Friday, 7 January 2022

The Girl From Paris - Ella Carey

 Vianne rushes through the crowded streets of Paris as the German bombs begin to fall. As she
rounds the corner she sees the familiar spires of the old church burst into flames. Too late, she realizes that her mother and sister are trapped inside…


Paris, 1918. The end of war is in sight, and young seamstress Vianne Mercier is longing for the day when she can stop sewing military uniforms and start creating the beautiful dresses that she has been dreaming up in her head.

But just when it seems like peace is within reach, Vianne’s mother and sister are killed in a terrible air raid. To make matters worse, Vianne’s brother has returned home a changed man. Controlling and cruel, he presents Vianne with an ultimatum; give up her dreams of becoming a designer, or be forced onto the streets, penniless and alone.

With nothing left for her in Paris but sad memories, she decides to sail for New York. Determined not to look back, she throws herself into her new life—spending her days sewing dresses for wealthy Upper East Side women, and her evenings dancing the Charleston to Duke Ellington in the new downtown clubs. When Vianne meets handsome Italian Giorgio Conti, he encourages her career, and she feels safe for the first time since she lost her family.

Then news of a terrible accident compels Vianne to suddenly return to France, where she discovers proof of a wartime secret that changes everything she thought she knew about her family. Facing the threat of sickness and ruin, the people who forced Vianne out of her home now suddenly need her help.

Will Vianne find the courage to follow her heart, return to New York and her life with Giorgio? Or will duty bind her to the family she had left behind and force her to remain in France?

From Amazon Charts bestseller Ella Carey comes an utterly gripping and emotional historical wartime novel about the terrible choices people made during humanity’s darkest days. Fans of Fiona Valpy, Rhys Bowen and The Nightingale will adore this novel.

Author Bio:

Ella Carey is the USA Today and Amazon charts bestselling author of eight novels of historical fiction, including the Secrets of Paris Series, published with Hachette imprint, Bookouture. Ella’s novels have reached over one million readers and have been translated into fourteen languages. Ella has recently signed a six book deal in Germany and a nine book deal in Denmark. Ella’s latest novels are A New York Secret, and The Lost Girl of Berlin, both published with Bookouture in 2021. The Girl from Paris is the third novel in this new series, and will publish in January, 2022. Ella has a music degree in classical piano, and an arts degree majoring in English and history. Her novels have been shortlisted for ARRA awards. For further information:


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My Review

Unlike the first two books in this series, this book doesn't take place close the the second world war, instead it begins during the first world war in France. These books are all standalone stories, but they have links to the other books. Vianne, who is the Girl from Paris of the title, has appeared before in A New York Secret but there she was a sucessful businesswoman and designer. Now we see her story of how she got there.
The book deals with the effect that the first world war had on those who lived through it. For Vianne and her family it destroyed them. Ripping the family apart and having both an emotionally and physically. Vianne moves to New York to start a new life and there she faces the new modern world that is open to young women, but also the constraints that still exist.
I don't want to give away spoilers to this book. I think that it might be enough to say that I read it in just over a day as I wanted to see what was going to happen and how Vianne's life would unfold. This was a great read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.


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