, and a story that will remain on my mind and heart for some time to come. Thanks so much to Sharon for sharing this story; and to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for my review. Available for purchase now.

I love this author and will read anything by her. With every book she raises the bar and this one - wow! An absolute masterpiece. Noor's story comes alive in this beautifully written tale. Nobody writes books quite like this author - with such heart. Just wow!

I have found all of these books very moving to read and this one was a very hard and emotional book to read. It starts at the beginning of her as a child growing up with her family and how she became to be the first female radio operator to be sent over to France during the war. It was very well told and couldn't put it down.
Looking forward to the next book from this author.

Thank you @bookouture & @netgalley for my complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This historical fiction novel is inspired by the true story of Noor Inayat Khan.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: The opening thirty percent of the book describes Noor's idyllic childhood in France and England. However, everything changes with Hitler's invasion of Poland and the onset of World War II. The author skillfully captures the chaos of this period, which ultimately drives Noor to take action, and she joins the Special Operations Executive (SOE), becoming the first female radio operator sent to Paris. Then her story quickly turns tragic.

MY THOUGHTS: I was impressed by the author’s research and how well she conveyed the perilous nature of Noor's mission and the harsh realities of Nazi oppression. This was an intriguing story, with a well-developed, strong female main character.

If you enjoy WW2 stories based on fact, I hope you will read this one!

I had heard of Noor as I'd seen a programme on TV about her and knew what she did in the war. A very interesting book and very sad. Such a brave lady. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

The Last Agent in Paris is based on the phenomenal story of Noor Inayat Khan, the first female radio operator sent by SOE into Nazi-occupied France and who was instrumental in the ultimate victory over the march of fascism by Hitlers forces.

The bravery of Khan cannot be understated and neither can the amount of research and detail that has gone into the writing of this book. Truly phenomenal and a must-read for lovers of historical fiction and indeed anyone interested in history and the roles individuals played in shaping it

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley and the incredible Sharon Maas for this deeply moving and compelling ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

It was an emotional roller coaster. The book was based in ww2. The book was based off a true story. You don’t want to miss this!

What an absolutely captivating life Noor lived. Unfortunately, the thing that kept me wanting to finish the book was that I wanted to know if Noor got to live the life she wanted or died a hero. I found many sentences and paragraph were similar if not repeating and things like Noor asking what a pianist is, although it had been explained to her during her training in England and although she spent a lot of time in Pairs when first arriving made silly English mistakes. I so wish I could give it more stars. The Last Agent in Pairs is based on a truly inspiring amazing young woman. Noor was courage’s and brave although naïve and reckless. Noor's childhood was fascinating and made a huge impact on the war efforts. 3 1/2 stars
I would like to thank the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for my free copy of this novel, in exchange for my honest review.
#TheLastAgentinParis #NetGalley.

Wow, this was quite a story and journey as a reader. I was biting my nails, meditating or at the edge of my seat.
Noor’s story is complex and fascinating, her father a guru and musician and her mother utterly devoted to this Indian Hindu turned Muslim. She literally follows him around all four corners of the world. We flick through difference stages of Noor’s life.
Eventually settling in France. Musically and spiritually gifted, well-travelled and educated, Noor’s mission is to serve against the Nazi’s. When her wish is granted she faces several tests.
I enjoyed how the Author threaded this together, at first I thought I was reading the wrong book. Bravo!!!! 5 Stars!!!

The Last Agent in Paris by Sharon Maas.
I did enjoy this book. I loved the cover and blurb of this book. I got into it straight away. It was very interesting. It was very well researched. I did like the writing style. I did feel for Noor. For what she went through. I did like the epilogue which explained which parts were true. Noor was brave, strong, and determined woman. This was a powerful and emotional read. I would recommend this book.


Blurb.
As the bombs rained down on Paris, my family fled before the Nazis could take us. I never thought I’d see my beloved home again. But I’ve come back to fight for the people I love. And now, I’m the last agent standing. The freedom of the world rests on my shoulders.

Paris, 1940. As Nazi soldiers march down the Champs Elysees, Noor’s heart is shattered. Her family is forced to flee their home to the safety of England, and as Noor watches the French coast disappear in the distance, she vows to do everything she can to stop Germany from devouring her beloved country.

Training as a wireless operative in England, Noor’s perfect French makes her the ideal candidate for undercover work in her beloved Paris, and she is soon assigned to an illustrious spy network led by a mysterious man named Prosper.

Day after day, Noor walks the treacherous streets of Paris looking for safe places to broadcast messages to London. But Nazi officers lurk around every corner, and Noor’s heart thunders in her chest as she evades detection, tightly clutching the briefcase containing her radio equipment. She knows it would take just one stop and search for her life to be over.

With each passing day her mission becomes more lethal as, one by one, her fellow agents are captured. Someone is betraying them, but who? And when Noor becomes the last agent in the network, can she keep the links with England alive, to help win the war?

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book

based on a true story you are compelled to read and finish this one... and its so jaw dropping with what you are about to read and learn ... tears will flow whilst you read this book

a true hero of her time and many more people should know about her courage

will be keeping an eye out for more of this authors books