The Last Bookshop In Prague is a beautifully written historical novel during the time of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia during World War II. The bookshop in question is run by Jana who lives with her widowed father and is determined to keep books available to the residents of Prague especially when the Nazis ban them. The shop becomes a meeting point for women whose husbands are away fighting the Germans and for the resistance movement to which Jana belongs. The horrors of being occupied and the dangers encountered when Jana helps young Jewish refugees are realistic and the research involved is lightly but effectively handled in the narrative. Highly recommended for fans of 20th century historical fiction. Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres, so I jumped at the chance to read Helen Parusel’s latest book. Jana owns a bookshop and is also secretly involved with the resistance whilst working as a part-time cleaner at one of the German headquarters in Prague.

Helen’s writing provides intrigue, whilst showing empathy for the characters she writes about. Many books set during WWII are based on true events, and this is no exception. I love learning about events that took place during the war, how people dealt with horrific situations and how resilient they had to become.

Resistance, bookshop, wartime, secret codes - I just knew this was going to be a book I’d love!

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for the opportunity to read and review The Last Bookshop in Prague by Helen Parusel.

Jana lives with her widowed father above their bookshop in the city of Prague which is, at the start of the story, under German occupation. With certain books banned, Jana is determined to maintain interest in her bookshop and so organises a book club where local women have a safe place to get together but with her shop being watched, Jana is placing herself in great danger especially when she sees what is happening within the Jewish community.

This is such a beautifully described story which brings this dangerous period in European history alive in a really special way. I enjoyed getting to know more about a period in WWII history which I didn’t know very much about and which is brought to life so vividly. Desperately sad in places, this story reiterates the stoicism and bravery of those European communities who suffered so much during this dangerous time in world history.

The Last Bookshop in Prague combines everything I love in skilful historical fiction, the chance to learn something new about a moment in time and to have a story with one of the main characters being a bookshop. With a strong sense of time and place, The Last Bookshop in Prague, is a story which stays with you long after the last page is turned.

In this fascinating and powerful World War II historical fiction novel, readers live in a bookshop in Prague where Jana, the owner, fights back against the Nazi occupation in her own way. From banned book clubs, cover signals in bookmark displays, and hiding secret code in books and bookmarks, Jana uses her shop to help the local resistance in every way she can. Two unexpected patrons -- a young Jewish boy and a fascist police captain -- turn Jana’s life and resistance activities upside down and make her question everything, especially who she can trust. As the occupation grows and the German control over Prague becomes tighter, everything is more dangerous for Jana and her allies and the bookshop becomes a last haven for the survivors. With a fascinating cast of characters, Jana is a brilliant and capable protagonist with her heart in the right place, and the other characters help bring out her strength over the course of the novel. Focusing on the city life under occupation and the underground resistance rather than battles, Parusel brings the contributions of women like Jana and her allies to life in striking historical detail in this complex, enjoyable, and brilliant World War II historical fiction novel.

I absolutely loved this book, it was well written and good storyline. Highly recommend! I have never read a book by this author before but definitely would after reading this book.

The story revolves around Jana and her father. They have a bookshop they are trying to keep open during the invasion of the Germans.
Jana decides to join the resistance against the Germans.
The authors portrayal of a German occupied country during the war was very informative.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Set in Prague under the control of the Germans, Jena runs her bookshop, taking down titles no longer 'acceptable', she lives with her father who makes puppets, they, too, have to change to become Germanic girls and boys, blond hair, dirndl skirts and lederhosen. To make ends meet she cleans at the local German Headquarters and turns to helping the résistance. She has fears as to whom she can trust - her 'wannabe' boyfriend, the local policeman, her friends of the slightly clandestine book club? She has issues of conscience too. Well-written and the reader certainly gets the feeling of danger and horror of occupation. A well researched book including the Red Cross being hood winked about the Jewish camp with the face showing a happy, well fed community compared with what was going on at the back door. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This book touched my soul.

Jana is kind and gentle but she wants to help the resistance against the Nazis , she doesn't hestitate.

It is a little slow. I needed the pace to be a bit faster but I loved the characters, I loved the atmosphere and it was so heartwarming I couldn't put it down.

4 stars

4.5 stars rounded up! The Last Bookshop in Prague was the first book that I had the pleasure of reading by Helen Parusel. I was impressed with her writing and the impeccable research she conducted in order to write this compelling historical fiction book. As the title of the book suggests, The Last Bookshop in Prague took place in the Czechoslovakian city of Prague and a lot of the story centered around a particular family owned and operated bookstore during the years of 1942-1945. The characters were well developed and some of them were actual people that existed. I really enjoyed the role that books played throughout The Last Bookshop of Prague.

