I read this book while on a recent visit to Paris so it resonated more, perhaps, than if I had read it at home. Nonetheless I would highly recommend it. Even though a fictionalized account, it presented a side of the woman who would become Jackie Kennedy that i was not aware of and therefore found fascinating, along with the descriptions of Paris in the post WWII years that was very engaging and that set a context for Mah's. sharing her perception of Jackie's growth both emotionally and intellectually that, no doubt, mirrored that of many women who were able to spend a year abroad as part of their college education. In retrospect, how this year might have affected Jackie's decisions in later life, left me appreciating the woman she became.

When I requested to read this book, I thought it was going to be a story about Paris and how Jackie fell in love with the city. It is that but more--it is a story of postwar Paris--from the French side and a story of first love, which reflects the image of Jacqueline Kennedy that we all believe we know. It is also a mystery that is all explained at the end. It gives the reader the younger Jackie, her thought processes and her life up to this point. A pleasant read and very enjoyable.

I inhaled this book! It took me to Paris soon after WW2. I knew almost nothing about JackieO when I started other than her life with John Kennedy. I am old
enough to remember the assassination and the worlds fascination with Jackie. But her year in Paris was new territory for me. I loved the Lost Vintage and hoped I would love this book too. It surpassed my expectations… it was a wonderful story, beautifully told. And I’ll bet the world becomes fascinated anew with Jackie as this book becomes widely read. Of course Paris in 1949 is worth a lengthy read all on its own. A huge thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are honest and my own.

Belated Happy Pub Day @annmahnet. #JacquelineInParis is out now!

"From the bestselling author of The Lost Vintage, a rare and dazzling portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier’s college year abroad in postwar Paris, an intimate and electrifying story of love and betrayal, and the coming-of-age of an American icon – before the world knew her as Jackie."

I love Ann's writing, both fiction & non, especially her novel The Lost Vintage. Jacqueline In Paris combines my love of historical fiction & Paris as setting with the post WWII era for a beautifully immersive journey into the life of a near mythical yet very real woman. 5 stars!

If you love historical fiction, you'll love Jacqueline In Paris! Is this on your fall reading TBR?

Thank you again to @marinerbooks @williammorrowbooks for this gifted digital copy!

#historicalfiction #tbr #fallreads #bookstagram #njreads #fiction #womensfiction #readersofinstagram #readersofig #reading #amreading #currentlyreading #genxbookstagrammer #theeclectspooniereads #bloominchick #theeclecticspoonie #giftedbook #TheLostVintage

Interesting fictional account if Jackie's year in Paris. I had never heard much about this period of her life - so the glimpse of house it might have been was enjoyable.

Historical fiction based on the time spent by Jacqueline Bouvier (later Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) in Paris after the Second World war when she transferred to University there for her junior year. The book gives significant perspective into the post-war situation in France, Germany, Austria in the post-war years as also how the spectre of Communism loomed large. I had read about the post-war shortages and the atrocious behaviour of the Soviets especially in the Eastern bloc but I had no idea there was an active pro-Communist movement in France too post the second world war. The book also deals with the romance between Jackie and a budding young writer. This easy to read story is for fans of Jackie Kennedy Onassis and gives interesting insight into her early life before she became Mrs. Kennedy and how her time and experiences in France and the people she met there may have had a lasting influence on her later opinions on Communism and the like.

Thank you Netgalley, Manner books and Ann Mah for the ARC.

This incredibly well researched and beautifully written novel explores Jacqueline Bouvier’s year abroad in France before she married President Kennedy. Soon after the end of World War II, France is in a period of reconstruction, and the Marshall plan has divided sentiments towards Americans. With communism on the rise, Jackie must navigate a tumultuous political landscape as she attempts to discover who she is behind the debutante and as she starts to fall in love.

I think one of the strongest parts of the novel is the writing style and word choice. The way this story is written, it could be Jacqueline herself speaking. The plot of this novel is also so intricate and interesting, and the story builds so subtly that when it all starts to come together it is very emotional for the reader. Jacqueline’s complicated relationships with her parents and society also add another intriguing lens to this story. Jackie’s year abroad was so much more than it seems, and I’m glad I got this unique perspective on her life.

