Wow...powerful plus! One of my favourite reads lately.

Yes "The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris" by Daisy Wood is set in WW2, is a dual timeline story and involves a bookshop....all of which I seem have read alot of in the last year or two, being a historical fiction fan.

There was a little of 'I wish I could reinvent myself and live in Paris' which locked me into the current day character Juliette, but it wasn't long before I was rivetted to the bigger picture and deeper storyline of Jacques and his bookshop Le Page Cachee, in which he plays a dangerous cat and mouse game with Nazi Germans who are based in and are cleansing Paris of Jews.

The intertwining of the dual storeylines is captivating....of course I guessed there would a connection and enjoyed the challenge of pieceing together the relationships before the end....the very end really, when all is revealed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Daisy Wood for my copy.

This is one of the books that makes me curse review sites that force you into giving stars. For me it isn’t quite five as I give those so very rarely, but it’s far better than the four I’m going to be forced to give.
This is such a skilfully told tale of resistance in wartime Paris with a main character, Jacques, you can root for and cry for, so wonderfully brave and flawed is he. A bookseller who is slow to join the underground movement fighting the Nazis, the plight of Jewish children in particular means he has no option but to help.
Meanwhile in the present day, American Juliette walks away from her unfaithful husband during a holiday in Paris, at first because she simply does not want to go home. She has family history to research but when she finds an empty, dusty bookshop she wonders if she can bring it to life again.
If you love Second World War dual timeline romances this is definitely one of the better ones I’ve read and I heartily recommend it.

This story moves back and forth between the present time when an American woman stays behind in Paris after learning her husband has had an affair and WWII with the Nazi invasion of Paris. In the present the woman finds a square she thinks is connected to her French grandmother. She buys a bookshop and works at restoring it. In WWII Paris the bookshop owner's wife is arrested and she leaves for Provence. Her husband begans resistence himself hiding people in a secret room. He is caught.

As the shop is restored in the present time the room is found and discoveries about the woman's grandmother are revealed. And there is just a touch of romance.

I do enjoy reading books by this author and this one kept me captivated too.

I thought that the dual timeline was fabulous and I enjoyed the stories set in both eras were lovely.

I usually learn something new from a historical fiction story but this one was just a story, but one I thoroughly enjoyed.

I really enjoyed this book. It flips between Paris during WWIi and the present day. In the present, Juilette and her husband are coming to the end of a supposedly romantic break in Paris. However, she opts to stay in Paris while he returns to America after she discovers his infidelity. Discovering Paris alone, Juliette finds a small shop for sale and discovers close links to her own part. It was easy to read and I loved the descriptions of Paris but couldn't find sympathy with her husband and children I'm afraid. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this lovely book.

I enjoyed reading this book. I especially liked reading about the bookstore in the dual timeline of past and present.

What a powerful read ! Both in characters and information. The pull of the story just can’t be ignored.
Jacques and Mathilde are beautiful, their kindness knows no bounds. Where Mathilde can be reckless and causes great worry for Jacques even after she moves out to safety, he slowly finds himself more eager to help which gradually puts him more under the watchful eye of the Germans. Also being in a bookshop where he has to mix with the public, can he really trust them all?
In current time we have Juliette trying to locate a beautiful square which is on a picture she inherited from her grandmother. When on holiday from the States with her husband Kevin she thinks she has located it, this leads to her deciding to stay on in Paris alone which leads to more discoveries, not only about the picture but about herself. Engrossing.

Great historical fiction with many connections to what happened in real life in the Second World War. A modern woman discovers the secret past of her grandmother and friends. Action, tension and some romance. Very readable.

When I first picked this up I thought , not another WW2 story but once I got started I found myself involved in the dual storylines. One is current about Juliette, an American on holiday in Paris with her husband who she’s just discovered is having an affair. As her children are adults she decides to stay on in Paris when her husband returns home. The historical timeline is set in Paris during WW2 and follows Jacques and his wife Mathilde. Jacques runs a bookshop and both become involved in the resistance.
I enjoyed both parts of the novel. The romance between Juliette and Nico is probably a bit obvious and unnecessary but I did think the bringing together of the past and present was well done as it fell together in a neat ending. My second book by Daisy Wood and another good read.

