Jacqueline in Paris is a fictional account of Jacqueline Bouvier’s (née Kennedy Onassis) junior year abroad in Paris, told from her perspective. The year is 1949 and while America has moved on from WWII, Jacqueline is greeted by a city and a people that are still reeling from the effects of Hitler and his war. She is housed, along with two other girls from her program, with a family from the aristocracy that tries to keep its secrets from the past hidden from these American girls. Along the way she finds romance, and learns what Europe actually suffered during the war.

I wanted to love this book, but it was just ok for me. It is well researched, and the characters are based on real people, and some of the story lines are based on fact. But I felt that the characters were shallow. Even Jacqueline. Not knowing the details until reading the epilogue, this story could have starred anyone. Also, there were storylines that started then nothing. Like when she goes to her families ancestral village to find out about her family. That would have been an interesting plot to follow. One short conversation with a shop keeper and nil heard. It felt like parts were either edited out or not fully flushed out. Having been an exchange student, I was very interested in this plot, but alas, it couldn’t hold my attention and I kept reaching for another book. The writing was very good though, and I will read the author again.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Jacqueline in Paris reimagines Jacqueline’s junior year abroad, which later turns out to be her favorite year in her life and one of her greatest influences.

In August 1949, Jacqueline breaks away from the Vassar College in New York, which felt isolated and constrained. She is making her way to Paris as she craves to experience freedom and what Paris has to offer: experimental theater, modern dance, and love.

She boards with de Renty family. Soon after her arrival, she finds out that Madame de Renty with her husband were part of a spy ring during the war. Her husband died in prison and she managed to survive. In north Germany, in the women’s concentration camp of Ravensbruck, where very few survived. Jacqueline has a hard time imagining it as she knows Madame with a gentle voice and dressed in bright colors, but now, she recalls some cries in the morning hours.

After the war, the communists become the new enemy. Some start working as spies for the government again. Madame volunteers in assisting former deportees, who were deported from France to concentration camps. Her daughter is involved as well.

Jacqueline’s experience in Paris is probably much more that she has expected. From observing the post-war Europe, visiting Dachau in Germany, to experiencing different culture and mind-set especially when it came to communism, and falling in love.

Jacqueline meets John, who is an impoverished writer with poor prospects. He isn’t someone her parents would approve off. She feels pressure to make a brilliant match, which in her mother’s eyes is marrying a politician from D.C.

John’s good friend is an active communist, which is shocking to Jacqueline that people openly know about it until a friend of hers explains that communism is like another political party in France. It’s not a taboo like in America.

There is someone Jacqueline suspects might have used her to extract information about her friends, classmates, and professors, who might be a spy for the Communist party. Then, another’s erratic behavior makes her second guess. Was she being deceived by someone she trusted the most?

Drawing from the real lives, the story explores the emotional and private side of Jacqueline Bouvier. Before she became an American icon, she was very private and guarded.

It involves a time, when Europe is healing from the atrocities of WWII, raising itself from the rubble and bullet holes scarring the continent. A time, when people are grasping a new ideology, which feels threatening to some.

With luminous prose, wit, and respect the story offers suspense and romance, which are woven into a fast-paced story.

Source: ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com

I fell in love with Ann Mah’s writing when I read one of her previous novels, “The Lost Vintage,” so I was very excited at the prospect of reading her latest book, “Jacqueline in Paris.” I was not disappointed. With beautiful, lyrical prose, the author captures the lights, sounds and smells of Post War France through the eyes of Jacqueline Bouvier as a young debutante and college student spending a study year abroad in Paris from 1949 to 1950. The book discloses the deprivations still suffered all over Europe even 4 and 5 years after World War II ended, as well as the charged political climate where the threat of Soviet domination of France was an all too real threat before the Marshall Plan had time to take effect.

In September 1949, Jacqueline set sail for France with a group from Smith College to spend the year studying in Paris. She lives with the Comtesse de Renty, along with the Cometesse’s daughters, Claude and Ghislaine, Ghislaine’s son Christian, and two other American college students in an apartment in the 16th arrondissement where she commutes to school at the Sorbonne and Reid Hall. During this time, she meets interesting people, including Jack Marquand, with whom she has an affair in the book. In her free time between semesters, she tours parts of Europe, including Spain and Germany, where she tours the concentration camp, Dachau.

In addition to being historical fiction, the book is also a coming of age novel in which a young Jacqueline (as she was known during her Paris year), was exposed to different political, cultural and social points of view, allowing her to grow past her narrow world view which had been shaped by her social climbing mother. The novel was meticulously researched, immersing the reader in the nuances of Post War Europe, revealing a great deal about this little known aspect of European history.