Thank you so much to Mariner Books and Net Galley for providing me with an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Although I love historical fiction, I find books based on a real person to be more miss than hit. Since they have to be (mostly) aligned to reality, they have a tendency to drag or just fade off without resolution.

Jacqueline in Paris is definitely an exception. Set in 1949 Paris, it covers a year of Jacqueline’s (no one called her Jackie then) life as an exchange student. The setting itself is so well developed that it’s almost a character—It was a place where that scars of war were quite evident on both the city and it’s people, and a new war between the ideologies of capitalism and communism was beginning to brew.
I was very sorry to see Jacqueline’s year in Paris end!

Jacqueline in Paris is a fictionalized account of Jacqueline Bouvier's year spent studying abroad in Paris. This was a well-researched book with many of the characters based on actual people.
The novel is set in 1949 during the time following WW2. The city and its people are struggling to recover from the atrocities of war and are working to return to normal.

Parts of the book are centered on the rise of communism and several of the characters may or may not be spies.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this novel.

This book provides a glimpse into the life of Jacqueline Bouvier during her year abroad in Paris in 1949. While she actually studied there only a few years after th war, details of her life mix fact with fiction. She loved France and this was always a good memory for Jacqueline, as she was evolving and discovering herself, before she married JFK and became Jackie.

Jacqueline Bouvier convinces her mother to let her spend a year abroad studying in Paris. It is 1949 and Paris is still recovering. The family she is staying with was in the Resistance and the mother was captured and taken to Ravensbruck. Sometimes in the night Jacqueline hears screams from a nightmare but during the day Madame is calm, takes everything in stride and always wears bright colors. The apartment is cold in winter, hot in summer and this is the happiest year of Jackie's life. I haven't read anything about Jackie before but this small glimpse into her life makes me want to know more.

Thank you to Netgalley and Mariner Books for providing me with a digital copy.

Bravo!
I have read just about everything I could get my hands on pertaining to Jackie Kennedy since I was in high school. When I saw this book I had to read it! The author was kind enough to send me an egalley and I also was approved through NetGalley.
Mah does an excellent job of personifying young Jacqueline in her year abroad. She demonstrates how integral and influential it was on the future first lady. From honing her French to embracing the seasons of Paris, Jacqueline was really free to explore who she was and who she wanted to be during those precious few months.
I inhaled this book and wished it would have gone on for many more chapters.
May provides an in-depth bibliography so that readers can do further reading on Jackie and also Paris.
Lire un livre!

Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah writes about Jacqueline’s year in Paris and what happened there. Did Jacqueline find love and have to give it up because she couldn’t trust him.

Along with 35 other Smith College coeds, Jacqueline Bouvier (don't call her Jackie!) set sail for a study abroad program in 1949. Living with the Comtesse de Renty and her daughters in Paris, Jacqueline signed a pledge to speak only French—at all times—for her entire one-year stay.

In this well-researched novel written in Jacqueline's voice, the young student discovers a world of art and passion in France. Jacqueline's year abroad brings her new possibilities, other points of view, and a relationship with a man her mother would never deem suitable. It sparks her lifelong love affair with art, design, and all things French.

Despite the lack of central heating, ample food, and toilet paper, Jacqueline doesn't miss her suffocating home or her mother's tight control. She doesn't miss Mummy's constant reminders to marry a man with money, power, and political aspirations.

Which she eventually did… Years after her time in Paris, Jacqueline returned to France with her husband, President John F. Kennedy, on a state visit. The President introduced himself to a Paris crowd as "the man who accompanied Jackie Kennedy to Paris."

Heaps of books exist—fiction and non-fiction—on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I've read many of them. But this is the first I've come across focusing on her study-abroad year in Paris. And I loved it.

