Title: The Storyteller of Casablanca
Author: Fiona Valpy
Release Date: September 21, 2021
Length: 315 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
****My Review****
The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy
The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy is a heartfelt and brilliant historical fiction novel that, at least for a short period, will transport you to Casablanca and make you feel a bunch of emotions while turning the pages…
Two young girls, a period of 70 years, one city, two different destinies, and one interesting story that will remain in your heart for quite a while.
First, the reader is taken in 1941, the beginning of World War II, in Morocco.
The country is a French territory and after the fall of France under the fascist boot of Germany, many things are changing in the French colonies.
Josie is a young teenager who, with her family, takes refuge in the exotic Casablanca on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, waiting for a ship that will take her and her family to America.
The days pass by waiting and Josie starts to identify herself with the city, the dusty streets, the warm sun, and the strange but interesting people, where time has stopped for a moment.
It suits Josie who tries to forget the troubles and lives a semi-normal life pretending that the war doesn’t reach her… Josie often thinks about life and the question “what if?”
And the ship hasn’t arrived yet…
Then the readers are transported in another period. 70 years later, young Zoe arrives in Casablanca and finds refuge in the city with her little daughter.
Zoe and her baby start a new life that will give Zoe time to think about her future steps. Furthermore her broken marriage, the consequences of her life steps so far, and the difficulties she faces as a stranger in a new environment are really starting to overwhelm her.
And while Zoe tries to adjust and start functioning in the new city and the new community/society, she slowly starts to get to know the city, the people, the alleys, the Kazbah, the society, and the social norms.
One day, while Zoe is redecorating her daughter’s room, she accidentally finds a wooden box full of someone’s memories under the floorboards in the room, and in it is a diary in which the stories, incidents, and dreams of young Josie will be recorded.
Through Josie’s diary, Zoe will begin to get to know the city that is so close and so different, the life destinies of the people of that time, and Casablanca of the ’40s under occupation.
Reading the written pages of young Josie, and looking out the window, Zoe can imagine those hard and stormy days filled with fear and hope.
But can those memories help Zoe to heal ? What actually happened to young Josie?
The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy is an excellent book about a fight for a better life, about dreams and hopes. The characters are very subtly but plastically formed and offer a dynamic book to think about.
Casablanca is one of the characters in the book and the writer has researched it very well to set the story in that beautiful city.
The author’s writing skills somehow reminded me of the forgotten smells and sounds of Casablanca. And made me a part of the written word of the book.
An excellent choice for all lovers of historical fiction, The Storyteller of Casablanca is a touching and captivating story that you won’t forget easily.