PARIS ECHO

Narrating duo Elham Ehsas and Deborah McBride bring Faulks's newest historical fiction to life. The story is set in France during the Nazi occupation and in Tangier. Postdoctoral researcher Hannah investigates Parisian women's lives during WWII, and runaway Moroccan teenager Tariq searches for the mother he barely knew. As chapters alternate between the characters, McBride portrays Hannah with a bold tone and an American accent, and shifts gracefully to French when appropriate. Ehsas portrays Tariq in soft, sibilant tones that sound Moroccan-Arabic with a hint of French. The historical stories unfold side by side, with the present overlapping as 19-year-old Tariq and 30-something Hannah share a flat and embark on an affair. The stories of the past weave in and out of the present. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2018]