"The Paris Assignment" is the story of Madeleine, a girl with some French heritage, who studies at the Sorbonne in Paris for part of her degree course. Whilst there she meets and falls in love with a Frenchman. This is the tale of their love and devotion both before and during World War 2. It is also about families being broken apart by war, but not losing hope.

This is a well-written and engaging novel with some great characters and plenty of jeopardy.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

The Paris Assignment is the newest WWII novel by Rhys Bowen. This novel follows Madeleine Grant, a courageous wife, mother, and resistance worker during WWII. When Madeleine meets Giles Martin while studying at the Sorbonne in Paris it is love at first sight. The two create a life together in Paris, get married and have a son, Olivier. They are looking forward to many happy years together when the Nazis start sweeping through Europe. In an attempt to keep them safe, Madeleine agrees to leave Paris with Olivier and return to London where he is tragically killed in a bombing raid. Madeleine has lost her son and has no idea if her husband is still alive. To avenge the loss of her family she volunteers to be sent to France as a spy. The events that follow are a sweeping tale of love, loss, sacrifice and remarkable courage. The characters in this novel are memorable and the emotions are raw and real. Bowen shows the ugly realities of war instead of creating a romanticized and unrealistic ending where everyone makes it out alive. This story is tense and emotional, I couldn’t put it down.

The Paris Assignment is another well written and researched book in the historical fiction genre that kept me involved in the story line and turning the pages.

Madeline and Giles along with their son Olivier are a happy family living in Paris when WWII breaks out and Paris is soon occupied by the Nazi's.

Madeline and her son leave for London but fearing for her son's safety she soon sends him to the country to live.

Once Madeline is recruited and trained for espionage work she returns to France and like many others faces danger at every turn.

Madeline and Olivier's story take a turn that the reader should follow on their own as I don't want to give away the story but it is a journey that will have you wiping your eyes and holding your breath for mother and son.

Rhys Bowen always writes a story that holds your attention and I never want the book to end.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a compelling read.

The Martin family- Giles, Madeline, and Olivier - are torn apart when WWII starts. This latest from Bowen takes on all of WWII and after in a sweeping novel that has, perhaps, too much going on, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'll be the odd one out on this one, Those who haven't read many WWII novels might enjoy this more than I did.

Another fine histfic novel by Rhys Bowen, a master of the genre. She makes us feel we are in the middle of the action as MCs Madeleine and Giles fight against the Nazis and search for their lost young son. Pinned to the pages, I read through the night, wondering if the couple would survive and if they would ever find their child. Highly recommended!

This historical fiction, a blend of actual events and imagination, makes us relive the harsh reality of war. This is the story of Londoner Madeleine Grant who studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, married Giles Martin and raised peacefully their son Oliver ...till the war sets off alarms in France. The story will tell us what they did to survive.

The story is written with easy and it flows beautifully. The imagery throughout steady and unwavering and gives us several twists hard to phantom. It will be difficult not to be emotionally captivated with the description of horror suffered by those caught in the hands of evil men. Ms. Bowen held back on torture but did not mince her words describing the wrong done by the Nazi but also by those who took orphans in their care. The chapters of Oliver at the orphanage in Australia were an eye opener. Although it was not the first time I read how children were abused by religious orders it nevertheless touched me...How could they?...There is a lot of tension all through, it is hard not to want them to survive and lead a happy life. The story is not all doomed and groomed we have some romance and tender moments, family reunion and budding love.

With its excellent characters and gripping plot “The Paris Assignment” is a story that will inevitably pull most historical fiction buffs in and captivate them till they reach the last page. It did for me.

The Paris Assignment is a powerful and poignant historical fiction novel that offers a gripping portrayal of love, loss, and survival during one of the most turbulent periods in history. Rhys Bowen's storytelling prowess shines through as she delivers a compelling narrative that captures the essence of human strength and the power of hope. Fans of World War II fiction and historical dramas will find this book a deeply satisfying and emotional read.

The two great wars brought us so much good literature - each with a different perspective
all so different and all riveting reading. This was no different.

Maddie is one of the most conformist, mild souls you could envisage. Not one for confrontation,
anything for the sake of peace she goes along with her family plans in a plodding manner until
one day she decides to go as part of a study course to Sorbonne, falls in love with
France, finds a love of her own and makes France her home.

The story evolves from there, WWII breaks out, she and her young son forced to returnto England, her husband joining the Resistance and the heartbreak starts there. The story goes much
further than this with really heart breaking consequences which no person should be
called upon to bear.

The imagery throughout this book is the steadfastness to a cause, the stoic bearing of
misery still maintaining qualities of goodness isdifficul to imagine. Most people will
break under that pressure, just give up any attempt to be humane.

Powerful story

i just couldn't through it. the story is so underwhelmed. It just so basic and it was not really for me

Eu irei escrever em português porque vai me permitir me expressar melhor.
Então, uma das coisas que gostei foi que a história dura toda a Segunda Guerra Mundial, ou seja, mostrou rapidamente o processo do começo ao fim.
Mas isso também foi o que me deixou querendo mais. Como foi tudo breve, fiquei querendo algo que não fosse superficial.
Mas ainda assim, foi uma leitura fácil, cheia de reviravoltas (embora muitas delas não fossem surpreendentes).
Recomendo para quem quer ler um livro sobre a Segunda Guerra Mundial que seja bem breve nas cenas difíceis, mas ao mesmo tempo que não seja tão leve a ponto de tornar o livro meio sem sentido (afinal, é Segunda Guerra Mundial...).

