The Race for Paris

National Bestseller

David J. Langum, Sr. Prize for American Historical Fiction, Honorary Mention for 2015

Inspired by the extraordinary female journalists who were among the first to report the Allied liberation of Paris from the Nazis in 1944, The Race for Paris follows two war correspondents on their quest to document (and make) history. Jane is a young, single reporter who meets photographer Olivia, “Liv,” on assignment at a field hospital.

Unlike their male colleagues, Liv and Jane are constantly confronted by red tape and derision. Jane is resigned to making the most of her assignment, but Liv is determined to chase a bigger story. After failing to win over her commanding officer, she goes AWOL to Paris—and Jane, seizing the chance to make a name for herself, joins her.

Reluctantly accompanied by a male British military reporter, the two women scramble through the gunfire and carnage scarring the French countryside. Their journey is further complicated by emotional bonds, romantic tensions, and one woman’s secret—a secret with the power to end her career and, perhaps, her life.

Meg Waite Clayton is the New York Times bestselling author of four previous novels: The Four Ms. Bradwells; The Wednesday Sisters; The Language of Light, a finalist for the Bellwether Prize; and The Wednesday Daughters. She's written for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the San Jose Mercury News, Forbes, Writer's Digest, Runner's World, and public radio. A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, she lives in Palo Alto, California.