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Paris - During World War II and 2022 1940s - Jacques Duval resurrected a neglected shop in 1939, determined to make it into a place that book lovers would adore. He called the shop La Page Cachee, The Hidden Page. Jacques believed that there was magic in each book. An apartment above the business was also available, which suited Jacques just fine as he intended to ask the love of his life to marry him. He and Mathilde, a curator at a museum, were married on an ominous day - Britain and France declared war against Germany. Despite the German invasion soon after the war starts, Jacques keeps his bookshop open, although he has to remove any books written by Jews. And then Mathilde is threatened with arrest, and flees the city. Jacques cannot leave his elderly, ill mother, so he remains, continuing to sell books to Parisians and Germans alike. One day, though, a young mother and her child come into the shop and beg him to help them from being arrested by the Nazis. His one storeroom is hidden behind one of the large bookshelves, and so starts Jacques's heroic works as he aids dozens of people fleeing from arrest. 2022 - Juliette has finally convinced her husband, Kevin, to travel to Paris, the birthplace of her grandmother. The couple have grown apart, and this vacation hasn't been the answer to save it. Juliette knows that Kevin has been cheating on her, and when he gets a phone call from the woman he's seeing, that is it for Juliette. She refuses to return to the states with him, and sets about finding herself in the City of Light. Her grandmother had left her a picture of a small square in Paris that she obviously related to. When Juliette finds the square, she also notices an empty store that was in the picture too. It's an old bookstore, long since closed. This has Juliette mulling over an idea to open her own bookstore. With help from locals, she manages to obtain the store. She calls it The Forgotten Bookshop. THE FORGOTTEN BOOKSHOP IN PARIS is heartwarming and yet, heartbreaking, as readers learn of the travails Jacques must go through during the occupation. Juliette is discovering much about her grandmother's life, as she never wanted to discuss her past. With a growing circle of friends in Paris, Juliette is coming to terms with her own life, feeling a freedom she's never really known. Beautifully written, and with emotionally realistic characters, readers will relish THE FORGOTTEN BOOKSHOP IN PARIS. Jani Brooks |
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THE FORGOTTEN BOOKSHOP IN PARIS - Daisy Wood