I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.  All opinions are my own. 

A young woman struggling through grief travels to Paris in search of herself in author Marianne C. Bohr’s “When Paris Whispers.”

The Synopsis

Twenty-two-year-old Catrine arrives in Paris, the city she’s dreamed of since childhood, and it speaks back-but not in ways she expected. Drifting through the streets of 1981 Paris, the voices of French writers she once read in solitude whisper back, intimate and insistent. Rather than reassure her, they unsettle her, exposing cracks in the person she believed herself to be.

When a brief romance ends in abrupt eviction, Catrine is left broke and unmoored, suspended between a city that won’t release her and a past she refuses to reclaim. An unlikely friendship with a widowed Sorbonne professor leads to an impulsive road trip to Normandy and everything begins to unravel. What follows is not the Paris she expected, but something more unsettling-and more honest.

Is the City of Light rescuing her, haunting her, or revealing something she’s been too afraid to see?

THE REVIEW

This was a well-rounded and compelling genre of fiction meets romance novel. With elements of contemporary women’s fiction and underlying elements of romance, the author does a wonderful job of world-building, making not only the city of Paris but France and other parts of the world come to life beautifully on the page through strong imagery and the author’s writing style. That imagery provided a depth of immersion that readers could easily get lost in.

This was a very character-driven narrative. While the supporting cast definitely helped lay a foundation for the reader to delve into the story, it was the protagonist and her personal journey that really helped the reader connect with the story’s themes and settings. Themes such as identity, the process of grieving, and the power that comes with starting over and following one’s dreams were elevated throughout the protagonist’s journey, keeping readers invested in every development.

THE VERDICT

Heartfelt, a whirlwind adventure, and engaging, author Marianne C Bohr’s “When Paris Whispers” is a must-read contemporary women’s fiction-meets-romance novel. Between the passionate relationship that the protagonist develops throughout the narrative, the relatable struggles of starting over in a new city and a new country, and the shocking twists and turns in the protagonist’s story as new discoveries and shocking revelations change her trajectory, made this novel one that readers will not be able to put down. If you have not yet, be sure to pre-order your copy of this novel today or get it when it releases this fall.

Rating: 10/10

About the Author

Marianne C. Bohr is a published author and award-winning essayist with a lifelong weakness for faraway places. A former travel blogger for The Huffington Post, she married her high school sweetheart-now her She wrote her first book, Gap Year Girl: A Baby Boomer Adventure Across 21 Countries, over the course of the yearlong sabbatical she and her husband took to explore Europe. It was published by She Writes Press in 2015. Kirkus Reviews said, “Bohr shines… providing glimpses of herself as a whole person, not simply a traveler. Gap Year Girl is an excellent choice…a travelogue filled with historic places, but its personal stories provide its highlights.” Marianne’s illustrated article on her gap year, The Year of Living Spontaneously, ran in Bethesda Magazine in 2013.

The author’s second book, The Twenty: One Woman’s Trek Across Corsica on the GR20, tells the story of hiking across the mountainous French island with her husband to celebrate their sixtieth birthdays.

Husband hike the 124-mile GR20, Europe’s toughest long-distance footpath. They find themselves confronted with universal themes: coming to terms with aging, surmounting physical limitations, and being kind to oneself along the way. The Twenty was published by She Writes Press in June 2023.

Marianne recently finished a coming-of-age novel, When Paris Whispers, which takes place in France. It will be published by Brother Mockingbird in September 2026.Several of her travel essays received Solas Awards from travel publisher, Travelers’ Tales, honoring excellence in travel writing. Me Llamo Mariana, an essay which celebrates the author’s Hispanic heritage, is included in Solamente en San Miguel 2017, an anthology about the extraordinary city of San Miguel De Allende, Mexico.

Marianne started her career working for the French National Railroad (the SNCF) in New York City, selling Eurail passes and mapping itineraries for travelers to Europe. She graduated from The College of the Holy Cross (Phi Beta Kappa); received her MBA from the University of Maryland; and earned a Masters in Secondary Education. Marianne lives in Park City, Utah, where after decades in publishing, and many years following her Francophile muse to teach middle school French, she skis, hikes, and writes-sometimes all in the same day.

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