The Lost Song of Paris

Author/Guide: Sarah Steele

Why a Booktrail?

1941, 1997: Inspired by real events in WW2 Paris

ISBN: 978-1472294289
Genre: Historical, Inspired by true events

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What you need to know before your trail

1941. Darkness descends over London as the sirens begin to howl and the bombs rain down. Devastation seeps from every crack of the city. In the midst of all the chaos is a woman gripping a window ledge on the first floor of a Baker Street hotel. She is perched, ready to jump. And as flames rise around her, she is forced to take her chances.

1997. Amy Novak has lost the two great loves in her life: her husband, Michael, and her first love, music. With the first anniversary of Michael’s death approaching, Amy buries herself in her job as an archivist. And when a newly declassified file lands on her desk, she is astonished to uncover proof that ‘Agent Colette’ existed – a name spoken only in whispers; an identity so secret that it has never been verified.

Her discovery leads her to MI6 ‘godmother’ Verity Cooper – a woman with secrets of her own – and on to the streets of Paris where she will uncover a story of unimaginable choices, extraordinary courage and a love that will defy even the darkest days of World War Two . . .

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Travel Guide

Paris, England and the real life inspirations

Hotel Lutetia, Paris

The author writes that the scenes in the hotel were largely taken from fact. She visited Paris and the hotel. Outside crowds would gather below the chestnut trees in the hope of seeing their loved ones amongst the emaciated figures returning from concentration camps. There is a small plaque outside the hotel as a memory to that time.

There are a few real-life people in the novel who get walk-on parts such as Stewart Menzies who was a real Chief of Mi6 and Francois Mitterand whose flight into France by Lysander is recorded at RAF Tangmere. Sabine in the book who works for the Red Cross was based on the freedom fighter Sabine Segoin who helped liberate Chartes.

England

Whaddon Hall in the novel is now a block of appartments but if you walk past the church at Whaddon and Windy Ridge you will see where the wireless huts used to be. The short film Amy and Eleaor watch of agents at Whaddon Hall can be found her.