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The Paris Secret
On the brink of the second world war, a beautiful Parisian bookshop hides a heartbreaking secret that will tear one family apart forever …
The last time Valerie was in Paris, she was three-years-old, running from the Nazis, away from the only home she had ever known.
Now as a young woman, Valerie must return to Paris, to the bookshop and her only surviving relative, her grandfather Vincent, to find out what really happened to those she loved. As she gets to know Vincent again, she hears a tragic story of Nazi occupied Paris, a doomed love affair and a mother willing to sacrifice everything for her beloved daughter.
Can Valerie and Vincent help each other to mend the wounds of the past? Valerie isn’t after a fairy-tale ending, she only wants the truth. But what is the one devastating secret that Vincent is determined to keep from his granddaughter?
The last time Valerie was in Paris, she was three-years-old, running from the Nazis, away from the only home she had ever known.
Now as a young woman, Valerie must return to Paris, to the bookshop and her only surviving relative, her grandfather Vincent, to find out what really happened to those she loved. As she gets to know Vincent again, she hears a tragic story of Nazi occupied Paris, a doomed love affair and a mother willing to sacrifice everything for her beloved daughter.
Can Valerie and Vincent help each other to mend the wounds of the past? Valerie isn’t after a fairy-tale ending, she only wants the truth. But what is the one devastating secret that Vincent is determined to keep from his granddaughter?
214 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2018
4916 people are currently reading
4315 people want to read
About the author
Lily Graham
18 books418 followersLily Graham grew up in South Africa and is a former journalist.
As a child she dreamt of being an author, and had half-finished manuscripts bulging out of her desk drawers, but it wasn't until she reached her thirties that she finally finished one of them. Her first books were written for children, but when her mother was diagnosed with cancer she wrote a story to deal with the fear and pain she was going through - this became her first women's fiction novel, which was published by Bookouture (Hachette) in 2016.
Since then she has written six novels, covering many topics, her first four novels were a blend of light hearted women's fiction and drama, but in recent years she has found her niche in historical fiction, after she wrote The Island Villa - a story about a secret community of Jews, who some believed were living on the island of Formentera during the Inquisition. It is a story about love, betrayal, and courage.
It took getting to her mid-thirties for her to realise that these were the types of stories she truly wanted to write. Since then she has written two other historical fiction novels, including The Paris Secret, a story about a woman, a bookshop and a secret that goes back to the occupation, and most recently, her most daunting book to date - The Child of Auschwitz, which was a story she never meant to write, but found herself compelled to after reading a story about a woman who gave birth to a child after surviving a concentration camp.
As a child she dreamt of being an author, and had half-finished manuscripts bulging out of her desk drawers, but it wasn't until she reached her thirties that she finally finished one of them. Her first books were written for children, but when her mother was diagnosed with cancer she wrote a story to deal with the fear and pain she was going through - this became her first women's fiction novel, which was published by Bookouture (Hachette) in 2016.
Since then she has written six novels, covering many topics, her first four novels were a blend of light hearted women's fiction and drama, but in recent years she has found her niche in historical fiction, after she wrote The Island Villa - a story about a secret community of Jews, who some believed were living on the island of Formentera during the Inquisition. It is a story about love, betrayal, and courage.
It took getting to her mid-thirties for her to realise that these were the types of stories she truly wanted to write. Since then she has written two other historical fiction novels, including The Paris Secret, a story about a woman, a bookshop and a secret that goes back to the occupation, and most recently, her most daunting book to date - The Child of Auschwitz, which was a story she never meant to write, but found herself compelled to after reading a story about a woman who gave birth to a child after surviving a concentration camp.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 624 reviews
September 18, 2018
A Paris Secret by Lily Graham is the story of Valerie who was born in Paris during the occupation in the 1940s. She has grown up in London living with her aunt who rescued her from France as a small child. Valerie now in her 20s travels to Paris to find her family. She desperately wants to find out about her mother and the reason that she was given away to her aunt.
I enjoyed this story. I was appalled at the treatment given out to women and children during the occupation.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this story. I was appalled at the treatment given out to women and children during the occupation.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2022
روی هم رفته خوب بود یعنی بدم نیومد ولی خوشمم نیومد
خیلی کشش بالایی داشت و تا وسطاش خیلی جالب و هیجان انگیز بود
ولی به نظرم از وسط یکم احمقانه شد....نویسنده یکم فیلم هندی بازی دراورد🥲😂
بخوام بدون اسپویل بگم دلیلم اینه که از وسطش به بعد دیگه نتونستم انگیزه و افکار شخصیتارو درک کنم...واقعا نتونستم
روی هم رفته ۲.۵ امتیاز حقشه(اونم بخاطر کششش)
پ.ن:بنظرم نویسنده یه ایده قشنگو داغون کرد، ایده کل کتاب قشنگ بود ولی دیگه خیلی عجله ای تمومش کرد😑
خیلی کشش بالایی داشت و تا وسطاش خیلی جالب و هیجان انگیز بود
ولی به نظرم از وسط یکم احمقانه شد....نویسنده یکم فیلم هندی بازی دراورد🥲😂
بخوام بدون اسپویل بگم دلیلم اینه که از وسطش به بعد دیگه نتونستم انگیزه و افکار شخصیتارو درک کنم...واقعا نتونستم
روی هم رفته ۲.۵ امتیاز حقشه(اونم بخاطر کششش)
پ.ن:بنظرم نویسنده یه ایده قشنگو داغون کرد، ایده کل کتاب قشنگ بود ولی دیگه خیلی عجله ای تمومش کرد😑
September 18, 2018
This is a story that goes back and forth between different time scales so we get to learn, along with Valerie, the truth about her departure from Paris as a young child.
