The Paris Secret: A Novel

The Paris Secret is by Karen Swan. This book is based on the apartment they found in Paris which had been closed up during the last part of World War II and had never beenopened. When it was finally opened, it revealed a treasure trove of items which had been preserved in that apartment for seventy-five years. It was completely inventoriedand catalogued, much as it was in this novel. This novel takes the basic story and adds to it to make it Karen’s story.Flora Sykes works for Angus and his firm buying and selling and hunting down special art pieces for their clients. Flora is very good at finding the pieces they need and gettingthem at auction. However, in this case, Angus comes to her and sends her to Paris to go into an apartment his clients, Jacques and Lillian Vermeil, had just learned his parentshad owned for seventy-five years and by his Father and Mother’s requests, no family member was to enter the apartment until both Magda and her husband were dead. Unfortunately,Magda was still alive; so, they hired Angus and Flora to go into the apartment without them. When flora first enters the apartment, she notices the dust all over everything. Then,Her eyes fell on the multitude of paintings and art objects, including a stuffed ostrich, that filled the room. She knew immediately the security service they used would be immediatelyCalled. Among the paintings were ones by Renoir and other major painters. Where did they come from and did they have provenance? This is the job Flora is hired to do, find it? Can she do her jobWithout being distracted by the Vermeil’s son and daughter, Xavier and Natasha? Who can be trusted?The book is very good and is such fun to read and imagine myself helping to go through the entire museum

When art expert Flora Sykes is tasked to start inventorying the contents of a Paris apartment that’s been abandoned for seventy-three years, she sees at first only the highly valuable paintings and other art collectibles found there. But as she digs deeper into them and follows the path particularly of one long-lost Renoir, more and more secrets from the era of WW II come to light.The plot mixes the mystery of the closed apartment both with a devastating secret in Flora’s own family that she must deal with as she does her work and with the twists and turns of her professional and personal relationships with the family who owns the apartment. It is a mystery, historical fiction echoing facts from the time, and a romance, all in one.While the prose is often florid and overly descriptive, the story keeps moving in a highly engaging way to the ultimate reveal. It’s worth your time.

I really liked this book. Of course, you know there will be some romance, but this is so much more. I studied Art History and have followed the intrigue of determining the provenence of the pieces. The twists and turns are compelling. Plus, the intrigue of an apartment, locked and left - the perfect story to get lost in!

I enjoyed the research done, showing us the inside of the art world. That being said, the authors attempt to connect two story lines became a laborious read.

As always with Karen Swan books, I read The Paris Secret in one day and absolutely loved it. It might even be my favourite book by this author. Unlike many of her other leading ladies, Flora was easier to identify with and understand. I don't particualrly like insecure characters who don't know their worth so following the journey of this strong, independent woman was a delight. I won't go into the details of the underlying story line but I will say I enjoyed the mystery and the drama. The art world is fascinating and even more so when shrouded in secrecy. The only aspect of Karen Swan books that I dislike is the constant focus on brands. I knew the other has experience in fashion but I do think that the quality and stylishness of outfits and decorations can be described without reference to brand names and price tags. To my relief, the focus in this book was on art and not items of clothing so a lot more enjoyable. All in all, I strongly recommend this book and can't wait for the next one!

This is a compelling story of art found after 70 years in an unknown Paris apartment. There are a lot of secrets tied to the Nazis and World War II. There are the contemporary characters, A wealthy French family and a British art expert. There are a lot of lovely French details. I enjoyed thus and couldn't put it down.

This is the first book I've read by Karen Swan and it won't be my last. The scenes are well written and the characters full bodied. You can almost see the hidden garden, the beach, the car show, and the other scenes portrayed in the upmost detail. It certainly kept my interest to see how it would all turn out. I'm not normally a romance book reader and there was plenty to sink your teeth into that was about the mystery and not all about girl meets boy, girl rejects boy, boy wins girl over. What I enjoyed the most was that the author kept you on a string until the mystery was resolved. You weren't quite sure how it would all turn out until the end. Well worth your time and money.

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn’t as great as I was told it was. It was a good story, though.