While getting ready for my surgery, I started accumulating books over the past few months, some from used book stores and some from Borders. (Alas, I won't be doing the latter anymore.) Some were adult books, and some were children's books. I started on the adult stack first, and was I ever surprised: Apparently my week in Paris a couple of summers ago burned its imprint into my unconscious; five of the books take place either partially or entirely in Paris. They are too many to review, so consider this post a thumbnail sharing of each.I'll start with my least favorite first, Gourmet Rhapsody, by Muriel Barbery. I'm sorry to put it that way, too, because my purchase was motivated by how charmed I had been by Barbery's first book, The Elegance of the Hedgehog. In Hedgehog, a young girl has given herself a date on which she'll commit suicide unless she can find enough reasons not to. I know that sounds like a morbid story, but the book captures small, luminous moments of beauty that make life truly worth living. So I was expecting to be deeply moved again in Gourmet. Nope: A food critic lies on his deathbed, hoping to capture a favorite flavor that he can't quite identify in memory. Acquaintances and family each have a turn at sharing what they recall about this thoroughly unlikeable man. That's it, folks. some exquisite writing, because this author cannot turn out a bad line, but for me, the plot was . . . missing in action (pun intended).
But, next I read Cara Black's Murder in the Bastille. Black is one of my favorite mystery writers. Her series stars Aimée Leduc, a private eye for white collar techie matters who keeps getting dragged into murder cases instead. To read any one in the series is to get a free trip to Paris. Black knows that city inside and out and places each new mystery in a different neighborhood. Because Aimée grew up in Paris, naturally she has little snippets of memory about buildings she passes or bridges or streets she traverses, and so in a completely non-intrusive way, the reader picks up scraps of French history and art history while Aimée chases or runs from the bad guys. Black's website is equally interesting: Press here and go take a peek.
Then I read The Girl at the Lion d'Or by Sebastian Faulks. This is a carefully sculpted story of a young girl cast adrift following World War I. It takes place in a small village outside of Paris where Anne has taken employment as a waitress in the Hotel Lion D'Or of the title. Her story unfolds by degrees: Her father was falsely accused of cowardice at Verdun and shot. Because of accusations, Anne and her mother were hounded out of their village and went to Paris. With no one to turn to after her mother dies, Anne hopes to find a new life at the Lion D'Or. Sh
12 Comments on The French Connection, last added: 7/30/2011
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I didn't know about the Cara Black series, so I've added it to my TBR list and looked it up at my library. I look forward to reading the first, Murder in the Marais!
I also read the Club Dumas. I agree with your assessment. I enjoyed it, but a bit weird, and fun. And I, too, love to read (and write) about Paris!
Thanks for sharing your Paris-themed books!
Oh, my. More books on my TBR list. I hardly have time for my TBW list! But I remind myself that reading is part of the job of writing, so that makes it okay. Thanks. I put a couple of these on my list that sound good to me.
I love how your blog makes me feel as if I've been on vacation without having to pack a suitcase or clean out the refrigerator first. :)
Thanks for these interesting reviews; I was especially intrigued to read about Dumas' 3 Musketeer novel, to hear it's good. I've never read it, just watched the movie. Same with The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas, which is a fabulous movie...so I'm wondering how the book compares!
Vicki, I have three of the series and want to get more. Each case is so different, and I like it that you learn so much in her mysteries simply by the nature of the mystery, without it ever being tedious. They are all page turners.
Rosi, glad you found sow new books to go in your TBR stack.
Michelle, if you think my blog makes you feel like you've been on vacation, Cara Black is a must read, any one of her books.
Carol, I saw The Count of Monte Cristo, too, but have never read it. Now I want to. The Three Musketeers was one of Dumas's early books. And you know how writers improve with each new book . . .
My hubs liked the Club Dumas and is big fan of the Three Musketeers. Sadly I have read neither!
Like Lydia, my hubby also loved THE CLUB DUMAS. Guess I will have to read it. :)
I haven't heard of these books. Thanks for the info.
I visited Paris for two short periods. (Both total about a week). I fell in love with the city and now love to read books with Paris as the setting.
Lydia and Alleged, it's nice to find yourbhubbies read and liked The Dumas Club. It's so . . . I don't know, esoteric? I bought it for the books-and-Paris angle, but i did wonder how good it would be, if someone had discarded it. have a hard time parting with books I like, which is why our house looks like a used books store.
Theresa, like you, I've been to Paris twice -- once for 5 days, and one for 8. But it only took me about 5 minutes to fall in love with the city.
I read The Club Dumas a couple of years ago. It disturbed me; I don't like the idea of people making packs with the devil, even though I do not believe in the devil.
Yeah, I agree with you there, Richard. But there are some crazies who do that. The guy who did in the book surely was crazy. Could you figure out, though, who the blode girl was supposed to be? I could never make up my mind.
I don't remember enough about the book or the girl to give an opinion.