You really get a sense of Paris as well as sadly the war. The descriptions of the shops and café's and the buildings, it really makes you fall in love with the place, even though a lot of it is set at a time in history that no one would to be party to.
I was fascinated when we are transported to the parts to do with Valerie's mother. It really does make for some emotional reading as we see what life was back then and in fear of the Nazi's. I was gripped wanting to rush through the pages to see why Valerie had been taken to England yet wanting to savour all that I was reading.
This is very much a story of discovery. Valerie's story will have readers totally engrossed and taken on an emotional roller coaster of a ride as we share the highs and lows of her families history.
The Paris Secret is a heartbreaking and emotional read that will have you reaching for the tissues more than a few times. Sometimes in happiness and others in sadness. A captivating and beautifully written story that ingrains itself in the readers hearts and minds.
My thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
You really get a sense of Paris as well as sadly the war. The descriptions of the shops and café's and the buildings, it really makes you fall in love with the place, even though a lot of it is set at a time in history that no one would to be party to.
I was fascinated when we are transported to the parts to do with Valerie's mother. It really does make for some emotional reading as we see what life was back then and in fear of the Nazi's. I was gripped wanting to rush through the pages to see why Valerie had been taken to England yet wanting to savour all that I was reading.
This is very much a story of discovery. Valerie's story will have readers totally engrossed and taken on an emotional roller coaster of a ride as we share the highs and lows of her families history.
The Paris Secret is a heartbreaking and emotional read that will have you reaching for the tissues more than a few times. Sometimes in happiness and others in sadness. A captivating and beautifully written story that ingrains itself in the readers hearts and minds.
My thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
October 20, 2021
یک داستان کوتاه و زیبا که بخش اعظمش در زمان جنگ جهانی دوم می گذره اما برعکس بیشتر کتاب های جنگ جهانی دوم نه از اردوگاه خبری هست و نه خیلی درگیر مشقات یهودیان می شه. درواقع داره از زاویه ای به وقایع جنگ جهانی دوم نگاه می کنه که خیلی کمتر بهش پرداخته می شه. این بین یک داستان عاشقانه شیرین هم رخ می ده که درون مایه رمانتیکش به هیچ وجه اونقدری نیست که خواننده رو اذیت کنه. لذت بردم
May 23, 2023
Una novela muy cortita, muy ágil y fácil de leer, y perfecta para aquellos que quieran empezar a empaparse de este tipo de historias.
Una historia que esta ambientada en dos épocas distintas, por un lado en 1942, en el momento que París sufría la ocupación de la Alemania nazi, y por otro lado la década de los 60, con un hecho también bastante importante y al que no se le hace mucho hincapié, el momento de la construcción del muro de Berlín.
La joven Valerie, protagonista de la historia, tuvo que irse de París a los tres años, pero ahora, adulta, decide buscar el pasado de su familia, y descubre que su abuelo sigue vivo. Valerie, parte a Paris, donde trabajara en la librería de su abuelo, para enterarse de su pasado, saber quien es, y que pasó.
Gran parte de la novela tiene como escenario una librería y muchas novelas forman parte de esta. No es la tipica historia de campos de concentración, sino una historia familiar y de como los nazis trataban incluso a parisinos, ocupando sus casas, sus lugares de trabajo etc… y como bien se sabe, los nazis prohibieron muchos libros en esa época, asique la librería estaba siempre vigilada.
Quizá según vas leyendo intuyes por donde va a ir la historia, cual es ese gran secreto de la familia, pero aun así es una historia donde los personajes están muy bien caracterizados, y el mensaje de la autora, está muy claro, en la guerra no todos los buenos son buenos ni los malos tan malos…
Un novela ambientada en París, que trata el tema del amor en todos sus ámbitos, la amistad, y el después de ese momento tan horrible como fue la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Una historia que esta ambientada en dos épocas distintas, por un lado en 1942, en el momento que París sufría la ocupación de la Alemania nazi, y por otro lado la década de los 60, con un hecho también bastante importante y al que no se le hace mucho hincapié, el momento de la construcción del muro de Berlín.
La joven Valerie, protagonista de la historia, tuvo que irse de París a los tres años, pero ahora, adulta, decide buscar el pasado de su familia, y descubre que su abuelo sigue vivo. Valerie, parte a Paris, donde trabajara en la librería de su abuelo, para enterarse de su pasado, saber quien es, y que pasó.
Gran parte de la novela tiene como escenario una librería y muchas novelas forman parte de esta. No es la tipica historia de campos de concentración, sino una historia familiar y de como los nazis trataban incluso a parisinos, ocupando sus casas, sus lugares de trabajo etc… y como bien se sabe, los nazis prohibieron muchos libros en esa época, asique la librería estaba siempre vigilada.
Quizá según vas leyendo intuyes por donde va a ir la historia, cual es ese gran secreto de la familia, pero aun así es una historia donde los personajes están muy bien caracterizados, y el mensaje de la autora, está muy claro, en la guerra no todos los buenos son buenos ni los malos tan malos…
Un novela ambientada en París, que trata el tema del amor en todos sus ámbitos, la amistad, y el después de ese momento tan horrible como fue la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
October 20, 2021
I was laughing and crying at the end.
October 2, 2018
Great read set in a Parisian book shop during the occupation of world war 2...a heartbreaking insight into the lives of a family run store who struggle through all kinds of heartache when Nazi soldiers take over their business.
April 16, 2022
Lily Graham abriu uma folha de word e pensou: hum, vou romantizar a história! E conseguiu, PARABÉNS!
