The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris: from an exciting new voice in historical fiction comes a gripping and emotional novel

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If this book is on your reading list, please read it and I really hope that you'll find things that I possibly missed! I hope that you'll enjoy it more than I did 😊 As for me, on to better books: The Lindberg Nanny & The Book Spy!!!! It was 2022 when Juliette and Andrew arrived in Paris for a holiday from the US. Juliette's grandmother had been born in the city of love and lived through the war years, although she wouldn't talk about it before she died. The painting which had been such a big part of her life was now Juliette's and she was determined to find the little square depicted. After Juliette discovered a hidden secret, Andrew returned to the US, leaving Juliette to search for her roots - that history was to be a big part of her life, especially when she found a derelict old store for sale, in the square she'd been drawn to. Juliette decided to renovate and re-open the old store, calling it The Forgotten Bookshop Juliette needed a place to stay and found an apartment above a bookstore and decided to restore the bookstore even though a friend’s grandmother ZiZi who is 97 told her to not dig up the past. It's a dual POV and dual timeline story with one part set in occupied Paris during WWII. It's more than a love story: it's many love stories, many stories of people being brave and saving others. Jacques POV is poignant and at times hard to read, but there's also hope.

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In 1940 a young married couple is running a bookshop during the Nazi occupation of WWII. How they helped the resistance help Jewish people and resistance workers even children during the war. Their story, their separation and the price they paid for their part in the resistance movement. How in a time of such tension you could trust no one and on trusted patron sold them out to the Nazi's. If the author only wrote about the past, this book would have been fantastic...all this section made sense and was beautifully written. Juliette and her husband Kevin are visiting Paris in 2020. She loves everything about the city and being fluent in French, she gets by admirably. Kevin is bored and wants to go home. She discovers quite by chance that he is not being faithful. Using the all to familiar dual time line technique this novel, set in Nazi occupied and current day Paris, tells the story of a bookshop and the people who run it. And of course how they come together across history. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for this opportunity.

This book moves from 1940-1945 to 2020. The reader learns about Jacques and Mathilde’s lives. In 2020, we learn about Juliette’s struggle to open the bookshop and the discoveries she makes. Juliette and her husband’s trip to Paris ended in their separation, but it turned out to be a new start for Juliette. The story is told in a dual timeline and also features the story of Jacques and Mathilde, who married on the day WW2 broke out. They risked their lives as part of the French Resistance. Theirs is a story of love, perseverance, courage in the face of evil, sacrifice and betrayal. The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris has a dual timeline it’s set in the city of lights during the 1940's and in present time, and it's told from the two main characters points of view. One of the most amazing stories I've read! I finished reading it with tears in my eyes and couldn't stop thinking about it.

The reader can take it from there as the story morphs into Juliette’s “Forgotten Bookshop” and Jacques and Mathilde’s story unfolds. Juliette came to Paris going through the motions of life. There she finds a certain “je ne sais quoi ”, a passion, a purpose and love. I have to say that I was very disappointed in this book. I've heard so many good things about it and maybe it's just me, but I was getting confused with all the characters & names mainly in the present timeline of 2022. I usually really enjoy duel timeline stories but this one fell short and honestly I couldn't wait to get done. Books were his livelihood, his passion, his raison d’être; how could he allow them to be destroyed? He had already accepted so much humiliation from the Nazis but this was a step too far.’ In a word, disappointing. I was happy to review this through Netgalley but this isn’t my sort of story. Primarily a work of historical fiction bouncing between occupied France in WWII and a by the numbers romance set in 2022. Normally historical fiction is my favorite genre but the modern romance is straight out of a Hallmark movie. If you like those cliches and light romances, you’ll most likely enjoy this. It’s very heavy on tropes like a woman fresh out of a bad marriage, starting her life over in the city of romance and meeting a man she’s immediately drawn to. However they end up hating one another when they first meet, getting close while fixing a sink that suddenly bursts, and almost derailing the whole relationship twice because of simple misunderstandings.

The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris is a story of love and courage, sacrifice and surrender. It’s a tale of heartbreak and hope as the two lead characters from both timelines are on a journey of self discovery. I highly recommend it as I found it a moving and memorable story.