All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio - Resehlved Books

Hello Dewey Readers! 

My next book club pick is Sarah Jio's latest novel All the Flowers in Paris, which I just finished last night.  All I can say is wow.  

The novel follows two parallel story lines set in Paris, one in the present day and one during WWII.

Present Day: Caroline is riding a bike when a truck is coming towards her with no intention of stopping.  She has to make a quick decision to either run into the truck or run

into a mother and young child.  She chooses the truck and wakes up in a hospital with her memory as to who she is completely erased.  As she begins to search for who she is, in the back of her apartment she find letters written by a woman dating back to WWII. 

The Past: Celine's husband passed away before she was able to tell him that she was expecting their first child. He was hit by a truck while riding his bike home to her.  As the Nazis begin to occupy Paris, her family is singled out. The yellow star of David is painted on her father's florist shop, and the man she has now fallen in love with has gone away as a resitance officer.  One day he sends a note with a hidden message warning of danger.  Things then begin to unravel as evil creeps in and disrupts their once quiet lives.    

While I've read books that flip between the present day and the past, I haven't read a book where they story lines were so close and parallel, yet distinctly their own.  I think a lot of historical fiction novels seem total place during WWII, and because of this they came become overdone.  However, Jio's take is fresh and exciting, which leads me to give it a For the Love of Dewey rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

Until the next read!

~Jessica