February 27, 2024
Li este livro para um desafio do qual estou a fazer parte e para o qual tinha de ler um livro que focasse o Holocausto ou a 2ª guerra mundial. Escolhi este por me terem dito que não era muito pesado, pois para mim, é dificil ler livros desse tema. Mas gostei deste, simples mas doce, uma boa leitura
December 1, 2019
I bought this book because of the good ratings. That was a mistake.
This is a quick read at 227 pages— or at least it should be.
I struggled to get into this story and contemplated DNFing. I should’ve.
This is the Hallmark movie of books- cheesy, cringe-worthy and unconvincing.
Valerie discovers she has a Grandfather who survived the war. Her aunt claims he didn’t want her. She sees an ad in the newspaper for a bookseller for the shop he owns. Valerie moves to Paris pretending to be someone she isn’t. Her grandfather is a grumpy old man. She learns about her mother, meeting her mother’s childhood best friend. Valerie’s best friend Freddy comes to Paris to check on her, they’ve always loved each other but haven’t shared their feelings. Valerie finds out more information on her mother while also discovering that her father was a Nazi.
Can you see where this is going?
The timeline alternates between the 60’s and Nazi occupied Paris.
The ‘secrets’ uncovered in this novel are very mediocre.
Seriously, your father was a ‘good Nazi’!?
Too many tropes and bad writing. This story was forgettable at best.
1 star.
This is a quick read at 227 pages— or at least it should be.
I struggled to get into this story and contemplated DNFing. I should’ve.
This is the Hallmark movie of books- cheesy, cringe-worthy and unconvincing.
Valerie discovers she has a Grandfather who survived the war. Her aunt claims he didn’t want her. She sees an ad in the newspaper for a bookseller for the shop he owns. Valerie moves to Paris pretending to be someone she isn’t. Her grandfather is a grumpy old man. She learns about her mother, meeting her mother’s childhood best friend. Valerie’s best friend Freddy comes to Paris to check on her, they’ve always loved each other but haven’t shared their feelings. Valerie finds out more information on her mother while also discovering that her father was a Nazi.
Can you see where this is going?
The timeline alternates between the 60’s and Nazi occupied Paris.
The ‘secrets’ uncovered in this novel are very mediocre.
Seriously, your father was a ‘good Nazi’!?
Too many tropes and bad writing. This story was forgettable at best.
1 star.
October 20, 2021
این کتاب کوتاه و زیبا هم به پایان رسید . سرگذشت یک عشق زیبا ، سرگذشت دختری از وطن رانده شده ، سرگذشت پدربزرگی تنها در لابه لای کتاب ها در کتاب فروشی قدیمی در قلب پاریس .
داستان بسیار ساده اما جذابی داشت .
و با خوندنش حتما اشک می ریزید .
ولری دختری که بعد از مرگ تمام خانواده اش در فرانسه به فرزند خوندگی دختر عموی مادرش در انگلیس پذیرفته میشه و ۲۰ سال با خوشی زندگی می کنه هر چند همیشه خودش رو غریبه احساس می کرده .
در شب تولد ۲۰ سالگیش مادر خونده اش بهش میگه که پدربزرگ مادریش هنوز زنده س و در پاریس زندگی می کنه اما ولری نباید سراغش بره چون اون خودش ولری رو یه فرزند خوندگی داده و دوست نداشته ازش نگهداری کنه و بهتره همین اندازه بدونه چون با دونستن حقیقت قلبش می شکنه اما ولری تصمیم میگیره به عنوان کار در کتاب فروشی به دیدم پدر بزرگش بره و حقیقت رو پیدا کنه ...
ترجمه خوب بود اما مترجم می تونست گفتگو ها رو محاوره ترجمه کنه نه ادبی. اونوقت بیشتر به دل می نشست .
داستان بسیار ساده اما جذابی داشت .
و با خوندنش حتما اشک می ریزید .
ولری دختری که بعد از مرگ تمام خانواده اش در فرانسه به فرزند خوندگی دختر عموی مادرش در انگلیس پذیرفته میشه و ۲۰ سال با خوشی زندگی می کنه هر چند همیشه خودش رو غریبه احساس می کرده .
در شب تولد ۲۰ سالگیش مادر خونده اش بهش میگه که پدربزرگ مادریش هنوز زنده س و در پاریس زندگی می کنه اما ولری نباید سراغش بره چون اون خودش ولری رو یه فرزند خوندگی داده و دوست نداشته ازش نگهداری کنه و بهتره همین اندازه بدونه چون با دونستن حقیقت قلبش می شکنه اما ولری تصمیم میگیره به عنوان کار در کتاب فروشی به دیدم پدر بزرگش بره و حقیقت رو پیدا کنه ...
ترجمه خوب بود اما مترجم می تونست گفتگو ها رو محاوره ترجمه کنه نه ادبی. اونوقت بیشتر به دل می نشست .
January 21, 2021
Adorei este livro! Fez-me pensar num tipo de vítimas da guerra, sobre o qual eu nunca me tinha debruçado! Um excelente livro para quem gosta de romances ou para quem gosta de livros sobre a segunda guerra mundial.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2022
História bonita, sem floreados, mas que nada acrescenta a tudo aquilo que já se escreveu sobre a 2ª Guerra Mundial.
October 4, 2018
On a train journey from Moscow to Paris, Annie meets Valerie. The two ladies get along really well, despite their age difference, and soon Valerie tells Annie the most heartbreaking story.
Valerie was born during the second World War in Paris. When she was three years old, she was sent to live in England with a family member she didn’t know after her parents died. But why did her grandfather, Vincent, send her away? Didn’t he want her?
As a young woman in the 1960’s, Valerie returns to Paris to find her grandfather in order to maybe strike up some sort of relationship with him but more so, to discover what happened to her parents and why she was sent away.