I can’t recall reading any other books set during the time immediately after WWII (they are usually during, aren't they?) and this one, set in the late 1940s has all kinds of historical details. It also provided a lovely escape to Paris! This is one of those books where the location is so well described you feel your there... or that they're one of the characters you're getting to know. Love when that happens.

I only just realized this is a historical fiction of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis during her year studying in Paris… Apparently Jacqueline Bouvier was her maiden name! Learn something new every day! ANYWAY, it’s charming and I enjoyed it, though it sometimes felt slow, as though not much was happening. Just having an escape to Paris from my couch on a Wednesday afternoon was nice!

Ann Mah brings readers a time period in Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy’s life that most have read very little about. The novel, set in Paris during the years following WWII portray a city that is struggling to return to normal. It’s a wonderful read for anyone needing a novel with a strong sense of time and place.

Jacqueline has persuaded her parents to allow her to spend the year studying abroad in Paris, where she will be immersed in learning the language. Mah imagines how Jackie’s experience might have been and how it molded her into the woman she became.

I loved the story and seeing a side of Jackie that I had no knowledge of. Most of us relate to her as a grieving wife and mother, but in this book, we see the young Jackie who is trying to find her way in the world and does not want to be molded into the person her controlling mother wants her to be.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to give my honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

I really liked the idea behind Jacqueline in Paris. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is such a legendary figure, it’s fascinating to think about the fact that she was once a bright-eyed young woman who fell in love without pretensions or expectations for more. And I get what it was trying to do in exploring her foundation, and how postwar Paris and her youthful love affair influenced the woman she became.

But, the book still falls a bit short, and I feel in some ways, the issue is entirely due to my own subjective perception. I’m by no means a Kennedy or Jackie enthusiast, and while I know the basics (and some of the tawdry details of her subsequent relationships), I feel this is a book that required a more extensive connection to her full story for me to really understand. If I don’t know much beyond the superficial, can I really grasp the roots of her story? As such, I don’t feel this is a book that many can go into unless they have a strong grasp for Jackie’s full life story, as otherwise, it mainly feels like a story of a young woman in postwar Paris engaged in an ill-fated romance.

That’s not to say the research wasn’t well-done, as I did find myself captured by the landscape of Paris as Mah depicts it. But I saw no reason why this had to be Jackie’s story, specifically…there wasn’t enough for me as someone with only a passing connection to her life story to contextualize this narrative within what I knew about her already.

As such, while this isn’t a bad book, it just didn’t work for me. I would hesitate to recommend it, unless you’re well acquainted with Jackie Kennedy’s story.

Before she was Jackie Kennedy, she was just Jacqueline Bouvier.

France 1949, 20 year old Jacqueline Bouvier arrives in post-war Paris for a year abroad, avoiding her mother’s pressure for to get on with her future. With the political climate still teetering, Jacqueline and her friends navigate student life in Paris while the country is still putting the broken pieces back together. There’s romance, there’s espionage, there’s betrayal. You’ll walk away from this book hoping that Jackie Kennedy really did live a year abroad that was this exhilarating. Well researched and rich in historic detail, Jacqueline in Paris is an enthralling guess at Jacqueline Bouvier’s year abroad before she became an American icon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars ⭐️

This book is an excellent fictional portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' college year spent is Paris. This historical accuracy is spot on, the characters are believable and I couldn't stop reading.

This fictionalized chronicle of Jacqueline Bouvier's junior year abroad in post-WWII Paris is one of my top books for 2022. During this period in 1949-50, the woman we know as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, lived with a French family and two other students and studied at the Sorbonne. The author brought to life each character and the surroundings and even included a bit of intrigue. While I am a Jackie aficionado, this well researched book would also appeal to anyone interested in the time period, Paris, and Europe shortly after the war. In "The Author's Note," which I referred to more than once as I read the book, Ann Mah explains in detail how thoroughly she researched the subjects and how she attempted to portray them as accurately as possible. I also recommend that anyone who reads this book look up the June 2019 NY Times article by Ann Mah, "A Year in Paris That Transformed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis," which includes photos and locations mentioned in the book.