For not being a fan of art, I really loved this book! I loved the plot to hide the art from the Germans; this was a new angle of WWII historical fiction that I haven't read much about!

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Bryn Turnbull has turned her skill to WW2 fiction, and we are the lucky beneficiaries of her talents! THE PARIS DECEPTION is a gripping, page-turning read that explores the Nazi regime's obsession with purity not only in genetics but also in the world of art, and how two women embark on a plot of forgery and art heists to save priceless treasures. Turnbull's research into art conservation and even champagne making is exacting and richly detailed, and woven seamlessly into the story so the reader is intrigued but never feels lectured. Add in two delightfully human protagonists, Sophie and Fabienne, and you have a cracking good story.

On a personal note, I LOVE how two women are at the center of this plot to outsmart the Reich. In the beginning, Sophie is told that her job is to make babies for the Third Reich, which she soundly rejects. She's described as smart and a bit overweight; she prefers women to men, and she has a backbone of steel. Fabienne is the rebellious painter who ran to Paris in pursuit of her art and found love; now she carries guilt and grief for the loss of her husband (Sophie's brother). Two unlikely allies, both willing to risk everything.

This is my second book by this author and she's quickly moving herself into autobuy territory!

Thank you to the publisher, Harper Collins Canada, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

With the German occupation of Paris, a commission is appointed at the Jeu de Paume museum to hold the valuable works of art looted from Jewish families who have fled France. Sophie, who fled Stuttgart years ago with her brother to make Paris her new home, reluctantly accepts a position to restore damaged art. But the Nazis have declared modern art to be ‘degenerate’, which means those pieces are likely going to be destroyed. Determined to save these paintings, Sophie reaches out to her estranged sister in law Fabienne, a skilled painter, and the two women set out on a mission to rescue these artworks by replacing them with forgeries.

I read a book by this author for the first time last year, The Last Grand Duchess, and it was such an amazing read that I’d been on the lookout for her next book ever since. WWII historical fiction is a known genre for me, and the subject matter around which this book revolves is actually something I was familiar with.

I’d read a little about how so many works of art went missing during this time period along with the work of the Monuments Men, having looked it up when I first picked up The Night Portrait. But this book went into much more detail about the description of the artworks and the technique and effort it took to create forgeries skilled enough to fool the Germans, which made it a really interesting read. The Paris Deception was a great portrayal of how people resisted the Nazi regime in their own silent ways without necessarily being on the frontlines. It was such an informative read too, and it’s evident how much research must have gone into this.

This book was very well written and despite the focus being on the stolen art, it didn’t forget to show the human side of these struggles too, weaving several side plots into the main storyline. It was fast-paced throughout which made it an easy book to get through and one that was very hard to put down too!

The story also had a lot of flashbacks from both Sophie and Fabienne’s perspectives which was a good idea, but it wasn’t implemented in the best manner. The way they were interspersed in between the other chapters often disrupted the flow of the main storyline, especially as they didn’t seem to follow a pattern of present-past-present chapters as dual timeline novels usually do.

Sophie and Fabienne were both interesting characters and the author did a great job depicting the bond they forge as they work towards a common goal despite being estranged following the death of Sophie’s brother for which she blames Fabienne and her active involvement in the Resistance. Fabienne’s backstory was also well developed as it stretched beyond more than the art and involved her rocky relationship with her parents and the fiance she left behind to pursue her dreams in Paris, and how the war and its struggles reached their country estate too, if in a different manner and the family’s own way of aiding the Resistance.

The ending was a bit rushed in my opinion, and it was kind of disappointing as neither character really witnessed the end of the war with both in hiding. Fabienne’s arc atleast showed what she was doing in those last days, but Sophie’s arc pretty much just jumped to the end. Still, it wrapped up everything well, and the epilogue was a nice touch. Don’t miss the author’s note at the end, it’s worth a read and describes which parts of the book were historically accurate.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to see what the author’s next book will be about. The Paris Deception was a solid historical fiction read and I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.

If you enjoyed The Winemaker’s Daughter or Woman On Fire, you will want to pick up this book inspired by the true story set in Paris and the Champagne region during WW2.