The Paris Secret lays bare events set during the war I never really thought about. Despite wanting to say much more on that subject, I really can’t because it would ruin everything for you, the reader. Suffice to say I found it truly thought-provoking and immensely sad.
While Valerie is a most likeable character, it was Vincent, the curmudgeonly and grumpy grandfather, who stole my heart from the beginning. He runs a bookshop but the way he treats his customers is far from ideal. Yet they keep coming back for more and I often found myself chuckling at Vincent’s ideas about the books in his shop. Which made what I learned about him afterwards even more heartbreaking and I really felt for him.
This story had me engrossed from start to finish. The setting in Paris oozes atmosphere and the threat of the Germans invading every aspect of daily life while the French government had all but deserted their citizens felt all too harrowing. It’s always so easy to forget that there were many different casualties of war, but also that not all Germans were bad. This is something that always hits close to home for me as my grandmother was German. She suffered just as much, although few people understood that.
The Paris Secret is a story about love, family and bravery in the darkest of times. Sometimes emotional, sometimes rather witty with characters that will find their way into your heart from the start. An absolutely beautifully written and wonderfully captivating story about one of the darkest periods in our history.
Valerie was born during the second World War in Paris. When she was three years old, she was sent to live in England with a family member she didn’t know after her parents died. But why did her grandfather, Vincent, send her away? Didn’t he want her?
As a young woman in the 1960’s, Valerie returns to Paris to find her grandfather in order to maybe strike up some sort of relationship with him but more so, to discover what happened to her parents and why she was sent away.
The Paris Secret lays bare events set during the war I never really thought about. Despite wanting to say much more on that subject, I really can’t because it would ruin everything for you, the reader. Suffice to say I found it truly thought-provoking and immensely sad.
While Valerie is a most likeable character, it was Vincent, the curmudgeonly and grumpy grandfather, who stole my heart from the beginning. He runs a bookshop but the way he treats his customers is far from ideal. Yet they keep coming back for more and I often found myself chuckling at Vincent’s ideas about the books in his shop. Which made what I learned about him afterwards even more heartbreaking and I really felt for him.
This story had me engrossed from start to finish. The setting in Paris oozes atmosphere and the threat of the Germans invading every aspect of daily life while the French government had all but deserted their citizens felt all too harrowing. It’s always so easy to forget that there were many different casualties of war, but also that not all Germans were bad. This is something that always hits close to home for me as my grandmother was German. She suffered just as much, although few people understood that.
The Paris Secret is a story about love, family and bravery in the darkest of times. Sometimes emotional, sometimes rather witty with characters that will find their way into your heart from the start. An absolutely beautifully written and wonderfully captivating story about one of the darkest periods in our history.
December 26, 2020
یه کتاب کوتاه، زیبا و دلنشین با روایتی متفاوت از جنگ. کودکانی که پدرشون آلمانی و نازی هستند و حتی بعد از جنگ، مورد خشونت و بی رحمی همشهریانشون قرار گرفتند چون مادران این کودکان، با نازی ها رابطه داشتند
دید تازه ای که به ما نشون میده لزوما هر فردی که مجبور شده وارد جنگ بشه، انسان بدی نیست و می تونه انسانیتش از همشهریان خودت بالاتر باشه و این مرزها هستند که دشمنی ایجاد می کنن وگرنه همه انسان هستند و فارغ از مرزها می تونن همدیگه رو دوست داشته باشن
خیلی تامل برانگیز بود و دید تازه ای از انسانیت رو نشون می داد که در نگاه اول ما دشمن رو انسان بدی می دونیم اما شاید بینشون کسانی باشن که انسانیتشون رو حفظ کردن
در کل قشنگ و تامل برانگیز بود
دید تازه ای که به ما نشون میده لزوما هر فردی که مجبور شده وارد جنگ بشه، انسان بدی نیست و می تونه انسانیتش از همشهریان خودت بالاتر باشه و این مرزها هستند که دشمنی ایجاد می کنن وگرنه همه انسان هستند و فارغ از مرزها می تونن همدیگه رو دوست داشته باشن
خیلی تامل برانگیز بود و دید تازه ای از انسانیت رو نشون می داد که در نگاه اول ما دشمن رو انسان بدی می دونیم اما شاید بینشون کسانی باشن که انسانیتشون رو حفظ کردن
در کل قشنگ و تامل برانگیز بود
October 22, 2023
چرا اینقدر زود تمومش کردم؟😭چه وضعشه
جونم براتون بگه که قابلیت اینو دارم برا داستان عاشقانه پدر و مادر ولری بمیرم.
شباهت خیلی زیادی با کتاب موردعلاقم یعنی "رز سفید جنگل سیاه" داشت و یجورایی از زاویه طرف دیگه ی جنگ جهانی دوم بود.
بیشتر از این نمیتونم چیزی بگم چون اسپویل میشه ولی واقعا قلبم بدرد اومد یجاهاییش(یعنی میشه گفت بیشتر جاهاش!)
تنها مشکلی داشت این بود که: من اول داستان فکر میکردم وای خدای من یعنی رازش چی میتونه باشه ولی تهش حس کردم نویسنده درباره این موضوع راز و اینها مبالغه کرده (شاید چون اطلاعات لازمو راجبه ذهنیت مردم فرانسه و چیزهایی که بعد پایان داستان توی کتاب نوشته بودن نداشتم) که همونطور که گفتم با خوندن متن آخر حل شد.
جونم براتون بگه که قابلیت اینو دارم برا داستان عاشقانه پدر و مادر ولری بمیرم.
