Publisher: Hachette Australia (Trade Paperback – 28 June 2023)
Series: Standalone
Length: 337 pages
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
One of Australia’s premier authors of historical fiction, the supremely talented Kelly Rimmer, returns with another moving and intense novel that dives into the horrors of World War II, The Paris Agent.
Over the last couple of years, I have been deeply impressed with the works of Kelly Rimmer, a well-established Australian author whose previous novels have been excellent historical dramas set during the Second World War. Rimmer’s books are pretty spectacular, as they masterfully blend powerful personal stories with intense depictions of key parts of the war, especially those involving the evils of the Nazi regime. Her last two books, The Warsaw Orphan (one of my favourite Australian books of 2021) and The German Wife (one of my favourite books and Australian books of 2022), were exceedingly moving, and I now make it a point to grab her new books each year. Her latest novel, The Paris Agent, presented the reader with an interesting new story, one that focuses on female espionage agents in occupied France.
Plot Synopsis:
Two otherwise ordinary women become spies in WWII France in this sweeping new novel of historical suspense by New York Times bestselling author Kelly Rimmer
Twenty-five years after the end of the war, ageing British SOE operative Noah Ainsworth is reflecting on the secret agent who saved his life when a mission went wrong during his perilous, exhilarating years in occupied France. He never knew her real name, nor whether she survived the war.
His daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers. What follows is the story of Fleur and Chloe, two otherwise ordinary women who in 1943 are called up by the SOE for deployment in France. Taking enormous risks with very little information or resources, the women have no idea they’re at the mercy of a double agent within their ranks who’s causing chaos.
As Charlotte’s search for answers continues, new suspicions are raised about the identity of the double agent, with unsettling clues pointing to her father.
This was another powerful and clever novel from Rimmer, who takes on another aspect of World War II and weaves together an outstanding story. The focus on Allied female spies being dropped into occupied France is a well-established and highly utilised topic in historical fiction and historical dramas, and Rimmer manages to produce a very distinctive read in The Paris Agent that I found very hard to put down.
To tell her story, Rimmer utilises an excellent multi-perspective narrative, with some interesting time differences also added in for each of the timelines. The first timeline, shown from the perspective of Charlotte, is set in 1970, and follows the protagonist’s attempts to find out more about her amnesic father’s activities during the war after she finds out he was a spy in France. The other two storylines focus on the characters of Fleur and Chloe respectively. Both characters were dropped into France at different points of the war to do their own specific missions, including committing sabotage and investigating reports that the local network had been compromised. These two past storylines are set across a couple of years in the war, with the two protagonists interacting with each other, and Chloe’s father, Noah, at various points, and together the three storylines wrap together to provide a complex and powerful narrative of espionage, personal relationships, and betrayal, all set in front of the brutal Nazi occupation of France.
All three stories are brought together throughout the course of The Paris Agent, and I liked the complex and intriguing narrative threads that emerged. The risks and sacrifices of the characters during the war are pretty intense, and the emotional connections that they make bring a compelling balance to the dark story elements of espionage and betrayal. The third storyline that focuses on Charlotte and her father is also very good, both on its own and for how it supports and enhances the other two plot lines. This more modern storyline gives some great hints at the tragedy to come in the other storylines, while also underlying further the cost that these intelligence agents had to make. The intriguing hints that Noah might have been a traitor responsible for terrible events is very compelling, and it is fascinating to see the impact that the war was still having on survivors like him.
The two storylines in the past eventually come together in the last quarter of the novel, and some of the compelling twists that come from this are moving and dark. The identity of the traitor, while not overly surprising, does have some major emotional heft to it, and you can’t help to despise the antagonist, especially as Charlotte’s storyline serves to underline all the terrible things they did. Both the Fleur and Chloe storylines end on a very tragic, if inspiring, note, and readers will come away from that exceedingly saddened but impressed by how well written these storylines were. I did think that the ending of the Charlotte storyline was a little weaker, mainly because it relied on a little too much on coincidence, and I think that the author left some intriguing story opportunities closed. Still, I really appreciated how cleanly and powerfully these three separate storylines came together, and it resulted in an overall exceptional read.
Rimmer utilises some intriguing writing elements to ensure her story is extra impactful. As I mentioned before, the use of multiple character perspectives and timelines was a major part of this book, and I was mostly happy with how that turned out. I must admit that I am not the biggest fan of historical novels that features a storyline where someone in the present day attempts to uncover family secrets, as frankly it is bit of a cliché at this point. However, I think that Rimmer did a good job here, as it was set far closer to the war, and the family secrets that the protagonist is trying to uncover are the result of amnesia, which is well balanced by the potential spy aspect. The rest of the story flows through extremely well as a result, and I loved how cleverly the separate wartime storylines interacted and enhanced each other, especially when it came to Noah’s connected story and the examination of the potential treachery.
However, one of the best things about The Paris Agent for me was the outstanding and deep portrayals of the Nazi occupation of France and the espionage efforts the Allies utilised in response. Rimmer always excels at diving into some of the darkest and most intriguing parts of World War II history, and The Paris Agent was another great example of this. The author provides some intriguing examinations of how the Nazis controlled France during the war, and Rimmer tries to showcase the occupation from several different sets of eyes in various French settings. However, the real focus of the book is on the intelligence networks that the Allies set up in France during the war and the missions they engaged in. This compelling part of the war is always rich ground for historical fiction authors, and I think that Rimmer’s take on it was particularly noteworthy. She really captures the intensity and dedication that these agents had, as well as the constant risk that they found themselves in. The focus and portrayal of tradecraft, intelligence gathering, and communication was very realistic, and I cannot emphasise how well each of the major spy protagonists were developed and featured throughout the book. Of course, as this is a Rimmer book, The Paris Agent does get very dark in places, mainly when it comes to the fate of captured spies and intelligence agents. Rimmer pulls no punches when it comes to how badly these prisoners were treated, nor when it comes to the terrible fates they experienced. The fact that many of the characters are based on real historical people makes parts of the book hit even harder, and you really won’t come away from The Paris Agent without a tear in your eye.
Kelly Rimmer continues to showcase why she is one of Australia’s best writers of intense and moving historical fiction. The Paris Agent was an excellent piece of historical drama that features a powerful and compelling story about spies, tragedy and betrayal. Cleverly written and guaranteed to stick with you long after you’ve finished reading it, The Paris Agent is an outstanding and highly recommend book that I am really glad I got to experience.
The Unseen Library 