The Paris Agent

Kelly Rimmer’s The Paris Agent: A Gripping Tale of Family Secrets (2023) is a work of historical fiction. Inspired by the lives of British spies Violette Szabo and Diana Rowden, The Paris Agent alternates between two sets of characters in the 1940s and the 1970s to explore the ethical boundaries of espionage and the long-term ramifications of World War II for surviving operatives and their families.

Kelly Rimmer is known for writing historically accurate novels and has gained recognition as an author who thoughtfully and carefully presents her subject matter. Her previous texts, The Things We Cannot Say (2019) and The Warsaw Orphan (2021), highlight the experiences of marginalized figures in 1940s Poland. The Paris Agent primarily takes place in France and England, but it exhibits the same level of historical accuracy and continues Rimmer’s pattern of crafting fast-paced historical thrillers.

This guide refers to the 2023 Kindle edition.

Content Warning: The book contains graphic descriptions of physical abuse, torture, and violent death. There are also references to infertility and death by suicide.

Plot Summary

In 1970, Charlotte Ainsworth’s mother, Geraldine, has recently died. Charlotte seeks to comfort her father, Noah, by encouraging him to pursue a passion project. At the end of World War II, Noah received a head injury that caused amnesia. Charlotte is shocked to learn that her mechanic father was actually a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent. He is determined to find Remy, the agent who took him to the hospital during that time so that he can thank him and ask for answers. Charlotte seeks the help of a local history professor, Professor Read, whose life’s work has been to record the histories of SOE operatives. He connects them with a helpful family historian named Theo. Noah is something of an elusive celebrity for SOE scholars, who have spent decades searching for him. Professor Read has sent many letters, and Noah and Charlotte wonder why they have not come across these letters. As they dive into the mystery of the SOE agents’ identities, the search uncovers truths about two female agents, Josie (code name Chloe) and Eloise (code name Fleur), who were deployed by the SOE in France.

The novel shifts to the perspectives of Josie and Eloise during World War II to convey their backgrounds, their motivations for joining the SOE, and their experiences of the war. Despite receiving only three months of specialized training, both women have succeeded enough to be tasked with very essential roles. Josie is sent to a village in France to infiltrate a factory that will soon be converted to a German munitions factory. She is ecstatic to discover that her paired agent is Noah (code name Marcel), with whom she once shared an intense journey that bonded them forever. The first time they worked together in Paris, Noah was dating his future wife, Geraldine. This time, Noah is single. At first, Josie is determined to maintain professional boundaries, but living together in forced proximity while maintaining the appearance of husband and wife leads them to fall in love. After successfully destroying the factory, they are separated for their next mission.

Eloise is sent to Rouen and Paris, where she aids a group of connections and operatives who are plagued by increasing numbers of arrests. She was motivated to join the SOE after her pilot husband was shot down in North Africa. She left her toddler son Hughie with her mother, with whom she only recently rekindled a relationship, and set off for France, determined to make a better world for her child and avenge her husband’s death. Soon, Eloise is horrified to learn of a double agent in the upper echelons of the SOE and tries to uncover this person’s identity.

In 1970, Charlotte and Theo dive deeper into the mysteries of the war years. Charlotte is determined to help the adopted Theo learn about his parents, whom he suspects were SOE agents. They track down Josie’s birth certificate and find her mother, Drusilla. Drusilla was visited by Josie’s superior, Mr. Turner, and told that Josie’s mistakes led to her death.

The novel shifts back to the operatives’ perspectives during the war. Eloise saves injured Noah’s life by hiding him in a barn after they encounter a German roadblock. She fights off the Germans for half an hour before she runs out of ammunition and is taken prisoner. She and Josie eventually become cellmates; they have both been arrested and tortured, and they fear what awaits them. They are cautiously optimistic when told that they will be transferred to a work farm, but they are soon horrified to discover that they have been sent to a concentration camp to be executed by lethal injection. Eloise dies thinking of her son, and Josie dies screaming for France.

Noah, Charlotte, Theo, Drusilla, and Professor Read gather together and pool their information. It is revealed that Theo is Eloise’s son, and that Mr. Turner, Josie’s superior, was the double agent who compromised Josie and Eloise’s safety. Noah and Drusilla gain closure about Josie’s death. Years later, Charlotte and Theo have fallen in love and plan to marry, and Noah finds solace in volunteering at the animal shelter.