The Paris Hours

Gorgeous prose, interesting characters, and that early 20th Century European setting I adore. I was hooked from the start. There's typically only one or two characters that I wholly cling to in a story, but I honestly can't choose between them here. All of their backstories are rich and fascinating made better once they begin to intermingle. I've had this sitting on my bookshelf since last April and I wish I hadn't waited! There's a bittersweet tone throughout the book, another thing I love. It'll be one of those books that stays with me for a while.

This is my new favorite book. I checked my notes that I made while reading and the only thing I kept writing was that this book is so unbelievably good. Every character is beautifully written, each with astounding heartbreak of their own. While reading, I felt as if I knew these characters and wanted to help them. They way everyone tied together in some way was done so expertly. The author made me invest in each character equally. No character was arbitrary or unnecessary. I will read this book many times again in the future.

Four ordinary Parisians on a regular day in 1927 mix with the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Marcel Proust and Josephine Baker and Gertrude Stein, and the result is an unexpected overlap of stories and situations. One is Camille, who ignored the wishes of her employer Marcel Proust and kept one of his journals. Another is painter Guillaume who must find a buyer for his paintings before those to whom he owes money force him to pay up or die. Yet another is Souran, a refugee from Armenia, who puts on puppet shows to assuage his demons. And finally there is journalist Jean-Paul desperately seeking his lost daughter everywhere he goes.

I enjoyed seeing how these lives intertwine and play out, on the streets of one of the greatest cities in the world.