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iRail is a route planner for train journeys for your iPhone. Enter the departure and destination...
Sygic Europe - GPS Navigation
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Whether you are travelling, commuting to work, or driving professionally Sygic GPS Navigation is...
The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World
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A visionary exploration of the life and times of Joseph Conrad, his turbulent age of globalization...
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Polskie Marki 2.0
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"Polskie Marki 2.0 to taka ulepszona Pola, z wygodnym dla użytkownika wpisywaniem konkretnego...
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Zomato lets you search for and discover restaurants to eat out at or order in from. Browse through...
Sing, Memory
8.0
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A Polish musician, a Jewish conductor, a secret choir, and the rescue of a trove of music from the...
ClareR (5975 KP) rated Appointment in Paris in Books
Sep 17, 2025
This is the second book in The Harry Fox/ Stella Fry series (well, I hope it’s going to be a series!), and set a year after the first book, Midnight in Vienna. War looms ever closer: Poland has fallen, Amsterdam, Belgium and France are next on Hitler’s occupation list.
When a German officer is found dead at a top secret POW camp in a former stately home, and one of the German Listeners goes missing, the worry is that vital information will fall into the wrong hands. Enter Maxwell Knight, Harry’s former MI5 handler. He wants Harry to find the missing listener, and hands the job of the murder investigation over to Stella.
Stella goes undercover as a listener at Trent Park - her fluent German once again proving its worth. She’s a determined, astute, intelligent woman.
I was a little puzzled as I read, as to why the title is “Appointment in Paris”, because most of this book takes place between London and Trent Park. You just need to be patient, though. And then you’ll be back on the edge of your seat.
The attention to detail is what really makes this book: the preparations for war, the blackout, the fear of the refugees, the jazz clubs. Every now and again, a real person form that time is mentioned (Agatha Christie and Noël Coward).
I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t read the first in this series - YET!! But I WILL be! I really like the characters of Harry and Stella, and I’d love to experience their war with them. So I’ll be watching out for the next instalment!
Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Zookeeper's Wife (2017) in Movies
Nov 24, 2017 (Updated Nov 24, 2017)
Dr. Jan Zabinski was the director of the Warsaw Zoo in the 1930's, and along with his wife Antonina and young son, they ensured the safety and care of animals in the area. Their life came to an abrupt halt with the German invasion of Poland in 1939, when most of their animals and structures were destroyed in the bombings and siege of the city. The zoo was closed under German occupation, but the Zabinskis continued to occupy the villa, and the zoo itself was used first as a pig farm and subsequently as a fur farm. All the while, Dr Zabinski smuggled Jewish people out of the Warsaw Ghetto and aided their way out of city, not before allowing them to stay in their own house. He was injured while fighting in the Polish resistance, but the couple were given an honorary title by Yad Vashem (Israel's official memorial for Jewish victims of the Holocaust) for their brave efforts.
Similar in the vein of films such as @Schindler's List (1993), there is an element of a saviour complex in these films, but unlike Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winner, it is less extravagant and less well-made, as there was very little engagement with the Jewish characters - focusing more on Antonina, played by Jessica Chastain. It is definitely heart-wrenching watching films based on the holocaust, and there were scenes I had to turn away from, such as when an elderly woman and her mother were shot dead in the streets by soldiers. The script and cinematography weren't at a high standard, however, and as a result the film definitely fell short. I would suggest reading the book @The Zookeeper's Wife - it has far more detail than the film, in which there were glaringly obvious plot holes.
Esprit - new styles daily!
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Simplify your (fashion) life: no matter whether you are looking for the perfect dress for the party...
Box of Frogs: Memoirs of a Canoeing Cyclist
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In 2015, Iain Hollis embarked on a 4,000 mile solo cycling adventure around Europe. Medically...