Title: The Paris DeceptionAuthor: Bryn Turnball
Published by: MIRA on May 30, 2023
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 464
Format: Paperback
Source: Kaye Publicity
Book Rating: 9/10
From internationally bestselling author Bryn Turnbull comes a breathtaking novel about art theft and forgery in Nazi-occupied Paris, and two brave women who risk their lives rescuing looted masterpieces from Nazi destruction.
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?
Review:
Atmospheric, alluring, and rich!
The Paris Deception is a vivid, engaging tale set in France during WWII that takes you into the life of Sophie Dix, a young art restorer who, after fleeing the rising Nazi rule in Germany, uses her position, knowledge, contacts, and help from her estranged, widowed sister-in-law Fabienne Brandt to help save and secure as much art as possible from the Jeu de Plume museum in Paris by creating forgeries and smuggling as many pieces as possible into hiding at the expense of her own safety and all those around her.
The prose is charged and tense. The characters are resilient, brave, and endearing. And the plot is a poignant tale about life, loss, family, secrets, desperation, danger, tragedy, grief, friendship, art, romance, and the horrors and hardships of war.
Overall, The Paris Deception is an immersive, captivating, informative tale by Turnbull inspired by real-life events that sweeps you away to another time and place and does an exceptional job of reminding you that survival and resistance of any form takes enormous strength, exceptional sacrifice, and unimaginable courage.
This novel is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to Kaye Publicity for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Bryn Turnball
Bryn Turnbull is an internationally bestselling author of historical fiction. Equipped with a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of St. Andrews, a Master of Professional Communication from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from McGill University, Bryn focuses on finding stories of women lost within the cracks of the historical record.
Her debut novel, The Woman Before Wallis, was named one of the top ten bestselling works of Canadian fiction for 2020 and became an international bestseller. Her second, The Last Grand Duchess, came out in February 2022 and spent eight weeks on the Globe & Mail and Toronto Star bestseller lists. Her third novel, The Paris Deception, comes out in May 2023.
Photo courtesy of Author's Website.