The real life inspiration for this book is Rose Valland who was a French art historian, member of the French Resistance, who secretly recorded details of the Nazi plundering of National French and private Jewish-owned art from France; and saved thousands of works of art at the Jeu de Paume in Museum. She is a minor character in this book as author Bryn Trumbull creates two wonderful women characters, Sophie and Fabieene, who she fictionalizes as also being part of the Resistance. Sophie is an art restorer and Fabienne is a painter - they share a painful past but join forces to try to save art and fight the Nazis in their own unique ways.

It took me a while to get into the story but by the middle I was invested in these characters and their mission.

Like all sorties about WW2 and the Nazis, this is a sad story with moments of utter misery and horror. I felt that Turnbull was sensitive with this subject and did not romanticize it.

Thank you to @harpercollinsca and @netgalley for an e-ARC of this book (published on 05/30/23).

The Paris Deception by Bryn Turnbull takes a different look at WW II. Here, two women risk their lives to save valuable artwork in Paris. It was interesting to see the measures taken to protect pieces of history. Fans of art and historical fiction will enjoy!

This was a well researched and written book about female friendship, resistance and art forgery during WWII as the Germans stole or burned priceless works of art deemed to be created by 'degenerates.'

Featuring Fabienne, a brave bohemian Parisian artist working to save the paintings she loves as well as her German born sister-in-law, Sophie, who struggles with her family's position in Nazi-ruled Germany who both want to resist the Nazis and save the art they love any way they can.

Great on audio narrated by Mary Jane Wells and recommended for fans of the movie The monuments men. Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Librofm for early digital and audio copies in exchange for my honest review!

If you love books about ordinary people overcoming great odds to make a difference against great evil, this is for you.
As the Nazi party takes Paris art restorer Sophie, who fled Germany years ago, decides she can’t sit by and let them destroy the art they don’t approve of. With the help of her sister in law they will work to safeguard the integrity and history of art from those who would erase it.
I loved this book from page one until the last. Another great book about a niche corner of WW2 that I did not know much about.
Thank you to @brynturnbullwrites @netgalley and @harlequinbooks for letting me have a copy of this book to review. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA, for the free e-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this story about how the masterpiece paintings were protected by the French during the Nazi occupation of WWII! When Hitler's Nazi party was starting in Germany, Sophie Dix and her brother, Dietrich, fled Germany for France. Presently, Dietrich has passed and Sophie is an art restorer. Although estranged from Dietrich's wife, Fabienne, Sophie seeks out her sister-in-law, a talented artist, to help her work on a dangerous mission of protecting the paintings of France right under the noses of their Nazi occupiers.

This is an unusual story of WWII that is very enjoyable. The characters are well developed and their background is as engaging and as it is interesting. The book begins with a slow burn in the building up of the story to some very suspenseful moments with very dangerous and infamous Nazis.

Highly recommend for historical fiction and WWII interest!!!

#TheParisDeception #NetGalley

What I love most about WWII fiction is the the knowledge I gain about how wide spread the resistance to Nazi Germany was, from the Dutch assassins to those in Austria smuggling Jewish children out of Vienna, to the hero’s of The Paris Deception who were determined to protect Jewish owned artwork. The wide scope of those trying to do something, anything, to impinge upon Hitlers atrocities, all while having to have a front row seat, is incredibly powerful.

Bryn Turnbull does a masterful job at researching and representing the danger these women put themselves in as they fought the Nazi’s the only way they could. The immense heartbreak they suffer while doing so, further illustrate that no one in Europe, with the exception of the Nazi’s themselves, were truly safe.

Thank you HTP Books and Harper Audio for the gifted copies.

The Paris Deception is a captivating and riveting story about two women trying to survive the horror of the second world war.

I love a good historical fiction book, and this book satisfied the historical itch that I’ve had lately. I am always amazed at how authors can find new and exciting ways to approach the second world war. In this case, Bryn brought the art world and the Nazi occupation together and created an interesting story. If you love art and art history, you will adore everything about this book. It was interesting seeing how Parisians fought to keep valuable artwork out of the hands of the Nazis. This secretive and quiet rebellion from some Parisians helped protect numerous artwork pieces from being destroyed by the Nazi Party.