شباهت خیلی زیادی با کتاب موردعلاقم یعنی "رز سفید جنگل سیاه" داشت و یجورایی از زاویه طرف دیگه ی جنگ جهانی دوم بود.
بیشتر از این نمیتونم چیزی بگم چون اسپویل میشه ولی واقعا قلبم بدرد اومد یجاهاییش(یعنی میشه گفت بیشتر جاهاش!)
تنها مشکلی داشت این بود که: من اول داستان فکر میکردم وای خدای من یعنی رازش چی میتونه باشه ولی تهش حس کردم نویسنده درباره این موضوع راز و اینها مبالغه کرده (شاید چون اطلاعات لازمو راجبه ذهنیت مردم فرانسه و چیزهایی که بعد پایان داستان توی کتاب نوشته بودن نداشتم) که همونطور که گفتم با خوندن متن آخر حل شد.
August 1, 2022
Um livro pequenino mas emocionante. Um livro que me conquistou do início ao fim.
A história de Valerie e a sua procura pelas suas raízes. Somos transportados entre o passado e o presente, vivemos e sofremos com estas personagens e quando termina ficamos com o coração apertadinho.
Um relato simples, arrebatador e comovente que se passa maioritariamente durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial e onde a luta pelo preconceito é protagonista.
Acredito que apesar de haver alguma romantização da História, a autora consegue transmitir a mensagem e homenagear massas com a sua ficção.
Gostei muito!
A história de Valerie e a sua procura pelas suas raízes. Somos transportados entre o passado e o presente, vivemos e sofremos com estas personagens e quando termina ficamos com o coração apertadinho.
Um relato simples, arrebatador e comovente que se passa maioritariamente durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial e onde a luta pelo preconceito é protagonista.
Acredito que apesar de haver alguma romantização da História, a autora consegue transmitir a mensagem e homenagear massas com a sua ficção.
Gostei muito!
October 23, 2022
Adorei! Embora a história do passado seja durante a segunda guerra mundial, o livro não é demasiado cruel. Ficamos deliciamos com o velho Dupound 💚 um velhote de língua afiada mas muito amoroso. Um livro pequeno em que a história se desenrola rápido.
September 16, 2023
Extremadamente simple y tópico, acompañado de una edición pésima.
October 5, 2018
Visit the setting of the book
Meet the author on location
Oh I wanted to live in that shop, pass through the shelves as the book flits through the timelines and hug almost all of those characters. Well the ones in the shop and lovely mr Dupont! The whole story of war time Paris as seen through the shelves and books of that small, quirky bookshop was the most moving story I’ve read ina long while.
The way the threads wove in and out of the periods was magical, as fluid as turning a page, reading Clotilde’s chapter, Mr Dupont and then the present day. The story is one of Paris, Jewish resistance, perseverance and humanity where you least expect it. It’s a unique way of looking at the war and I’ve not read one about the occupation as seen through the customers and owners of a bookstore.
I loved Mr Dupont, Madame Joubert and those warm characters who had done so much behind the scenes and kept heartbreaking secrets all these years. It did read a little like Suite Francaise in parts and if this is a film I picture Matthias Schoenaerts in the role of Mattaus.
I bawled at one of the later scenes. But by the end I was smiling and crying. I was an emotional mess all round really. Think I need that mangy old bookshop cat to come alive so I have something to cuddle right now.
March 8, 2020
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK.
This was a beautiful, important, emotional, sad, additive, breathtaking, captivating, deep and believable book.
I honestly can’t say a thing that I didn’t liked about this book, because I simply loved everything to do with this story.
I’ll definitely be reading more of this author in the future and I’m so happy that I gave this book a chance, because if I hadn’t, I would have miss a magnificent novel, that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
Definitely recommend for anyone looking for a amazing novel, that could make you shed some tears.
This was a beautiful, important, emotional, sad, additive, breathtaking, captivating, deep and believable book.
I honestly can’t say a thing that I didn’t liked about this book, because I simply loved everything to do with this story.
I’ll definitely be reading more of this author in the future and I’m so happy that I gave this book a chance, because if I hadn’t, I would have miss a magnificent novel, that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
Definitely recommend for anyone looking for a amazing novel, that could make you shed some tears.
April 15, 2021
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This story is so quaint .
It flips from one to the other but superbly done so not losing the reader along the way.
I got a real closeness with Paris reading this, I’ve never visited but would love to one day. Not forgetting g the era this was set in though.
The era of the Nazis and the unforgettable experiences that Valie remembers cannot be crystal clear at the age of three.
Returning now she needs to piece together the events and secrets that she’s plagued with as a grown woman.
Returning to Paris, can she get answers, can Vincent her Grandfather reveal or shed light on her questions?
Will it help them both to move on?
My fist read by this author and loved it.
January 21, 2025
Como una enamorada de todo lo relacionado con la segunda guerra mundial no pude dejar de leer éste libro.
Me ha gustado el estilo de la autora, además de conocer un poco más cómo era vivir en París bajo el dominio nazi.Es cortita,se lee en su suspiro.
Me ha gustado el estilo de la autora, además de conocer un poco más cómo era vivir en París bajo el dominio nazi.Es cortita,se lee en su suspiro.
August 7, 2020
یک کتاب پرکشش در مورد سرگذشت یک خانواده در پاریس تحت اشغال نازی. به طور دقیقتر در مورد دختریه که زمان جنگ به یکی از خویشاوندان دورش در انگلستان سپرده میشه تا در امان باشه، و سالها بعد از پایان جنگ به پاریس برمیگرده تا بدونه چه اتفاقی برای پدر و مادرش افتاده.
