The Last Restaurant in Paris: Completely heartbreaking and gripping World War 2 fiction

332 pages Bookouture publisher Pub Date 18 Jul 2022 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Paris 1944. To save her people, she served the enemy.

In enemy-occupied Paris, as the locals go to bed starving and defeated by the war, music and laughter spills through the door of a little restaurant, crowded with German soldiers. The owner Marianne moves on weary feet between its packed tables, carrying plates of steaming, wholesome food for the enemy officers. Her smile is bright and sparkling, her welcome cordial. Nobody would guess the hatred she hides in her heart.

That night, the restaurant closes its doors for the final time. In the morning, the windows are scratched with the words ‘traitor and murderer’. And Marianne has disappeared without a trace…

Years later, Marianne’s granddaughter Sabine stands under the faded green awning, a heavy brass key in her hand, staring at the restaurant left to her by the grandmother she never met. Sabine has so many questions about herself. Perhaps here she can find answers, but she knows she isn’t welcome. Marianne was hated by the locals and when Sabine discovers they blamed her for the terrible tragedy that haunts the pretty restaurant, she is ready to abandon her dark legacy.

But when she finds a passport in a hidden compartment in the water-stained walls, with a picture of a woman who looks like her grandmother but has a different name, she knows there must be more to Marianne’s story. As she digs into the past, she starts to wonder: was her grandmother a heroine, not a traitor? What happened to her after the tragic night when she fled from her restaurant? And will the answer change her own life forever?

A haunting and compelling story of love, strength, and sacrifice in Nazi-occupied Paris as one brave young woman risks everything to save the lives of those around her. Fans of The Nightingale, The Paris Library and The Alice Network will lose their hearts to The Last Restaurant in Paris.

Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash

MY THOUGHTS

A dual timeline taking place in modern times of 1987 and WW11 years. A gentle back and forth storyline each one easy to follow. Sabine finds out she has inherited a restaurant business in Paris from her grandmother. She is shocked to find out family secrets she had known nothing about.

The author vividly brings the story to life, and it is based on true events. Finding out these secrets is haunting as we can easily visualize the restaurant full of life.

While the young pretty owner of the Parisian restaurant smilingly serves the enemy German soldiers no one can guess the secret she harbors in her heart. Heartbreaking and thought provoking.

The main plot of the story is the action taken that causes her to be labeled a traitor and murderer. I enjoyed reading Gabriel’s thoughts as he actually knew Marianne during WWII. The book has the running of the restaurant as the main focus during the war, which is different than many books, I’ve read but it works well.

This is a book that won’t be easily forgotten.

Pub Date 18 Jul 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lily Graham is the author of the bestselling, The Last Restaurant in Paris, The Paris Secret and The Island Villa, among others. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, including French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish.

She grew up in South Africa, and was a journalist for a decade before giving it up to write fiction full time. Her first three novels were lighter, women’s fiction, but when she wrote The Island Villa, a story about a secret Jewish community living on the tiny island of Formentera during the Spanish Inquisition, she switched to historical fiction and hasn’t quite looked back since.

She lives now in the Suffolk coast with her husband and dog.

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