The Storyteller of Casablanca by Fiona Valpy

Synopsis
Morocco, 1941. With France having fallen to Nazi occupation, twelve-year-old Josie has fled with her family to Casablanca, where they await safe passage to America. Life here is as intense as the sun, every sight, smell and sound overwhelming to the senses in a city filled with extraordinary characters. It’s a world away from the trouble back home―and Josie loves it.

Seventy years later, another new arrival in the intoxicating port city, Zoe, is struggling―with her marriage, her baby daughter and her new life as an expat in an unfamiliar place. But when she discovers a small wooden box and a diary from the 1940s beneath the floorboards of her daughter’s bedroom, Zoe enters the inner world of young Josie, who once looked out on the same view of the Atlantic Ocean, but who knew a very different Casablanca.

It’s not long before Zoe begins to see her adopted city through Josie’s eyes. But can a new perspective help her turn tragedy into hope, and find the comfort she needs to heal her broken heart?

Review
My last book review took me to the stunning location of Egypt, and here I am in another fabulous setting of Casablanca, but maybe not the Bogart and Bergman Casablanca. 1941, Josie and her family arrive in Casablanca after escaping the Nazi Occupied Paris, on their way to start a new life in America. 2010 sees Zoe, her baby daughter and husband Tom come to Casablanca with his job, but they are also looking for a new start. Both Josie and Zoe find themselves in a unfamiliar city, a place filled with extraordianry people, but whilst Josie adapts quite easily the same cannot be said for Zoe seventy years later, until she finds Josie’s journal and a box of her treasures under a floorboard in her daughter’s bedroom. As Zoe reads the journal she starts to see Casablanca in a different light, a place to explore, but can it also help heal her heart and marriage?

I am lucky enough to have read a couple of Fiona Valpy’s previous novels so I was excited to be part of the blog tour for her new book The Storyteller of Casablanca. The stories of Josie and Zoe may seem at first diverse, as they are of very different ages and of different time periods, but there are also many similarities. Josie, her older sister Annette and her parents arrive in Casablanca, escaping the Nazi occupation of Paris, hopefully on their way to America. Josie has a confidence about her, and a zest for life, making the most out of the situation. She makes friends with Felix, whom she met in the refugee camp when she first arrived in Casablanca, and with Nina, the housekeeper’s daughter. The three maybe from very different backgrounds, with different futures but they form a strong bond built over the love of books and stories. Zoe’s arrival in Casablanca is supposed to be a new start for her and husband Tom. There is obvioulsy trouble in their marraige which stems from an unknown event, but the trauma has caused her to develop OCD, with her constantly wanting to wash her hands, leaving them red and painful. Zoe also makes friends with other expat wives,and gives herself the project of making a quilt, to help her OCD and aslo to occupy her long days, but it is Josie’s story that gives her the momentum to see Casabalnca in a different light. Zoe feels a connection with Josie that sees her visit some of the same places and find out about Casablanca in the war years. The two storylines are compelling in their own right and I was completely immersed and invested in both of their lives, and yes at times it was heartbreaking, but there was also hope and optimism.

Fiona Valpy is a masterful storyteller, drawing the reader in, making them feel they are invested in the lives of her characters and having a wonderful way with words. Her historical research is always impeccable and I do love the inclusion of real factual characaters as well as those of her imagination; I certainly didn’t know that Josephine Baker helped with the resistance movement in Casablanca. Casablanca was a French colony so there was also german soldiers there, so it wasn’t a completely safe refugee for the Jewish community, but it was the first step on getting to America and safety. One of the imporant themes I took from this book was the importance of telling stories, to help build bridges, to keep old stories alive, to bring people together and to simply entertain and make people feel better, feel connected. I loved the idea of the Moroccan culture having designated storytellers in their communities, who would enact the stories they told adding to the drama, keeping the stories of they culture, the folklore alive for a new generation. Fiona Valpy also shows how these stories do not necessarily have to come from a book, but for centuries stories have been told though quilting, embroidery on scarves, clothing, and henna designs, dependent on culture. Also highlighted is the stories of refugees today, what they are running from, the problems they face and the slums they live in, it was hard to read in parts, but it is important to remember the plight of these people and the horrors they have seen, and their strength and the importance of who they are.

Fiona Valpy has written another stunning novel with The Storyteller of Casablanca. The stories of Josie and Zoe show how remarkable they were, in the face of adversity they kept going, and still managed to try and help others. The wonderful descriptions of Casablanca, the different areas of the city, the sights and smells, the fabulous food, and their culture were fascinating to read about, with the city becomaing a character in her own right. This really is a extraordinary story in all senses and one I highly recommend; immersive, engaging and breathtaking!!