من نیمهشب شروعش کردم و چهار صبح تمام شد، انقدر پرکشش! البته پایانش به نظرم شتابزده و پرداختنشده بود. اما به جز پایانش، از خوندن بقیهش لذت بردم. در کل بین کتابهایی که در مورد جنگ جهانی دوم هستن، چندان جدی نیست. بیشتر یک داستان عاشقانهست در بستر جنگ.
*مهم* این کتاب دو ترجمه داره، ترجمهی الهام محمودی با عنوان پاریس سحرآمیز پر از ایراد و اشکاله و اصلا قابل خوندن نیست. ترجمهی زهرا یعقوبیان با عنوان راز پاریس از انتشارات کولهپشتی خوبه. من اول پاریس سحرآمیز رو خریدم و بعد از خوندن یک پنجمش متوجه شدم ترجمهی دیگری هم داره و مجددا راز پاریس رو خریدم. انقدر ترجمهی محمودی غیرقابل تحمل بود :|
من نیمهشب شروعش کردم و چهار صبح تمام شد، انقدر پرکشش! البته پایانش به نظرم شتابزده و پرداختنشده بود. اما به جز پایانش، از خوندن بقیهش لذت بردم. در کل بین کتابهایی که در مورد جنگ جهانی دوم هستن، چندان جدی نیست. بیشتر یک داستان عاشقانهست در بستر جنگ.
*مهم* این کتاب دو ترجمه داره، ترجمهی الهام محمودی با عنوان پاریس سحرآمیز پر از ایراد و اشکاله و اصلا قابل خوندن نیست. ترجمهی زهرا یعقوبیان با عنوان راز پاریس از انتشارات کولهپشتی خوبه. من اول پاریس سحرآمیز رو خریدم و بعد از خوندن یک پنجمش متوجه شدم ترجمهی دیگری هم داره و مجددا راز پاریس رو خریدم. انقدر ترجمهی محمودی غیرقابل تحمل بود :|
March 28, 2023
"We don't know, when we take a chance, when we decide to do the right thing, if it will work or not- we just have to take the leap, do what is asked of us"
October 4, 2018
The Paris Secret by Lily Graham is an epic story set during World War II. It tells the tale of how Valerie discovers the truth about her heritage through the use of alternating timelines. The writing is beautiful, and the characters are ones that you will instantly fall in love with.
Full review on The Candid Cover
Full review on The Candid Cover
September 6, 2019
A novel that has quite a lot wrong with it yet that I nonetheless found infectiously charming, in the same way that I can be rendered damp-eyed by a Hallmark Channel movie even at the same time as recognizing that it's absolute schmaltz. Of course, anything that's set in a little Paris bookshop is likely to appeal to me . . . with the notable exception of, oddly enough, Nina George's
The Little Paris Bookshop
, which I disliked quite a lot.
But back to The Paris Secret.
Short introductory and closing chapters are set on a train to Paris in the here and now, but the novel is primarily set in Paris much earlier, its two related plot-lines being dated 1962-3 and 1940-42, with the latter strand having as backdrop the Nazi occupation of the city. Graham achieves the melding of these two strands very neatly -- overall, in fact, I was much impressed by the skill with which this novel is constructed.
In 1962 young Valerie discovers a job ad for a live-in assistant in the bookshop owned by the grandfather she's never met, Vincent Dupont. At the end of the war, you see, the infant, orphaned Valerie was at Vincent's insistence rescued from Paris by her second cousin, who raised her in England alongside her own kids. Rather than simply tell Vincent who she is, Valerie, now a trained librarian, adopts a pseudonym, and applies for -- and gets -- the job as if she were a stranger. (This is all, you might fairly argue, pretty goddam implausible, but then you could say the same about the premise of, for example, Gone Girl.)
Vincent's a grumpy old sod and his running of the bookshop is idiosyncratic (it's a marvel he's still in business), yet he and the nervous young woman he's employed establish an accord. In this they're helped by the florist from next door, Clotilde Joubert, who clearly adores Vincent in a daughterly, eye-rolling way, is likewise loved by him although he'd never admit it, and who immediately befriends Valerie. It's not long before we learn that Clotilde quite quickly spotted Valerie for who she really is.
In dribs and drabs, Valerie manages to tease out of her grandfather and Clotilde what actually happened in Paris twenty-plus years earlier, the fate of her mother, Mireille, and father, Mattaus, and why Vincent thrust her out of his life . . .
The author acknowledges in her afterword that she tweaked a couple of historical realities for the sake of her plot -- which is fair enough -- but I gather there are far more factual errors in the text than she admits to, right down to someone shopping at a supermarket nearly twenty years before such a thing existed in France. Since I didn't notice these -- I'm no historian (outside science history, if you're being charitable) -- they didn't bother me, although some oddities did bring me up short. For example, there's a nasty Nazi called Valter, which I don't think is a real German name; it is, however, the German pronunciation of the name Walter. Valerie's father's surname (and thus, although she doesn't know it, her own) is Fredericks, where surely it ought to have been Friedreichs. That sort of thing.
Still, I'm sure there's no such place as the European kingdom of Bratisvlania, which is where the widowered prince, egged on by his cute daughter, falls in love with and marries the feisty Brooklyn governess whom the older members of the royal household so overwhelmingly despise in that Hallmark Channel movie I was talking about.
So I forgive the overwhelming implausibility and the factual gaffes. What next?
What I found I couldn't forgive was the clunkiness of the writing. Over and over again I was wincing at what I saw on the page in front of me. (And that's before I get started on the proofreading. At one point we discover that the sun was shinning.) If ever a book required a final copyeditorial polish, The Paris Secret is it. Just one example, from page 165: "A muscle flexed in his jaw, and he snapped it up from the table and shoved it under his arm."
