The Paris Photo

The Paris Photo is a work of historical fiction set partially at the end of WWII, partially in the recent present, linked by a picture taken in Paris in 1945. Interweaving mystery, romance, and historical research, The Paris Photo is a story of how the traumas of wartime loss persist and ripple into the present.

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The story uncovers the story of Private Ben Gordon and his relationship with a young mother, Simone, and her son just after D-Day. The relationship between Ben and Simone is complicated by the horrific, unknown truth: Simone’s husband has been deported, and killed, in a concentration camp. Ben and Simone’s story takes place over two years, but decades later, it is stitched together by Ben’s daughter, Judith. She discovers an old box of photos and in it, a picture of her father in a Parisian home with two women and a young boy. The researcher in her is intrigued. Wishing to learn more about her father, she decides to see if she can find the boy. What she discovers is much than historical facts: Judith wonders if she is meant to pick up where her father left off, helping the boy—now a man—reconcile with his past, or at least help him enjoy what remains of his present. What begins as a curious interest develops into a close personal relationship.

 

The Paris Photo will appeal to all lovers of historical fiction, particularly those with an interest in WWII. It creates a vivid picture of life during the dark days of Occupation, as well as the contemporary city that carries scars from the war around almost every turn. It lifts characters out of the pages of a history book, untangling the human emotion that outlives history.