Jana Hajek a twenty something strong and determined young woman who lived above the bookshop that her late mother had owned and ran and was now in her possession. She lived with her widowed father, a puppeteer by trade. Prague had changed so drastically since the Nazi invasion. Many bookstores were forced to close with the implementation of banned books by the Nazis but Jana was determined to keep her bookshop open. She welcomed children into her shop where she read to them at scheduled times to help them temporarily escape from all that was going on around them. Jana also organized a group for some of the children’s mothers. They read books of their choosing and then summarized them for the group and exchanged the books with each other. Jana developed close friendships with some of the women in the book exchange.

There was one young boy who frequented her shop almost daily. Jana learned that the shy young boy’s name was Michal and that he was Jewish. Michal almost always stayed at Jana’s bookshop as long as he could. One night Jana offered to walk Michal to his home when she realized how late it had gotten. Just as Jana and Michal were approaching Michal’s house they witnessed that the Nazis were rounding up many of the Jewish people that lived there. Michal’s mother was among those people that were being shoved onto the back of a truck. With her eyes, Michal’s mother implored Jana to hide Michal from the Germans. Michal didn’t understand where his mother was being taken to but he held hope that she would return soon. Jana took Michal back to the bookshop. Just as they made their way to the back of the shop, police officers stomped in looking for a young Jewish boy. Jana hid Michal under the sink in the tiny kitchen in the back of the bookshop. One of the officers searched there but informed the others that the boy was not there. Why had he done that? Clearly he must have seen Michal under the sink. There was something about that particular officer that made Jana feel like there was something special about him. Jana knew that she should ignore her attraction but she was having a hard time doing that. After the police left, Jana made a decision. Michal would stay with her and her father until Jana was able to locate one of his relatives. When that did not happen, Jana and her father decided that it was safer for Michal if Jana was able to smuggle Michal out of the city to her grandmother’s farm in the country. Jana went on to save two other Jewish children, both girls, who probably would have been transported to a camp and killed if Jana hadn’t taken the risk to save them.

In the meantime, Jana began working at Prague Castle as a part time cleaner. She had taken over the position that her best friend had held until her pregnancy got in the way. Prague Castle had been taken over by the SS and Nazis officials. Of all the Nazis that occupied the offices at Prague Castle, Reinhardt Heyrich was by far the most feared and the most evil. He was known as “The Butcher of Prague” for good reason. Jana, now part of the resistance, was deemed with the responsibility of keeping track of Heyrich’s arrival times at the Prague Castle and also how he arrived. Jana wasn’t sure why this information was important but she kept accurate records. In the privacy of the bookshop, Jana transposed the information she gathered using a code and hid them in homemade bookmarks. Jana’s lowly position at the castle allowed her to overhear vital information that was discussed in Reinhardt Heyrich’s office as well. One day, Jana had overheard Heyrich talking about “a final solution”. She wasn’t sure what it meant but she knew it had to be bad coming from Heyrich. Jana devised a system so that the resistance members would know when she had important information that couldn’t wait to be shared with them. It was conveyed by the way she arranged the bookmarks in the bookshop’s window. Jana’s diligent tracking of Heyrich’s arrival times at Prague Castle and other pertinent information that was gathered by other resistance members led to an assassination attempt on Reinhardt Heyrich by members of the resistance.

The Last Bookshop in Prague by Helen Parusel was both heartbreaking and uplifting. I found it quite thought provoking and engaging throughout. The Last Bookshop in Prague portrayed what the Czech people experienced on a day to day basis during the Nazi occupation. I had not been aware of the Prague uprising nor the Lidice and Lezaky massacres before reading this book. Those massacres were examples of the pure evil that permeated throughout the Nazi regime. I really admired Jana’s courage, determination and dedication to the resistance and her beloved country. She was strong, intelligent and brave. I also admired Jana’s grandmother for her selfless dedication to the Jewish children in her care. She took the three children into her home, showed them love and cared for them despite the risk she faced if they were ever discovered. There was a strong element of romance mixed in as well. The Last Bookshop In Prague focused on the themes of survival, hope, loss, family, friendships, resilience, war, risks, love and the power of books. I really enjoyed reading The Last Bookshop in Prague and highly recommend it.

Thank you to Boldwood Books for allowing me to read The Last Bookshop in Prague by Helen Parusel through Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

A suspenseful historical novel set during world war 2 in Prague. Jana joins the resistance to help with doing whatever she can to get the German’s out of her city. There’s a fascist police captain who hangs around Jana’s book store and Jana isn’t sure what he wants. Lovers of historical wartime fiction will really enjoy this read. Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

✨️ I loved this book. It's a passionate and very emotional read. Jana is a brave and kind hearted girl, I loved her. The romance between her and Andrej, is adorable. The The struggles people faced, the cruelty of Germans and the strength through which everyone fought for freedom is written brilliantly and emotionally. I can feel myself there with, Jana. There are several other admirable characters, who put themselves at risk to help others and fight against injustice. Expertly researched about the war time in Prague, the resistance, the casualties in Lidice Massacre and much more. Excellent read and highly recommended.
Thanks a lot to @Netgalley , the author and the publisher for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I am an avid fan of World War II historical fiction, that being said, with each book that I have read I have gained immeasurable insight into what people endured during this awful time. The story of Jana , a young woman trying to run a bookstore , living with her widowed father was an insightful, inspirational read. Jana’s ultimate involvement with the resistance was admirable, courageous, and very scary. Jana and the other characters in this book were well written, there was good character development, the story flowed in a very well organized way, you could tell that the author truly researched the subject matter, I would highly recommend this book.