Jaw-dropping, eh? There's lots and lots of that sort of stuff -- that's just the one that made me laugh the loudest -- and it's a pity, because there's actually a jolly good little book here that needed just a little by way of professional attention to let it shine (or shin). I'm not quite sure why Messrs Bookouture (unless they're a vanity imprint) didn't give it that attention.
Even despite all these complaints, I enjoyed The Paris Secret. Guess I'd better tune into the Hallmark Channel tonight. With luck it'll be something starring Alicia Witt, or maybe that hot, mystery-solving archaeologist . . . preferably both.
But back to The Paris Secret.
Short introductory and closing chapters are set on a train to Paris in the here and now, but the novel is primarily set in Paris much earlier, its two related plot-lines being dated 1962-3 and 1940-42, with the latter strand having as backdrop the Nazi occupation of the city. Graham achieves the melding of these two strands very neatly -- overall, in fact, I was much impressed by the skill with which this novel is constructed.
In 1962 young Valerie discovers a job ad for a live-in assistant in the bookshop owned by the grandfather she's never met, Vincent Dupont. At the end of the war, you see, the infant, orphaned Valerie was at Vincent's insistence rescued from Paris by her second cousin, who raised her in England alongside her own kids. Rather than simply tell Vincent who she is, Valerie, now a trained librarian, adopts a pseudonym, and applies for -- and gets -- the job as if she were a stranger. (This is all, you might fairly argue, pretty goddam implausible, but then you could say the same about the premise of, for example, Gone Girl.)
Vincent's a grumpy old sod and his running of the bookshop is idiosyncratic (it's a marvel he's still in business), yet he and the nervous young woman he's employed establish an accord. In this they're helped by the florist from next door, Clotilde Joubert, who clearly adores Vincent in a daughterly, eye-rolling way, is likewise loved by him although he'd never admit it, and who immediately befriends Valerie. It's not long before we learn that Clotilde quite quickly spotted Valerie for who she really is.
In dribs and drabs, Valerie manages to tease out of her grandfather and Clotilde what actually happened in Paris twenty-plus years earlier, the fate of her mother, Mireille, and father, Mattaus, and why Vincent thrust her out of his life . . .
The author acknowledges in her afterword that she tweaked a couple of historical realities for the sake of her plot -- which is fair enough -- but I gather there are far more factual errors in the text than she admits to, right down to someone shopping at a supermarket nearly twenty years before such a thing existed in France. Since I didn't notice these -- I'm no historian (outside science history, if you're being charitable) -- they didn't bother me, although some oddities did bring me up short. For example, there's a nasty Nazi called Valter, which I don't think is a real German name; it is, however, the German pronunciation of the name Walter. Valerie's father's surname (and thus, although she doesn't know it, her own) is Fredericks, where surely it ought to have been Friedreichs. That sort of thing.
Still, I'm sure there's no such place as the European kingdom of Bratisvlania, which is where the widowered prince, egged on by his cute daughter, falls in love with and marries the feisty Brooklyn governess whom the older members of the royal household so overwhelmingly despise in that Hallmark Channel movie I was talking about.
So I forgive the overwhelming implausibility and the factual gaffes. What next?
What I found I couldn't forgive was the clunkiness of the writing. Over and over again I was wincing at what I saw on the page in front of me. (And that's before I get started on the proofreading. At one point we discover that the sun was shinning.) If ever a book required a final copyeditorial polish, The Paris Secret is it. Just one example, from page 165: "A muscle flexed in his jaw, and he snapped it up from the table and shoved it under his arm."
Jaw-dropping, eh? There's lots and lots of that sort of stuff -- that's just the one that made me laugh the loudest -- and it's a pity, because there's actually a jolly good little book here that needed just a little by way of professional attention to let it shine (or shin). I'm not quite sure why Messrs Bookouture (unless they're a vanity imprint) didn't give it that attention.
Even despite all these complaints, I enjoyed The Paris Secret. Guess I'd better tune into the Hallmark Channel tonight. With luck it'll be something starring Alicia Witt, or maybe that hot, mystery-solving archaeologist . . . preferably both.
September 27, 2018
I absolutely loved this book!!! My only complaint is that it's too short and I wanted to keep reading about Valerie and her family. The book was beautifully written. I felt like I was there with Valerie working in the bookshop and with Mireille while trying to survive during the Occupation. I loved the cover of the book and I am so glad it caught my eye.
Valerie was sent to live in England with relatives when she was three years old. Valerie knew her mother was dead and believed she had no other relatives alive. When Valerie is twenty she learns her grandfather is alive in Paris. Valerie ends up getting a job working in his bookshop, but uses an assumed name. She doesn't know how he would react to Valerie being his granddaughter. Valerie tries to find out as much as she can about her mother.
The book starts out in the present as Valerie tells her story to a woman she meets on a train. It alternates between Valerie in 1962 and Mireille in Occupied Paris during the 1940's . I loved the story, characters and writing style. I loved getting to know Valerie and Mireille. Mireille's story was heartbreaking. I hope Valerie sees that her father truly loved her mother and his baby. I wonder how everything would have turned out after the war? Dupont was quite the character. His book ordering system was crazy. I'm not sure how anyone found anything. He had books in order according to whether or not the author had last his/her mind. Add in Clotilde and Freddy and you have a great mix of characters. I can't imagine how the children born with Nazi fathers were treated after the war. Innocent children being punished for simply being born. The book was very heartfelt. It was full of loss and sadness but also love. happiness and forgiveness.
I definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more by the author.
Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author, Lily Graham, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.
Valerie was sent to live in England with relatives when she was three years old. Valerie knew her mother was dead and believed she had no other relatives alive. When Valerie is twenty she learns her grandfather is alive in Paris. Valerie ends up getting a job working in his bookshop, but uses an assumed name. She doesn't know how he would react to Valerie being his granddaughter. Valerie tries to find out as much as she can about her mother.