The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris is written very cleverly as a dual timeline story.
The main characters are engaging with plenty of intrigue and choices to be made.
Juliette and her husband are on holiday in Paris, she stays behind to create a new life for herself, following his deception.
The reader is taken on an adventure with Juliette as she searches for answers from her grandmother’s past. She meets people who will help form the beginning of her new store, The Forgotten Bookshop.
The storyline moves between Paris in World War 2, including the people and the bookshop that Juliette is now making her own.
The author weaves the dual timeline extremely well. The dangers of Jacque running his treasured bookstore at the beginning of the war, connecting the two timelines and Juliette's hard work in cleaning up the store, once owned by Jacque!
The connection between present and past is discovered and the history of her grandmother.

Thanks so much to the publisher, NetGalley and author for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentray copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This was a lovely, heartwrenching tale set in the 1940s in the past with Jacques as our main character and in the present with Juliet, in Paris. Jacques and Mathilde were married on the fateful day that war broke out and they are hopeful in the beginning that things would not change, but their hopes are quickly dashed when Mathilde relaizes how evil Hitler and his followers are. She asks Jacques to support her work with the resistance, and as much as he worries for his wife's safety, he supports her; they agreethey if they get separated, they will meet at the statue in town on their anniversary every year. Mathilde's work with the resistance leads her to have to leave town and eventually to being arrested and then going missing. Jacques continues work in his bookshop and tries to maintain the semblance of normality. An SS officer has made it a habit to frequent the bookshop and considers himself Jacques' friend and he gives Jacques a warning that he cannot help but heed.

In the present, Juliet and her husband, Kevin, are in Paris on a long wanted vacation (for her). The vacation ends with only Kevin going back to the US. Juliet decides she has to stay and try to sort out her life alone. As we watch Juliet try to find a new life, she eventually decides to open a bookstore, she feels fate is urging her to do so, based upon a painting that her Paris born grandmother kept in her bedroom and her gut feelings.

I read this book quickly, as it really kept my interest and I was anxious to read the outcome of the lives of the main characters. I would definitely recommend it and I will be watching for more books by this author.

I was initially drawn to this book my some of my favorite things to read about - WWII, PARIS, and a BOOKSHOP. This was a very enjoyable dual timeline story that turned out to be a fairly quick read. Just lovely! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader's copy of this book exchange for an honest review

A fabulous dual timeline story about a small bookshop in Paris. You can just imagine the look and smell of that bookshop throughout the story. Such emotions have been felt about that bookshop over the years. Heartwarming and heartbreaking to read about people's hopes and dreams and the bookshop. An emotional read.

“He will call his shop La Page Cachée - The Hidden Page - because he knows the magic that is to be found within the covers of a book.”

This is the second historical fiction novel I’ve read by Daisy Wood. The beginning was a bit slow for me - I found myself thinking, how many WW2 stories can be told, where a granddaughter tries to find out her grandmother’s story? But while it may be overdone, it’s the kind of story that I really like.

1940 - Jaques owns La Page Cachée, a bookshop in Paris. He is newly married to Mathilde, who becomes involved in the resistance and has to go into hiding.

2022 - Juliette finds herself in Paris with a desire to find out more about her grandmother who recently passed away - all she knows about Mémé’s childhood is that she grew up in Paris. She rents an apartment above the abandoned bookshop. Through some locals that she meets she tries to discover what she can about her family’s past.

I loved how the bookshop played a big role in the past and present storylines. And I always love a story set in Paris.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Avon Books for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is available now.

This is the second novel I have read by Daisy Wood that I liked immensely. Coincidentally it is the second novel she has written for an adult readership, and the second which takes place during World War II, the first one, The Clockmaker’s Wife, located in London, this one in Paris. However different the books are, my review is much of the same.
Here is a compelling story, likeable characters, exciting events, interesting dual-time period connected stories and the setting was well-drawn. When people talk about books being “unputdownable”, well this one was for me. Unfortunately I still had to do some fairly important things, like eat for instance, otherwise that word would have been literal. I enjoyed this book so much that I was sorry when it ended, and that doesn’t happen very often. I must mention again how so likable and well-depicted the main characters are, one will feel like their friends had their unspoiled lives torn apart by the war.

Also the explanations in the author’s note including a short history and a sensitive explanation of roundup of Jews in France provided an excellent clarification for readers unfamiliar with the situation in France at the time.

