The Paris Secret

I only recently discovered Natasha Lester and her amazing books this past spring. In her previous two books, the writing had me captivated from the first page, and The Paris Secret was no different. This book was beautifully written, entertaining, emotionally engaging and with characters that absolutely demand your attention from start to finish. Seriously, this is an exquisite book that I adored.

In 2012 in Cornwall Kat finds a whole cache of Dior dresses tucked away in a remote home in a closet. As a fashion conservator she is intrigued and stunned by the beautiful gowns. What are they doing in a vacant house Kat didn’t even know her grandmother owned until the call from London came asking Kat to check on the empty house?

Flash back to 1939 and Skye, who like her mother has a passion for flying. With war threatening Skye wants to do something useful with her flying. But it seems only men are allowed to fly. Women were thought not fit or smart enough to fly for the war effort. Then, Skye finds a way to use her skills with the Air Transport Auxiliary. In the course of her flying career she meets Margaux Jourdan and Catherine Dior, sister of the designer Christian Dior, who works for the French Resistance. Who knew then the experiences that would connect them and the twists and tragedies they would experience?

When Elliott Beaufort, a historian and author, contacts Kat wanting to know if her grandmother called Margaux Jourdan is the same Margaux Jourdan who worked as a spy gathering information from the Nazis to pass on to the resistance, Kat is dumfounded. Surely he must be wrong? But, could there be two women with the same name? Her grandmother refuses to talk of France and her early years causing Kat to wonder. How much does she really know about her beloved grandmother and her life?

I was engrossed in this story from the beginning, and found myself really drawn to the character of Skye and her persona. Even as a child Skye’s character is alive, smart, generous and engaging, and she doesn’t change as an adult. She throws herself into every experience wholeheartedly. Skye was not content to just be a “conformist” to the times and what was expected for a woman. Instead, she worked hard to break barriers for women in aviation.

As in any of Natasha Lester’s books, she does a fantastic job of sweeping her readers back to another time and place. I absolutely loved the suspense, the romance, the mystery of it all as the story is told from the point of view of two narrators and time periods. There were so many layers to this novel, and the story is spun out in a web of dual timelines that flowed and intertwined between characters and the past and the present till it all came together at the end. I won’t lie…there were tears as the ending was highly emotional.

I always appreciate it when an author adds their notes to the end of the book, so I loved learning how the storyline incorporated real people and events from history. I had no idea that Christian Dior’s sister Catherine was part of the French Resistance and a prisoner in Ravensbruck. Thank you Natasha Lester for this is a fascinating story that was well researched and well rounded.

The Paris Secret is definitely a book to fly away with. If you are a lover of historical fiction, strong female characters and/or mystery, than this book needs to be part of your collection. It is a story of war, friendship, deep love, family, loss and tragedy. Truly an engrossing and involving read that I highly recommend. Really, this was an absolutely phenomenal story that will stay with me for quite a while.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.