A story of one woman's journey as she faces love and loss set among the backdrop of WWII. Well written.

I loved this book - it flowed and the characters got right into your head and the reality of wartime made you feel you where living through it

A World War II historical novle follows the story of Madeleine and her son, Oliver. Madeleine is studying in Paris when she falls in love with Giles and marries him. At the outbreak of the war, Giles joins the French Resistance and Madeleine and Oliver return to London. Madeleine ends up becoming a courier for British intelligence and is sent back to France (but not Paris) for her assignment. The storyline is divided to follow both Madeleine and Oliver.

What I liked: great descriptions of Paris pre-war, the training program for spies, the phenomenon of "orphan farms" in Australia, and daily life in France during the war. Madeleine is sympathetically drawn and it's easy to be drawn into her story and life and root for her along her journey.

On the other hand, the pacing of the story was slow for me, with a lot of time covering every aspect of Madeleine's training and relatively little on her eventual undercover assignment. A series of improbable coincidences leads to a tidy resolution at the end. Some of the dialogue is very stilted, with characters speaking in longwinded sentences that seem more like speeches than conversation, and the characters fall into neat stereotypes (evil stepmother, jealous mistress, spunky Cockney).

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Madeleine, an England native with a French mother, moves to France to study at the Sorbonne. She falls in love with and marries a fellow classmate and has a son. As the Germans invade and occupy France, Madeleine is forced to face the horrific challenges of the war head on.

Unfortunately, despite a promising storyline, I feel like this books suffered a little bit of an identity crisis. This is a partial dual POV. There was so much going on, that the character development took a back seat. I felt the book overall had a flat affect, or a lack of emotion, from the dialog that appear somewhat robotic to amazing resilience (or lack of emotion) the main character displayed when very bad things happened to her or those around her. The plot was the primary driving force pulling you through the book, but conflicts seemed to be resolved quickly and somewhat miraculously. I feel like both POV storylines had promise and showed a lot of research had been done, which I appreciate. It provided another view of English children in World War 2 that I was not aware of, which was both interesting and devastating all at the same time. But the story line might have been a victim of Information overload. Overall, if you really enjoy World War 2 historical Fiction and are looking for a different viewpoint, this might be a good book for you.

Londoner Madeleine Grant meets Giles Martin while studying for a term at the Sorbonne and they soon marry and have a child, Olivier. When the Nazis invade France, Madeleine and Olivier return to London while Giles stays behind to join the Resistance. After the tragic loss of her son in England, bilingual Madeleine is recruited as a spy, trained and sent on assignment to a small village in France (not Paris) where she comes face-to-face with the brutality of the Nazi regime.

A dual point-of-view story set in Britain, France and Australia beginning in Paris in the early 1930s through the war years and into the early post-war period. This was just an okay read for me. I read a lot of historical fiction and there are several about female spies in World War II that are better written and cover the topic with more depth. The most interesting aspect of this story is the part that takes place at an orphan farm in Australia. I would have enjoyed the novel more if that had been the sole focus as it is an aspect of World War II history that I hadn't previously read about.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for sending a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Paris. WWII. Again? This book – it’s a good one.

Madeleine has an admirer: Giles. She is a student from London attending the Sorbonne University in Paris for just one quarter. They have become close and he begs her to return to be with him – and she does.

Life and love can be complicated and this romance is no different. It starts with love, marriage, a child and then a horrible war. It reminds us all how fortunate we are these days to have freedom, peace, food and all the other good things in life. Madeleine’s great aunt said, “Cling to your dreams. You may need them.”

After reading this, I wondered who would ever want to sign up to be a spy. The book outlines how they had to prepare for their assignments. Danger was a huge part of the task. Everyone was given a cyanide pill in case they were captured as torture was beyond brutal.

Madeleine was a wife that loved her husband no matter what. She was a mother that wanted all good things for her son. And she was a daughter that accepted her father’s choice with his second marriage. Her relationships with family and friends gave her a reason to survive.

The book is a page turner. And yet, the end has coincidences which made it a little less believable. However, this book has a strong storyline. It makes me think a lot about the war times and how it must have affected people going forward. It would be a great discussion for a book club.

My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of August 8, 2023.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book fell flat for me. I have read a few other books on the subject of women spies recruiting during WWII. Huge sections and characters could have been omitted and the book would have been the same (what was the point in adding Portia as a character?)

More time should have been devoted to Olivier's story in Australia, as I haven't read much about that particular wartime scenario. The ending was too coincidental for my taste.

And what exactly was The Paris Assignment? Any assignment that Madeleine took did not happen in Paris, so I am not sure why the book was given this title.

There are better 'female WWII spy" books out there.

These stories of motherhood, courage, and the resiliency of women in the face of such horror never cease to amaze. This story was no exception!

This was a hard story to follow. There was times the story was slow and I ended up not finishing the story. However I love the author and have read other from different series and look forward to what ever else she does

This is my first Rhys Bowen book and it WILL not be my last! So gripping, moving, and beautiful. Rhys has a way with words and creating gripping scenes and situations I couldn’t wait to dive in and finish! Definitely recommend! I’m in my historical fiction era and loving it!