This book will appeal to fans of historical fiction who enjoy beautiful prose with well-drawn characters who learn and grow throughout the narrative. I have to say that this was one of my favorite books so far this year. I hope that Ann Mah continues to write historical fiction, as I look forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you to Net Galley and Mariner Books to read the story of Jackie before she was Jackie Kennedy during her formative college year abroad in Paris. I thought interesting how it was written in Jackie's voice/dialogue and hearing her push and pull of what was expected from parents, marrying into the right family and the bit of rebellious Jackie. Her time and experience that year in college right after WW2 left a mark on her throughout the rest of her life when France and Germany and many other parts of Europe were trying to get out from underneath living through that terrible war. Highly recommend this book - give is a 4.5

*Publish date 9/27/22 - Thank you to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy!*

Ann Mah does a wonderful job of weaving the tale of a young Jacquline Bouvier (Kennedy Onasis) and her adventures in France during a year long study abroad program during the early 50s. It is always interesting to "peek behind the curtain" of famous/infamous families, and this is no different. Although fictionalized due to gaps in written and oral histories (as explained in the notes), the story was well told, well researched, and thoroughly enjoyable. I highly recommend this book!

Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah is an excellent historical fiction that highlights Jacqueline Bouvier and her year abroad in Paris during college. Just beautiful.

I have read several biographies of Jackie, and most included her year abroad in Paris while attending undergrad. I have never read any fictional accounts of this pivotal time in her life. This takes place in 1949, and here we see not only some of the foundational stones being set in regards to Jackie’s passions, loves, hopes, and dreams, but also the state of Paris itself post-WWII.

So many changes: personal, societal, political…and the author does an amazing job weaving fact and fiction to create a narrative that is just wonderful and truly memorable.

I truly adore this book and recommend it for any historical fiction fan and anyone that loves Jackie Kennedy.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Mariner Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 9/27/22.

I predict that Jacqueline in Paris will be one of the top 5 historical fiction novels in 2022. I've read a lot of historical fiction and this book provides a really unique perspective of the aftermath of WWII in Paris. And reading historical fiction where the primary character Is Jacqueline was also fascinating.

As you can learn from the title, this is about Jacqueline in post war Paris in 1949 as part of Vassar College abroad year. I know it was historical fiction and I enjoyed the authors notes about what she could piece together. I really enjoyed Jacqueline in Paris.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review Jacqueline in Paris: A Novel in exchange for an honest review. And also to the author Ann Mah and publisher Mariner Books Publication Date is Sept 27, 2022.

I loved so many things about this book. I’m not an expert in politics, but I have read other stories about Jackie Kennedy, dated after she was First Lady of the United States. I read Clint Hill’s book about his time protecting her (Secrer Service) and I was struck by her poise, dignity, and bravery, especially when it is in her nature to remain private and guarded.

Despite this being a work of fiction, it’s a brilliant masterpiece that is full of ideas and story to spark creative thinking and imagination. I loved diving into the world of a younger Jacqueline, one who was so committed to get every morsel she could out of her time in Paris. I loved her determination to become a scholar, despite pressures to be a debutant. Most of all, I loved that her year in Paris turned out to be a time where she learned important things about herself- what she wanted, what her future should like… decisions made my HER and not guided by others. I also loved how I felt like I could’ve been sitting alongside her, sipping champagne or coffee, attending a lecture or the theater.

Brilliantly done and so enjoyable. I was sad to see it end.

J’adore ce livre! This is a beautifully written book and though it is fiction, I felt like it gave a great insight to what life could have been like for Jackie Kennedy while she studied in Paris. You can tell how much research went into this book as well as the authors own admiration for the city of lights. I was completely immersed in the details and descriptions of Paris and felt like I was there.

I actually have not read any books based on Jackie’s life and did not realize her deep ties to France. I thoroughly enjoyed getting a glimpse of such a monumental female figure in our history and really connected with her as a person. I think many of us can relate to Jackie’s desire for freedom to be ourselves and the pursuit of our passions and all things love.

Check out this book in September! Thank you Mariner Books for the advanced copy of this book and Ann Mah for writing such a wonderful story! C’est magnifique!

A vivid and historically accurate depiction of Jacqueline Bouvier's time in Paris.

The author does a tremendous job of setting the scene and immersing the reader in the story world.

I particularly enjoyed the way she brings us into Jacqueline's innermost thoughts and feelings.

The historical research is detailed and multi-faceted and helps round out the story.

Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction.

This is a fictionalized Jacqueline Bouvier (or as we know her Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis). She is in the City of Lights. This takes place in 1949 Paris, in the aftermath of WW2, where she is exploring and experiencing Paris for the next year. She strikes up a romance with a writer. This is one of the best Historical Fiction books I have read this year.

This is a must for fans of both Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and lovers of Paris. Anne Mah captures the timeless beauty and soul of Paris remarkably (as she knows the city so well). She transports readers back to a different era, much of which is still recognizable to today’s visitors to the city. I could almost taste the food and champagne (Ann is a chef as well as a novelist)!
It was so intriguing to learn more about WWII and the aftermath in France, the deprivations that now seem so long ago but this is a sharp reminder of how close we are to war again with Russian aggression always a presence (as is presciently noted in this novel).
Make sure to read the author’s note which explains in detail her sources and more about fact vs. fiction in this dramatization of a very formative year in Jaqueline’s life.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
This book is fiction but based on real people and real events. Meticulous research informs the events in the book. I was not really aware of the political undercurrents embroiling France after WWII. There was much about Jackie's life that I was also unaware of. Really enjoyed the book.