The Paris Novel

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichel 288 pages

 

Food! Fashion! Art! It’s all there in this magical realism tale set in 1980s Paris. But before we get there, we must start in New York City.

 

Stella lives an extremely structured life. She is a copy editor at a small publishing house. She believes she loves her job, and she is good at it. It’s a lonely life; Stella is estranged from her mother, the only family she has. She never knew who her father was. Her mother claimed she didn’t know, but reading between the lines, I believe that is why she sent her to Paris. To find him.

 

When her mother dies, Stella is surprised, nay shocked, that her mother left her anything, especially a letter address to “My Daughter.” Inside Stella finds a one-way ticket along with a note that merely says, “Go to Paris!” She is reluctant but her boss talks her into it. With lots of vacation time, Stella packs a small bag and heads to the City of Lights.

 

Stella’s well-oiled lifestyle follows her. But when she stumbles upon a vintage store, her deepest inner self begins to emerge. She tries on a vintage Dior gown that fits like it was made for her. The old woman who is the shopkeeper takes her into paying the $6,000 for it with the caveat that she can return if the dress doesn’t change her. The shopkeeper gives her a list of things she must do.

 

First, she eats oysters at Les Deux Magots. There she meets Jules, an older man with a passion for art who knows anyone and everyone in Paris. He knows great food, exceptional wine, the writers, the painters. Slowly, she sheds herself of all the things that have held her back. She quickly realizes that she enjoys this new life and never wants to go back to the old Stella.

 

Stella visits Shakespeare & Company Bookstore. The bookstore has much more to offer than books. Could Stella have found a new home, a new sense of belonging when she becomes one of the “tumbleweeds,” one who drifts in and out of the bookstore.

 

Then there is the small mystery surrounding her father and the Manet painting that her mother had hanging in her home.

 

For me, every page was a masterpiece of experience! Therefore, The Paris Novel receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Night Travelers

The Night Travelers by Armando Lucas Correa 368 pages

 

This is the story of four generations of women that spans from 1931 and 2015. It covers the majority of the major world events yet stays focused on these four women.

 

First is Ally, a published poet with a bright future, in 1931 Berlin. White Ally is dating /living with the Marcus, a Black musician. The novel opens on the night their daughter, Lilith, is born into a world demanding racial purity. Marcus is long-gone, fleeing from Hitler’s madness. In order to hide Lilith, Ally only takes her out at night, when there are fewer people out to discover Lilith’s heritage. Ally continues to write and composes a poem just for her daughter.

 

As Lilith reaches school age, Ally understands she must send her away. She obtains false papers and sends the girl to Havana with an older Jewish couple who are also fleeing Germany. Ally tucks the poem into her travel bag. Lilith becomes their adopted daughter.

 

Lilith, now an adult, has few memories of her mother. The poem, “The Night Travelers,” is her most prized possession. Her husband, Martin, is a close associate to the Batista Government. To them is born a daughter. As the Cuban Revolution begins to take shape, The family is in constant danger. Martin refuses to leave the country, and Lilith vows to stay by his side. While they are willing to face the consequences, they will not put their newborn daughter, Nadine, in any more danger. Lilith arranges for her daughter to be sent to America and raised there. Natalie sends her treasured poem with her daughter out of fear of what could happen to her and Martin.

 

Nadine is raised by a Catholic couple with the belief that her parents are dead. Life seems simple and easy going for Nadine. She meets wonderful boy, they fall in love, marry, and have a daughter they name Luna. When Nadine’s mother-in-law is accused of Nazi war crimes and is returned to Berlin.

 

Nadine becomes a well-respected scientist in Germany. But as Luna grows, she develops a fervent desire to writer, much like her great-grandmother Ally. Luna also wants to know more about her family’s past. Researching her family’s history doesn’t come without consequences. She learns things that she cannot unlearn.

Excellent writing makes The Night Travelers a book to be read slowly and enjoyed. However, given what is happening in the world around them, readers won’t be able to put down their story. It did drag in a few places, but once author Correa got back on track, the tension increased. The Night Travelers receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

The Secret of Snow

The Secret of Snow by Viola Shipman 352 pages

There’s no better way to cool down on a hot and humid St. Louis afternoon than to read a book that takes place in northern Michigan in the dead of winter!

Sonny Dunes fled northern Michigan thirty years ago for the sunshine and warm temperatures of southern California. Palm Springs to be exact. It’s not hard to be a meteorologist when the weather is the same day after day. But what is hard is not aging or gaining a few pounds. When the station decides to replace the fifty-year-old Sonny with a virtual meteorologist, she loses it. On air. Not good for one’s career.

With no job, Sonny isn’t sure what to do. She has only one place to turn; her mother, in yes that awful, awful place in northern Michigan. It’s not that Sunny hates the wintery weather, which she does with a passion. For her, her hometown is haunted. Haunted by death of her younger sister, and the survivor’s guilt she has endured.

Her agent tries to find her a new gig, but the only person willing to take a chance on her is an old college classmate whom she despises and has been trying to ignore for years. Sonny is forced to swallow her pride and move back home, taking up residence in her childhood bedroom.

The job is as bad as she had feared. The station wants her to cover all the winter activities in the region. Did I mention that Sonny hates winter?  Yeah, the job is sheer hell. She has to put on a happy face while hating every minute and aspect of winter.

As Sonny begins to confront her past and to make friends with her new colleagues, her heart and soul begin to melt, freeing her enjoy the attention of a man named Mason and actually start enjoying her life---and dare I say it, the winter weather.

One thing that annoyed me about the book was that it starts off in December 2021 and projects through April 2022. I didn’t feel the plot warranted its futuristic timeline, but maybe I didn’t understand author Shipman’s reasoning behind it.

I liked “The Secret of Snow,” and it receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. And yes, reading it in the depths of summer did make me less hot and cranky.

 

Baby Teeth

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage   304 pages

Literature has a dark sorority of bad, creepy, and cruel girls, which now includes seven-year-old Hanna Hansen. Hanna is mute, and there is not a test known to modern medicine that can discern why. In the eyes of her father, she is a silent and sweet little angel. When he is not around, Hanna consciously makes her mother Suzette's life a living hell. They engage in a battle of wits that rivals Rosemary's Baby.

Evil child tropes make me uncomfortable, hopefully because I find the premise far fetched. I was not scared, while I was reading, but Hanna's POV gave me the intended creepy vibe. When she stood in front of her mother with a hammer and her mother just freaks out, any normal person was thinking 'OK Suzette, you are more insane than your daughter. Just call the police.' Hence the implausible plot, or the unrealistic behavior and reactions of the parents, which ultimately made this an irritating exercise in believability. Also, the pacing contributed to the annoyance factor. The story could have been told in a fraction of the pages. And not to discount a serious health issue, but Crohn’s disease so was omnipresent that it was a plot device...rhetorical why? Basically, I wish the story lived up to the book jacket, but it doesn't.

Posted by: Regina C.