The book starts out in the present as Valerie tells her story to a woman she meets on a train. It alternates between Valerie in 1962 and Mireille in Occupied Paris during the 1940's . I loved the story, characters and writing style. I loved getting to know Valerie and Mireille. Mireille's story was heartbreaking. I hope Valerie sees that her father truly loved her mother and his baby. I wonder how everything would have turned out after the war? Dupont was quite the character. His book ordering system was crazy. I'm not sure how anyone found anything. He had books in order according to whether or not the author had last his/her mind. Add in Clotilde and Freddy and you have a great mix of characters. I can't imagine how the children born with Nazi fathers were treated after the war. Innocent children being punished for simply being born. The book was very heartfelt. It was full of loss and sadness but also love. happiness and forgiveness.
I definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more by the author.
Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author, Lily Graham, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.
December 14, 2018
I read a lot of WWII fiction and this love story set in Paris during WWII was definitely a winner in this genre. It was a real page turner with some smiles and some tears with a wonderful ending. It was a fairly short book and I think it should have been longer with more character development but overall I enjoyed it and definitely recommend it.
The novel begins with Valerie in her 90s taking the train back to Paris. As she tells her story to her seatmate on the train, her past comes alive. When Valerie was 3, she was sent from Paris to live with her aunt in England at the end of WWII. She knew that her mother had died but wanted to know why her grandfather didn't want to raise her. In her early 20s, she manages to get a job in her grandfather's book store in Paris. She doesn't tell him who she is when she starts her job but tries to get more information about her family. Her aunt warned her ‘He gave you away for a reason, Val. I know that you want this fairy-tale reunion but I’m just not sure you’re going to get it.’ but she still persists in trying to find out her history. Will Valerie and her grandfather be able to help each other or will the truth open up wounds that will never heal?
I enjoyed this short trip to Paris and wish this was a real bookstore that I could visit. This is a wonderful story about family and love and how they manage to exist even during the worst times. It's a book full of sadness at what could have been but also joy at the discovery of new friends and family. I highly recommend it.
The novel begins with Valerie in her 90s taking the train back to Paris. As she tells her story to her seatmate on the train, her past comes alive. When Valerie was 3, she was sent from Paris to live with her aunt in England at the end of WWII. She knew that her mother had died but wanted to know why her grandfather didn't want to raise her. In her early 20s, she manages to get a job in her grandfather's book store in Paris. She doesn't tell him who she is when she starts her job but tries to get more information about her family. Her aunt warned her ‘He gave you away for a reason, Val. I know that you want this fairy-tale reunion but I’m just not sure you’re going to get it.’ but she still persists in trying to find out her history. Will Valerie and her grandfather be able to help each other or will the truth open up wounds that will never heal?
I enjoyed this short trip to Paris and wish this was a real bookstore that I could visit. This is a wonderful story about family and love and how they manage to exist even during the worst times. It's a book full of sadness at what could have been but also joy at the discovery of new friends and family. I highly recommend it.
December 5, 2022
Talvez seja preconceito meu achar que os livros pequenos não conseguem atingir a densidade necessária para falar sobre um acontecimento tão fraturante da História da humanidade. Porém, estava totalmente enganada. Este livro não é pequeno. É GI-GAN-TE!
O Segredo da Livraria de Paris leva-nos a conhecer Valerie, uma jovem que a pedido do seu avô foi levada de Paris para Inglaterra, por um familiar, para escapar aos horrores da II Guerra Mundial.
Porém, Valerie nada sabe do seu passado até chegar aos 20 anos, momento em que lhe revelam parte da verdade sobre a sua história e descobre que a livraria do seu avô, localizada em Paris, tem uma vaga disponível para um auxiliar de livreiro.
Valerie decide concorrer ao anúncio de emprego, sob uma identidade falsa, para poder descobrir mais sobre o seu passado e conhecer melhor o seu avô. Durante a sua estadia em Paris, Valerie tenta quebrar o muro de gelo que o seu avô construiu à sua volta ao longo dos anos e tentar perceber os motivos pelos quais o avô abdicou dela na sua infância.
Apesar de ser um livro sobre uma temática dura, achei-o muito ternurento e ganhei um carinho especial pelas personagens.
Este é um livro muito especial que nos leva a refletir sobre o facto de deixarmos que os atos dos nossos antepassados definam (ou não) quem nós somos. Dá que pensar, não é?
O Segredo da Livraria de Paris leva-nos a conhecer Valerie, uma jovem que a pedido do seu avô foi levada de Paris para Inglaterra, por um familiar, para escapar aos horrores da II Guerra Mundial.
Porém, Valerie nada sabe do seu passado até chegar aos 20 anos, momento em que lhe revelam parte da verdade sobre a sua história e descobre que a livraria do seu avô, localizada em Paris, tem uma vaga disponível para um auxiliar de livreiro.
Valerie decide concorrer ao anúncio de emprego, sob uma identidade falsa, para poder descobrir mais sobre o seu passado e conhecer melhor o seu avô. Durante a sua estadia em Paris, Valerie tenta quebrar o muro de gelo que o seu avô construiu à sua volta ao longo dos anos e tentar perceber os motivos pelos quais o avô abdicou dela na sua infância.
Apesar de ser um livro sobre uma temática dura, achei-o muito ternurento e ganhei um carinho especial pelas personagens.
Este é um livro muito especial que nos leva a refletir sobre o facto de deixarmos que os atos dos nossos antepassados definam (ou não) quem nós somos. Dá que pensar, não é?
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