Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah #bookreview #audiobook #backlistreview

Thank you Mariner Books, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Jacqueline in Paris in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.

Publisher: Mariner Books / Harper Audio

Published: September 27, 2022

 

Summary:

From the bestselling author of The Lost Vintage, a rare and dazzling portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier’s college year abroad in postwar Paris, an intimate and electrifying story of love and betrayal, and the coming-of-age of an American icon – before the world knew her as Jackie.

In August 1949 Jacqueline Bouvier arrives in postwar Paris to begin her junior year abroad. She’s twenty years old, socially poised but financially precarious, and all too aware of her mother’s expectations that she make a brilliant match. Before relenting to family pressure, she has one year to herself far away from sleepy Vassar College and the rigid social circles of New York, a year to explore and absorb the luminous beauty of the City of Light. Jacqueline is immediately catapulted into an intoxicating new world of champagne and châteaux, art and avant-garde theater, cafés and jazz clubs. She strikes up a romance with a talented young writer who shares her love of literature and passion for culture – even though her mother would think him most unsuitable.

But beneath the glitter and rush, France is a fragile place still haunted by the Occupation. Jacqueline lives in a rambling apartment with a widowed countess and her daughters, all of whom suffered as part of the French Resistance just a few years before. In the aftermath of World War II, Paris has become a nest of spies, and suspicion, deception, and betrayal lurk around every corner. Jacqueline is stunned to watch the rise of communism – anathema in America, but an active movement in France – never guessing she is witnessing the beginning of the political environment that will shape the rest of her life—and that of her future husband.

Evocative, sensitive, and rich in historic detail, Jacqueline in Paris portrays the origin story of an American icon. Ann Mah brilliantly imagines the intellectual and aesthetic awakening of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, and illuminates how France would prove to be her one true love, and one of the greatest influences on her life.

 

My thoughts:

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis so of course I had to read this book. This book is based on real events of Jackie Kennedy’s year abroad studying in Paris and I loved the blending of fact and fiction here to tell such an engrossing story of one of my favorite people.

While I did feel this book is a bit slow at times, I did love that it allowed me to feel as if I was there in Paris alongside Jacqueline. Mah imagines what Jackie’s experience would have been like in Paris and how it helped shape her life into the person we all came to know and love. In this book, we see her trying to break away from her domineering parents, trying to find her own way in the world. This isn’t a time in her life I have read about and I loved being able to get this insight.

If you enjoy historical fiction, especially about Paris and about Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis, I definitely suggest picking this one up if you haven’t already.

 

Audio thoughts:

This book was fantastic on audio. The narrator, Caroline Hewitt, did an amazing job with the accents and voices, giving the story an added dimension that greatly enhanced my listening experience.

 

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