Now I will let readers know that the beginning of this book is a bit slower paced, but when things start to pick up, you will find it hard to put down this book because you will need to know what will happen next. There were a lot of cloak-and-dagger moments in this book as Sophie and Fabienne worked together to replace the paintings at Sophie’s work with forgeries. There are moments in this book that will have you at the edge of your seat and get your heart racing. Both Sophie and Fabienne are wonderful and compelling characters. I always enjoy a character that just feels so real and raw, and Sophie and Fabienne check off those boxes.

The Paris Deception is a masterfully written story that you will not be able to put down.

You know I love a good historical fiction set during the wars. What you may not know is how interested I am in any storyline that references the theft of art from (mostly Jewish) individuals by the Nazis. I’m horrified by it but also fascinated by those who did everything they could to hide pieces, make lists of what was stolen, and tried to track the artwork down after the war. So, it was no surprise I was interested in reading The Paris Deception by Bryn Turnbull. I was fascinated from the start and the historical tale she told was entertaining and engaging.

Here’s the book’s description:
Sophie Dix fled Stuttgart with her brother as the Nazi regime gained power in Germany. Now, with her brother gone and her adopted home city of Paris conquered by the Reich, Sophie reluctantly accepts a position restoring damaged art at the Jeu de Paume museum under the supervision of the ERR—a German art commission using the museum as a repository for art they’ve looted from Jewish families.
Fabienne Brandt was a rising star in the Parisian bohemian arts movement until the Nazis put a stop to so-called “degenerate” modern art. Still mourning the loss of her firebrand husband, she’s resolved to muddle her way through the occupation in whatever way she can—until her estranged sister-in-law, Sophie, arrives at her door with a stolen painting in hand.


Soon the two women embark upon a plan to save Paris’s “degenerates,” working beneath the noses of Germany’s top art connoisseurs to replace the paintings in the Jeu de Paume with skillful forgeries—but how long can Sophie and Fabienne sustain their masterful illusion?
Sometimes dual narrative storylines bother me. Usually because one character doesn’t have as much to do with the story and it can seem obvious that the author is padding the novel because there isn’t enough historical detail to fully flesh out one character’s story. That wasn’t the case with this book. Sophie and Fabienne had very different roles to play even while they were working towards the same goal. They also had very different backgrounds which allowed the reader to gain a better understanding of what life would have been like during this time. Sophie’s past, especially, was eye-opening. I know it’s just fiction but I felt Turnbull was able to illustrate how it would have felt for anyone living in Germany as Hitler gained more and more power prior to the outbreak of World War II.

I must say that I don’t think I cared about the main characters as much as I think I was supposed to. I liked them and was rooting for them, of course. But I don’t know if I was particularly invested. I cared far more about the art and the work they were doing to save it. Was this a personal bias? Perhaps. This is a part of history that fascinates (and saddens) me. Maybe I was just too focused on that rather than making sure I was caring more about the characters.



As with many war novels, I found myself wondering what I would do if I found myself in Sophie or Fabienne’s positions. Would I have smuggled art out of a museum at the risk of my own life? Would those small acts of resistance been enough or would I, unlike the women in the book, have formally joined the Resistance? Would I have hid Jewish families in my home? Or would I have turned a blind eye and just tried to survive the Nazi occupation in my city? We all hope we’d be brave and on the right side of history (you know, the side where people weren’t being murdered for their beliefs), but we can’t really know. Not until we’re faced with that choice. It’s a sobering thing to think about and I’m glad authors like Turnbull write books that show the shades of grey that was just trying to survive the war. It’s not as black and white as our history books make it seem.

The Paris Deception was my first Bryn Turnbull novel but it certainly won’t be my last. She’s a talented author with a knack for finding interesting parts of history to write about. Lovers of art and historical fiction should think about checking this one out.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Interesting read! I didn't know a lot about the art part of WWII so I found it interesting. The writing was engaging, and kept me turning the page! Highly recommend!

Beautifully written and well researched. I could not put it down. The story was a fascinating take on ww2 art history.

The Paris Deception by Bryn Turnbull is a must read if you like WW II historical fiction books. This is an entertaining story of two women who risk their lives saving artwork. It is set in Paris during WW II and all that goes with that! It is a very well written story and paced just right. The two main characters are well developed and stoing. Ms. Turnbull is a very talented author and shows the deep pain they both endure. A very interesting story with romance, danger, family, secrets, and a lot of tension! If you like a WW II historical fiction based on actual events, I highly recommend this one.

