The Storyteller of Casablanca

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I enjoyed this one a lot. Books set during war times usually are not my jam, but the setting of Casablanca intrigued me. The author did a good job with the setting in both timelines. That said, I far preferred Josie's sections of the book. I just didn't feel like Zoe was a very likable character. The other little niggle I had was the twist at the end. It felt thrown in for a shock moment, and I honestly just didn't see the point.

One Book. Two Stories. Both Compelling. This is a story with a LOT going on and a LOT of intricacies that it seems most (at least those on Goodreads so far, about 5 weeks before publication) miss out on touching on. This is effectively both a historical fiction (which I think it will ultimately be marketed as) of a young Jewish girl in WWII who leaves a diary behind (where does that ring a bell? ;) ) and a modern day psychological drama. Valpy does a remarkable job of bringing a sensuous and visceral understanding of both periods of Casablanca and Morocco, and both periods and their relevant issues - WWII / Nazis / Resistance / Operation Torch and modern shipping conglomerates / expats / refugees / immigrants - are shown in a degree of realism not often seen. Truly, either story could have been expanded a bit more - perhaps by extending out the later chapters of both - and stood equally well as standalone books. Which is high praise, as few dual timeline historical fiction books can pull this off, in my own reading experience at least. Truly a remarkable book, and very much recommended.