Paris Echo
The Sunday Times Bestseller from the author of Birdsong
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3.9 • 28 Ratings
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
American academic Hannah and runaway Moroccan teenager Tariq have little in common, yet both find themselves haunted by the ghosts of Paris.
'Superb... Weaves winningly between the present and the Second World War, between Tangier and Paris' Observer
Hannah listens to the extraordinary witness of women living under the German Occupation of World War Two and finds a city bursting with clues, connections and past love affairs, while in the migrant suburbs Tariq is searching for a mother he barely knew. Urgent and deeply moving, Paris Echo asks how much we really need to know in order to live a valuable life.
'An exquisite book. Deeply affecting' Daily Mail
'Faulks is doing what he does best' The Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Faulks (A Week in December) immerses readers into a haunted Paris through the exhilarating stories of a teenage Moroccan immigrant and an American historian researching the experiences of women during the German occupation of WWII. Hannah spent a lonely year abroad as a college student in Paris, and as she reconnects to the city and her past two decades later she becomes overwhelmed by the combined despair of her subjects and her own lonely life. Meanwhile, Tariq, a 19-year-old runaway from Morocco, wants to live in Paris like his mother, who was born there and died when he was a young boy. A mutual friend introduces Tariq to Hannah, and she agrees to take him on as boarder. While Hannah listens to the voices of Parisian women through historic recordings that she struggles to understand, Tariq explores Paris and picks up part-time jobs around the Muslim district. One of his employers, an Algerian man, speaks with unschooled Tariq about the French-Algerian War, explaining how Tariq's half-Algerian mother's life fits in within the bloody history. As Tariq and Hannah become closer, he helps her translate the French witness testimonies, slowly creating a dependency and bond as the translation work becomes more involved. As the atrocities of war are unearthed, Hannah and Tariq both must reconsider their beliefs about democracy and the role of Paris within the war. Fans of Paula McClain and Ian McEwan will enjoy Faulks's touching tale of two Parisian visitors looking to reimagine their self-identities in a changing world.
Customer Reviews
Disappointing…
This is a rambling novel based around two one-dimensional characters that don’t really have much story to their lives. It never really develops either character or any meaningful story. Very disappointing given some of the author’s previous fine books.
Odd and confusing
Strange book unlike Faulk’s previous material. Some interesting aspects about Paris during the WW2 German occupation but character wise somewhat random.