THE SPACE BETWEEN WORDS by Michele Phoenix

"There were seconds, when I woke, when the world felt unshrouded. Then memory returned."

When Jessica regains consciousness in a French hospital on the day after the Paris attacks, all she can think of is fleeing the site of the horror she survived. But Patrick, the steadfast friend who hasn't left her side, urges her to reconsider her decision. Worn down by his insistence, she reluctantly agrees to follow through with the trip they'd planned before the tragedy.

"The pages found you," Patrick whispered.

"Now you need to figure out what they're trying to say."

During a stop at a country flea market, Jessica finds a faded document concealed in an antique. As new friends help her to translate the archaic French, they uncover the story of Adeline Baillard, a young woman who lived centuries before--her faith condemned, her life endangered, her community decimated by the Huguenot persecution.

"I write for our descendants, for those who will not understand the cost of our survival."

Determined to learn the Baillard family's fate, Jessica retraces their flight from France to England, spurred on by a need she doesn't understand.

Could this stranger who lived three hundred years before hold the key to Jessica's survival?

  Opening line:
"My name is Adeline Baillard, and my life may end today."

Jessica, Vonda and Patrick have one last night in Paris and decide to have some "fun." Fun to Patrick was going to an art gallery opening and fun to the girls was going to a concert at the Bataclan where the 2015 terrorist attacks happens. The girls escape but Jessica is sent to the hospital. Patrick is with her every day and talks her into one last flea market trip before heading to back to the states.
While doing their "treasure" hunts, Jessica comes across an old sew basket and is immediately drawn to it. She buys it and finds a secret drawer with old papers inside. This draws her into another adventure and tries to find the owners of the pages and make sure the daughter is "found" and the family is together again.
I enjoyed learning about the Bataclan shootings and the Huguenots annihilation, PTSD, loyalty, compassion and true friendship.
This book wasn't what I expected but I really enjoyed reading the mysteries in the story.

Thank you to netgalley for the early read.