Title: The Paris Orphan
Author: Natasha Lester
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Paris Orphan is a dual timeline WWII historical fiction taking place in 1942 Paris/NYC and 2005 Paris. It was written in 13 parts with most of the 1942 parts narrated by main character Jessica and the 2005 parts by D’Arcy. There were chapters amongst the parts, but still the parts were long and I think I would’ve preferred a more back and fort timeline that you have come to expect in historical fiction.
When Jessica May gets backlisted in the modeling world and is forced to take a break, she falls back on her other gifts of photography and journalism and begins cover the war for Vogue. Most of the Soldiers are determined to make her life as difficult as possible. But, not Captain Dan Hallworth. He keeps her safe in the most dangerous places, so she can capture the stories that truly matter. Their safety is extra important because of a little orphan girl named Victorine.
Sixty years after the war, D’Arcy Hallworth arrives at a beautiful french chateau to a curate a collection of famous wartime photos by a reclusive artist. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, but D’Arcy has no idea the secrets she will stumble upon! Secrets that she never knew about her mother Victorine!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 I really enjoyed the first half of the book and the focus on the wartime. The WWII sub-genre of historical fiction is very heavily saturated, so I did think this was a unique take with a female imbedded photographer and reporter. Unfortunately, parts of the second half felt very soap opera-y, the ending was rushed and some of the decisions the author had the characters make just didn’t sit well with me and were hard to over look.
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