The Lost Girls of Paris: A Novel

By the time Eleanor comes for her surprise inspection, Marie has been in training for six weeks. Like all the other trainees, she has learned how to operate a wireless radio, which sends and receives messages via Morse code. Because they are training for clandestine missions, the trainees also practice encoding messages using secret ciphers. As a precaution against people impersonating the agents, the SOE records each woman’s typing pattern, which is known as her “print.” Marie’s print is that she types “heavy on the first part of each word with a long pause between sentences” (82). They also give each agent security checks: personal codes that they must embed in each message. Each agent has two unique checks: one that may be given away to the enemy in case of capture—called the “bluff”—and one that must be protected even to death, known as the “true check.” Marie’s bluff is to type the letter p as the 35th letter in any message. Her true check is to use a letter k in place of a c every other time a c should appear.

On the day of Eleanor’s visit, she watches the group as Marie retakes a test on the wireless radio. Marie finishes her test, feeling proud of her work, and is surprised when Eleanor scolds her for “simply bang[ing]” on the machine rather than “speak[ing] naturally so that [her] first print comes through” (83). To test Marie, Eleanor disassembles the woman’s wireless radio, tossing the screws and bolts across the room, then demands that Marie repair the machine within 10 minutes.

Josie and a few of the other trainees help Marie repair the wireless. Afterward, Marie confronts Eleanor, who asserts that Marie lacks the motivation or passion to succeed. Eleanor offers Marie the chance to leave, and Marie is tempted. Wondering if Eleanor is testing her, Marie asks what she’ll be doing if she stays with the SOE. Eleanor confirms that her primary job would be to operate the wireless radio in France, providing a vital communication link between the saboteurs in the field and the headquarters in London. Eleanor also confirms that the job is dangerous and unpredictable, and that any of the agents “might be called on in dozens of other ways as well” (86).

Marie confesses to lying about her husband and reveals that he left when Tess was born. The two share a moment of understanding, and Marie begins to trust and respect Eleanor. The moment ends when Eleanor dismisses Marie, telling her to change and turn in her supplies before the car comes to pick her up. Marie meets Josie in their dormitory and admits that she is considering going home. Josie is being sent into the field although training isn’t quite complete. Marie is shocked. Josie encourages Marie to stay in training and help the “youngsters” who are just starting. Heartened by Josie’s spirit and feeling that she is part of something bigger than herself, Marie decides to stay.

Grace considers her next steps now that the suitcase has vanished from beneath the train station bench. She decided against leaving the photographs with the station’s lost-and-found because she feels a personal responsibility to find their owner and is deeply curious about the women in the pictures. Noticing a watermark on the photos for a studio in London, Grace plans to visit the British consulate the next day.

On her way home, Grace stops at a diner. The news is playing while she eats, and she watches a news story about the woman who was hit by a car outside the train station that morning. Grace is shocked to realize that the woman’s name was Eleanor Trigg, matching the chalked name of “Trigg” on the mysterious suitcase.

A month after Eleanor’s visit and Josie’s departure, Marie is at an airfield in England, preparing to deploy to France. She now feels deeply dedicated to her training and her fellow trainees. Eleanor reminds Marie to pay attention to the newspapers and local gossip to glean important. Marie will use the alias “Renee Demare” while she is in France. She will pretend to be a French shopgirl from the town of Épernay. This part of France is controlled by a German officer named Hans Kriegler, the head of the German Intelligence agency; he is known for his cruel, ruthless tactics. Eleanor instructs Marie that if she is captured, she must withstand torture for 48 hours in order to give her fellow agents time to recover from her loss and move out of the area.

Marie will work as a radio operator in the Vesper network, one of the regional SOE operations. Vesper is the code name for the agent who commands the SOE in that area of France. The Vesper network is very important because it includes Paris, along with key areas that the Allied forces will need to cross when they invade France. The goal of the SOE operations is to clear the way for the Allied forces.

Marie’s wireless radio will be delivered to her separately. Just before Marie boards the plane, Eleanor takes away Marie’s butterfly locket and promises Marie to keep it safe, then gives Marie a necklace that hides a cyanide pill. A young pilot named Will flies Marie to France and directs her to walk through a forest to a train station, where there will be a bicycle for her. He senses her fear and expresses regret that he can’t come with her to help her.

Even through her fear, Marie is struck by the familiar smells and sights of the French countryside, where she spent much of her childhood. A man surprises Marie in the dark woods, and she fears that she has already been caught and briefly wonders whether she should take her cyanide pill, but the gruff man quickly indicates that he is a friend. He grabs her elbow and roughly directs her to a garden shed. He locks her in and tells her to be quiet and wait for morning. Angry and afraid, Marie spends an uncomfortable night alone in the shed. She will later discover that this man is Vesper and that his real name is Julian.

The next morning, Grace is still reeling at the news of Eleanor’s death and feels deeply invested in the mystery of the suitcase. She calls the police station, hoping to discover if a family member or travel companion has claimed Eleanor’s suitcase. She learns that the police are still looking for Eleanor’s next-of-kin and do not have her bag.

Next, Grace goes to the British consulate. The employee working the front desk dismisses Grace’s request to speak to someone about Eleanor. Grace hesitates to leave the photos at the consulate and decides to leave. On the way out, she runs into the consul himself and persuades him to speak with her. Grace learns that Eleanor worked for SOE, although the consul is under the (false) impression that Eleanor’s role was a clerical one. The consul theorizes that the photos depict nurses who worked for the British government. The consul reveals that the SOE records were sent to the American War Department and are being stored in Washington, DC. He consul asks Grace to leave the photos with him, but she refuses.

On the street outside the consulate, Grace encounters Mark again and feels awkward because she never expected to see him again. Mark asks her to lunch and persists even after she turns him down, so she finally agrees to have a coffee with him. She tells Mark about the photographs, and he offers to help with her search. Mark is a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and says he has a contact at the War Department and is familiar with the SOE. Grace hesitantly agrees to take the next day off work and meet Mark in Washington, D.C. so that he can help her research.