Books from France

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Allies establish the International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany, to investigate Nazi crimes and help families discover the fates of millions of missing and displaced people. In 1990, Irène, a young Frenchwoman who has moved to Germany after marrying a German man, begins working at the institution. Meticulous and deeply committed to her work, she gradually becomes absorbed in the stories preserved within its archives. Years later, she is entrusted with returning thousands of personal belongings confiscated from concentration camp prisoners. A cloth doll, a medallion, and an embroidered handkerchief become clues to the identities of their former owners and the families they left behind. As Irène follows these traces across Europe, she uncovers stories of persecution, complicity, survival, and loss, while confronting the troubling silences surrounding Germany’s wartime past. Weaving together individual lives and collective memory, Gaëlle Nohant’s moving historical novel explores the enduring consequences of the Holocaust and the power of remembrance to restore dignity to those history has nearly erased.

How does a man implicated in one of history’s greatest atrocities reinvent himself as an innocent bystander? In 1969, Albert Speer—Hitler’s favourite architect and Minister of Armaments—publishes his memoirs, presenting himself as the “good Nazi” who knew nothing about the Holocaust. His carefully constructed narrative helps him escape the full weight of his responsibility and become a bestselling author. But behind this image lies a history of ambition, complicity, and calculated self-deception. Blending historical research with literary fiction, Jean-Noël Orengo reconstructs Speer’s rise, his proximity to Hitler, and his postwar reinvention. The result is a disturbing exploration of how powerful people manipulate memory, reshape their identities, and make fiction more seductive than truth. In an age of competing narratives, the novel asks who gets to control the story of the past.

When Nazi Germany invades Paris in 1940, eleven-year-old Safiyyah’s peaceful life at the Grand Mosque of Paris is transformed by fear and uncertainty. Her Jewish best friend has fled the city, German soldiers patrol the streets, and Safiyyah struggles to understand the growing injustice around her. When her father is arrested for his secret Resistance activities, she discovers that the adults she trusts are involved in something far more dangerous than she imagined. Determined to fight back, Safiyyah begins carrying messages across occupied Paris. Soon, the mosque becomes a refuge for persecuted Jewish people, and Safiyyah faces her greatest challenge yet: navigating the dangerous underground passages beneath the city to help lead them to safety. Inspired by the little-known history of the Grand Mosque of Paris and its role in helping Jews escape Nazi persecution, Safiyyah’s War brings a neglected chapter of the Second World War to life through the eyes of a courageous young Muslim girl. It is a moving story of friendship, compassion, and ordinary people risking everything to protect others.

As the Second World War threatens to engulf Europe, Selva, the daughter of a prominent Ottoman family, falls in love with Rafael Alfandari, a young Jewish man. Their relationship defies the expectations of both families, forcing them to leave Turkey and begin a new life together in France. But when the Nazis occupy the country, their happiness is overshadowed by the growing danger facing Jewish communities across Europe. As persecution intensifies, Selva and Rafael find themselves trapped in a hostile world where their love and their young family may not be enough to keep them safe. Meanwhile, Turkish diplomats work behind the scenes to rescue Jewish people stranded in occupied Europe, arranging a perilous journey towards freedom. With time running out, the fate of Selva and Rafael becomes intertwined with the courage of those willing to risk their lives to save strangers. Moving between Ankara, Istanbul, Paris, and other wartime cities, Last Train to Istanbul combines an intimate family story with a little-known chapter of Holocaust history. Inspired by accounts of Turkish diplomats who helped rescue Jews during the war, the novel explores love across cultural boundaries, moral courage, and the extraordinary acts of humanity that can emerge in the darkest times.

France, 1963. Following repeated attempts to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle, a militant organisation determined to overthrow him hires a professional killer known only by his codename: the Jackal. Brilliant, meticulous, and almost impossible to identify, the assassin begins preparing an elaborate plan to kill the French president. He obtains false identities, arranges specialised equipment, and carefully studies the security measures surrounding his target. When French intelligence discovers the conspiracy, the authorities launch a desperate hunt for the unknown assassin. Commissaire Claude Lebel, a methodical detective with an exceptional ability to follow small clues, is assigned to lead the investigation. As the Jackal moves closer to his target, Lebel must navigate political pressure, bureaucratic obstacles, and a trail of deception stretching across Europe. Combining painstaking procedural detail with relentless suspense, The Day of the Jackal explores the deadly intersection of political extremism, state security, and individual ambition. Frederick Forsyth transforms a fictional assassination plot into a gripping contest between two professionals, each determined to outwit the other before time runs out.