Paris, ostensibly the most beautiful city in the world, has a checkered past. During the German occupation in World War II, many Parisians collaborated with the Nazis. Sarah Jio’s ALL THE FLOWERS IN PARIS is about a French family with Jewish ancestry that is "outed" by a neighbor, and a woman in modern Paris who loses her memory and must find out who she is and why she was basically a recluse before the accident that caused her memory loss. What she finds hidden in her lovely apartment gives her a mystery to solve, and by doing so, she obtains closure not only for the long-ago Parisian family, but also for herself.

In the first chapter, Jio gives us a tiny glimpse of Caroline before she has the accident that causes her to lose her memory. But that peek into her life brings more mystery than facts, and it's that tantalizing bit of information that causes readers to wonder throughout the book until the pieces all fit together. The second chapter introduces Céline, a widow with an eight-year-old daughter named Cosi. Céline lives in Paris with her father, who also is widowed. His mother was Jewish, but they consider themselves French. He has a flower shop, and Céline helps him there.

"Filled with emotion and wonderfully written, ALL THE FLOWERS IN PARIS shows that love transcends age and that sometimes, out of the mouths of babes, great truths are spoken."

Céline is being courted by a childhood friend, Luc. His mother, who owns the famous restaurant Jeanty, does not approve of their romance as she believes he could do much better than a widow who has a daughter and a father who is a shopkeeper. But Luc adores both Céline and Cosi.

The ramifications of the war, the Nazi hatred of Jews, and Céline's Jewish grandmother all lead to the eventual targeting of Céline's family, and the results are described in horrifying detail. At the same time, we read about Caroline and her search for truth. She is trying to find out more about her own life, and what she learns is disheartening. She also is determined to solve the mystery of what she finds in her apartment, which involves a bit of serendipity. The closure she needs from the past might just be found in present-day Paris.

The setting almost becomes a third main character in the story. We walk through Paris and see it through the eyes of the two women who love it. In fact, often we see the same streets 66 years apart as the ladies, who live on the same street, travel the city.

In some ways, the two stories --- seemingly independent --- mirror each other. And the conclusion is where Jio brilliantly brings these tales together. Filled with emotion and wonderfully written, ALL THE FLOWERS IN PARIS shows that love transcends age and that sometimes, out of the mouths of babes, great truths are spoken.