Such a great book. A story that should never stop being told! This book made me sad and joyful all at the same time.

Jana lives with her father in Prague at the start of WWII after the Germans occupied her precious city. She runs the bookshop that her late mother owned and does her best to keep it running during a difficult time when the Germans banned books. She takes on a part-time job working at the castle and ends up working for the local resistance.


I enjoyed this story and learned more about what it was like during the occupation of Prague. I can’t imagine what it would have been like during that time constantly on the edge, not knowing what would happen next. The author did a great job with Jana’s inner turmoil, as she longed for a sense of normalcy during those crazy times. This is the second story I’ve read by the author and I’m looking forward to reading more by her.


Thanks to @rachelsrandomresources, @boldwoodbooks, @netgalley and the author for this ARC.

This was a moving story. It is the story of a girl with a book shop during the Nazi occupation of Prague during World War 2. It tells of the lives of everyday people, the Jewish people of the Czech nation, members of the resistance, and mixes in true stories of what happened in and around Prague. You are transported to the time of Hydrich, the Butcher of Prague, a bookstore, and the lives of the people around the events of the Nazi occupation. Sprinkled in is romance during war, and how people lived and loved.

I have not read much about Prague in WW2 in the past, and the story had all of the emotions. I giggled at times, but I could feel the fear, worry, the sense of wrong and right that the people experienced. They way the author tied in real events to what the characters felt and saw, it just changed how the story felt. I learned about the plight of not just the German and the Jewish people, but of the Czech people. The fear of who you can trust, if you are just being complicit, or if you are fighting back against oppression.

I recommend this story not just because I adore stories of romance, but the history was great too. I love how one can tell a story of love, and teach others about history at the same time. I am now ready to learn more of this area of the world during not just WW2, but before and after. I am inspired by the story of people who fought back, and even those who were afraid, and just tried to live their lives. Thanks for this story, and I am excited to read and learn more.

Books about books and bookshops are the absolute best aren't they?

The Last Bookshop in Prague is the first I've read by Parusel and it was such a wonderful read, I would highly recommend it to all book lovers!

I loved Jana, she was such a strong, resilient character and her tenacity in such a dark time was such a selfless, courageous act. Community is everything in the face of adversity.

The story is powerful, the people such an inspiration and it's guaranteed to leave you an emotional mess.

A really good read. This story was set during world war two and things were getting bad in Prague but Jana who runs the bookshop puts herself and her family in danger when she joins the resistance. A heartbreaking story but very well researched and the characters were beautifully written it tells stories of friendships, love and loss and it's very moving and sometimes hard to read what the people went through.I love Prague and could visualise all the places I have been which added to my love of the novel.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.


I am a fan of historical fiction, which is part of the typical fantasy genre that I follow. This is such a moving and compelling story. We follow Jana, who works in her mother’s bookshop. Her mother, who is now long gone, previously owned the bookshop. This was a time during WWII when the Nazis ran their propaganda all over the place, and many books were banned. Jana held on to the books in the book collection that was banned. She helps the resistance during this time and even helps 3 Jewish kids. She also takes a job at a Prague castle as a cleaner part time to keep tabs on the high-ranking officer. Jana’s character is so caring and bold to make these moves, especially at a time like this. I can only imagine the type of risks she’s taking to help out. This book will pull on all your heartstrings. This is the first book I am reading written by this author, and I am not disappointed at all. I also thought that I knew about WWII during this time period, but I also learned a lot more. There was a lot of research placed on this era and location that I did not know about. I’ve always known a great deal, but it’s what you’ve managed to learn in school. I didn’t know several small details about the reign of Reinhard Heydrich. Not only that, but I ended up looking him up and doing some research of my own. It’s so interesting to learn more about the past. I thought I knew so much, but it seems like I did not! This was a great read, and I am glad that I got to enjoy it.

This historical novel had really good writing and I felt had a lot of information about the setting and time period, so I felt it was well researched by the author also.

Although not my usual read I found it had a nice flow and I was able to enjoy this one.

A story that inspires and is encouraging.
Jana struggles to live under the oppressive German occupation while clandestinely undermining it all sandwiched within her beloved bookshop and love of words.
It’s a good story about books, love, loss, endurance, and strength.
There’s also a happy ending which is heartfelt because so many didn’t get ton after WWII.