The Lost Girls of Paris: A Novel

Marie’s necklace is a “tiny locket shaped like a butterfly on a simple gold chain” (62), and Marie first receives it when her daughter, Tess, is born. At the beginning of the novel, as Marie trains with the SOE and deploys to France, the necklace symbolizes her love for Tess, which is also her motivation for joining SOE. More broadly, the necklace symbolizes the love and home life that everyone is fighting to protect. The presence of the locket is therefore a reminder of The Strength of Wartime Bonds.

When Marie leaves for France, she must leave the necklace behind because it does not look like a necklace a French woman would have. This is a difficult decision, as the necklace—“the one bit of her old life that Marie had held on to these lonely months of training” (101)—is intertwined with her sense of identity and purpose. In relinquishing it to Eleanor, she fears she is leaving those things behind forever, but Eleanor’s response proves that this is not the case: “‘I’ll keep it safe for you,’ Eleanor said, her voice sounding as though she was talking about something much larger” (101). In this exchange, the symbol evolves to demonstrate the respect that Eleanor has for the sacrifices of her agents. As Eleanor upholds her promise to keep the necklace safe, her dedication underscores the purpose that is derived from the human connection that she shares with all of her agents, as well as the way that connection keeps alive the memory of other bonds that the war has interrupted.