My only negative remark is that Juliette, the primary character in the modern timeline who was born and raised in the United States in our lifetime uses a lot of Britishisms, a couple for which this Canadian did a simultaneous translation e.g. Camiknickers =teddy (lingerie), knickers = panties, to let = to rent, until the wiring is “sorted”, an American would more likely use “fixed”, etc. Her mother, although she says she was born in France, was brought to the U.S. as an infant and would have learned English in the U.S.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the the ARC of this book. I can’t wait for No. 3.

This was a lovely saga set during the invasion of France due the Second World War. It showed how the French helped each other during this very difficult time. It was a dual time-line and was easy to read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I so wanted to enjoy this book but sadly never connected with any of the main characters. I found Juilette just unbelievable. Fine to leave the marriage but to not return to the US to at least pack up your life and collect belongings just didn't seem real. I appreciate in the modern world much can be done online but "paperwork" still exists and to be able to purchase a business in France without a long-term address in the country and perhaps only her passport as evidence of her identity didn't seem right.

Equally I found the characters set in WW2 to be wishy-washy and how they got away with what they did for so long seemed an unrealistic miracle. Gathering up children like they were stray cats and dogs on the street didn't seem accurate. To keep the bookshop running at all when people didn't have money to buy basics like food also seemed unlikely.

I persevered to the end but sadly it is not a title I would recommend to others.

‘He will call his shop La Page Cachée - The Hidden Page - because he knows the magic that is to be found within the covers of a book.’

The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris is the second book I have read by Daisy and I absolutely loved it! To have a combination of Paris, WWII and a bookshop in past and present timelines was wonderful. There is a love of literature woven throughout and setting up a bookstore in Paris is a dream for many. With themes of love, war and betrayals, it all comes together for a riveting read.

‘Bookstores and libraries were her spiritual home, so quiet and calm and full of knowledge - and now here was the ghost of a bookstore on her doorstep.’

The two past and present storylines meld together in a surprising mystery. Included are the tragedies of WWII with the Nazi occupation of Paris and Daisy does a superb job of telling not only the love story of Jacque and Mathilde but also his evolution throughout this experience. The contemporary tale, whilst a well worn trope of marriage breakdown and moving to a new country for rediscovery is well used, with the addition of setting up a bookstore and discovering family heritage, Daisy does a solid job of it. All up is a poignant tale told from many aspects with engaging characters and tribulations to overcome.

‘All my life, I’ve been making decisions based on what other people wanted.This adventure is just for me. Is that selfish? Maybe, but I don’t want to wake up in thirty years’ time and realise I’ve wasted my life. We only get one shot–might as well make the most of it.’

My only wish would have been more focus on the unfolding of the family mystery as opposed to the setting up of the bookstore in Paris. The story came to a close quickly, whereas I wished to be immersed in the discovery for longer. The two timelines weave together well with the historical narrative being slightly stronger - I really appreciated the evolution of Jacque’s character and the risks taken as being part of the French Resistance.

‘Books were his livelihood, his passion, his raison d’être; how could he allow them to be destroyed? He had already accepted so much humiliation from the Nazis but this was a step too far.’

The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris is a story of love and courage, sacrifice and surrender. It’s a tale of heartbreak and hope as the two lead characters from both timelines are on a journey of self discovery. I highly recommend it as I found it a moving and memorable story.

‘Here’s to you and The Forgotten Bookshop. May she soon be remembered.’







This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

I enjoyed the story. An amazing tale of the present discovering the past. A story filled with bravery and sacrifice in war time.
But it was also full of contemporary people taking control of their own life and destiny.
The author made it all seem so real that the reader felt attached to the characters.
Thank you Daisy Wood for being this to us and thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This was a lovely book. I really enjoyed reading it and had to finish it in one day. The story line was so wonderfully and easy to connect with and follow. It definitely kept my attention throughout. It was also thrilling, exciting, heartwarming and heartbreaking. The characters were amazing and worked really well allowing me to form great connections with them. I also loved how lifelike and believable they were. It was certainly well wrote and flowed really well creating a real page turning novel. I loved the theme of this book trying to save Jewish children it definitely took you on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The author did a wonderful job at creating such a fantastic sense of atmosphere and tension that felt so fitting for its genre. I definitely recommend reading this ww2 historical fiction novel I'm sure you won't be able to put it down. 

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a wonderful story. I will definitely be looking out for more great books from this author. 
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