Thank you NetGalley, MIRA, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Bryn Turnbull for this thrilling story to read and review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
#netgalley #mira #harlequintradepublishing. #brynturnbull #theparisdeception. #arc
#htpinfluencer

Based on my review, the library at my college has chosen to purchase this book for lending to our students. The historical relevance will make it useful for potential reading material in student discussion groups, and extracurricular reading for our students.

Turnbull is a successful Canadian author of historical fiction novels. Her previous two works are "The Last Grand Duchess" and "The Woman Before Wallis". This new release is another in that same genre. Set in WWII France we meet Sophie, an art restorer who had fled Germany to escape Nazi rule, only to be caught under them again in Paris. Fabienne was married to Sophie's brother and because Sophie blamed Fabienne for his death by the Nazis, they are estranged. Sophie works at a museum where the Nazis are storing the art they consider degenerate. Knowing much of it will probably be destroyed she hatches a plot with Fabienne (who is an artist) to reproduce the works and replace them with forgeries, hiding away the originals until after the war. While the basis for this plot is fictional, some of the characters were real people as was the widespread theft & destruction of art. The story includes some romance, family drama and violence. It is a good recommendation for fans of the genre.

Wow! This book blew me away. I am speechless. An excellent WWII historical fiction novel that kept me on the edge of my seat, and educated me on the art theft that occurred during the Nazi occupation in France. This gorgeously written historical thriller was amazing. It was absolutely lovely! Think Kate Quinn or Michelle Moran - that level of quality of writing. There are so many WWII historical fiction books in the market nowadays, but this one stands out from the rest because of its unique subject and the wonderful atmosphere of the novel. Every phrase was poetry, and the descriptions were so vivid it was like I was there. In short, it was unputdownable.
This book was everything I had been wanting and missing. Excellent dialogue, solid world building, an independent, likeable heroine romance. I just savored each page and was very sorry when it ended. I will definitely be buying this book in print! TEN STARS!

This novel is familiar in the ways it presents Nazi atrocities during WW2, and in that regard is not remarkable. But, its art-centric focus interested me and it was heartening to root for the characters who represented the brave French residents who fought to preserve the country’s cultural heritage.

The author did a wonderful job creating a seemingly accurate sense of time and place. I felt lime I was there, in Paris, living through the frightening period the book presented. I found the characters inspirational, and the subject interesting, but much of the novel felt too achingly familiar. I am not faulting the author for this, but those of us who enjoy historical fiction have been presented with a glut of “ Nazi novels” in recent years. So, while I enjoyed aspects of this book, I cant say I found it memorable.

Sophie and Fabienne are sisters-in-law estranged by grief. In Nazi-occupied Paris, the widowed Fabienne, an artist, eeks out an existence as a prostitute while Sophie works as an art restoration expert at the Jeu de Paume. The two women reunited over a shared desire to save plundered art work from destruction. Using Fabienne's skills, they replace the art with forgeries with the hope of someday returning the originals to their Jewish owners.

This book taught me so much. The Nazis tried to purge the world of Modern and Impressionist art because they considered it deviant and lacking proper German values. It's the same argument they used to justify murdering the Jews and others. Turnbull deftly draws the parallel by having Fabienne struggle to save her Jewish employers at the same time Sophie struggles to save the plundered art. It's marvelously done.

What I loved about this book was that Turnbull didn't pull punches when it came to her characters' fates. She wasn't afraid to show the danger the Resistance faced, nor was she afraid to show the Nazi's cruelty. The last third of the book had me glued to my chair. The ending reminds us that even the smallest piece of resistance makes a difference.

One more thing: Sophie and Fabienne make for great heroines. I love stories of ordinary people rising to extraordinary challenges.

This is an interesting fictional story about two women trying to save art the Nazis had stolen from being destroyed. Based on some actual people and events. Sophie and Fabienne are willing to do whatever it takes to save as much of the “degenerate art” they can. Forgery, an art heist and lots of secrets kept me turning the pages.