Book Review: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

The Little Paris Bookshop will remain on my bookshelf to be reread and reread. Unfortunately for me and for this post, I was unable to attend our book group yesterday. A suspected cold (or was it allergies) had exhausted me, so erring on the side of caution I sadly missed the discussion. Nina George has penned a beautiful love story. From a man’s perspective. Monsieur Jean Perdu, his only love having left him twenty-one years past, has sealed off that part of his life. He does not speak her name, even to himself. He lives in an apartment in Paris surrounded my other long term residents. Most of them chatty, and a bit nosy, women who quite like him. One woman who has recently moved in, divorced and heartbroken, has nothing in the way of furniture. A brief encounter with her cracks open the seal he has so carefully guarded. His work is on a barge named the Literary Apothecary, where he provides books as a physician would write a prescription. Moored on the Seine, he shares this floating library with two cats, named Kafka and Lindgren. A young author, Max Jordan, has moved into the same apartment building and as the story progresses, joins Jean Perdu on his quest to find his long lost love and to resolve his great sadness. He has a problem with that scenario: he has learned that she has probably died. My only concern with this novel is that, for me, the ending is rather weak. Of course, I had decided on certain editorial changes that could have been done to make it more satisfying for me. Regardless, I loved this novel of Jean Perdu and his passengers as they travel down the Seine in fair and foul weather, stopping in ports along the way. Books, food, romance and France set the scene.

“And yes, being lovesick is like being in mourning. Because 

you die, because your future dies and you with it…

There is a hurting time. It lasts for so long. 

But it gets better. I know that now.”

~ Nina George, The Little Paris Bookshop

Title: The Little Paris Bookshop 

Author: Nina George

Copyright: 2013 

Translation Copyright: 2015 (Simon Pare)

Published in the United States by Penguin Books

Format: Novel

Type: Hardcover and paperback

ISBN: 978-o-553-41879-8

ebook ISBN: 978-o-553-41878-1

Book Review: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

I read My Brilliant Friend over three days. I started Sunday afternoon and finished this morning around 9:00am. Originally, it was because I left this reading to the last minute. I had been told it was a dense read. When I checked some Goodreads reviews, some people didn’t even give My Brilliant Friend any stars, while many gave it five stars. Settling in to read, I was at first rather unsettled by the poverty, the violence of the children, to the children and to each other in this small Naples community in the 1950’s. The cast of characters is large, with the two main characters being good friends. At twelve years of age, Lila is tough and mean, and Elena, timid and shy. The remaining characters are the children and parents of several families. (This is where I need to tell you that I’ve left my copy of My Brilliant Friend behind today, so can’t refer to the exact number of families.) Names are similar, some having nicknames. There are three themes that run through this story - poverty, the accepted dominance of men and poor understanding about the value of education. There were some times of kindness and some of fun, but they seem fleeting within each life. Underscoring all of this is the violent nature of the struggle for community dominance, or just survival within the community. These themes show how difficult it was for people to move out of and away from this very insular life. Those people not willing or able to use violence, became quiet or devious. The discussion today brought forward all of these issues, with an especial dislike of the violence and female suppression, trying to understand the reasons. Was it cultural? How much did poverty play a part? Was it education or money that would move anyone out of the maelstrom that Lila and Elena grew up in? 

I have always enjoyed stories that are about family dynamics. My Brilliant Friend is so much more. Family dynamics with the troubled and unsettled dynamics of this community in post World War II Naples. Will I read the next in this Neapolitan Series?  I definitely hope to, following this friendship from where it left off in late adolescence and onward.

“We were twelve years old, but we walked along 

the hot streets of the neighbourhood, 

amid the dust and flies that the occasional old trucks 

stirred up as they passed, like two old ladies 

taking the measure of lives of disappointment, 

clinging tightly to each other. No one understood us, 

only we two - I thought - understood one another."

~ Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend

Title:  My Brilliant Friend

Author:  Elena Ferrante

Translated by: Ann Goldstein

Publ

isher:  Europa Editions

Publication Date: Sept. 15, 2012

(First published oct. 19, 2011)

Format:  Soft Cover

ISBN10: 1609450787

ISBN13: 9781609450786

Type:  Fiction

Four part Series:  My Brilliant Friend

                        The Story of a New Name (2013),

                        Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2014)

                        The Story of the Lost Child (2015)

Book Review ~ The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Discussion at book group this afternoon was lively and interesting about this novel by Sue Monk Kidd. The Invention of Wings is a many spirited work of fiction superbly crafted with wisdom, heartbreak and humour. History and historical figures are written in stories of slavery, abolition and the oppressive roles of women in the southern United States in the early 19^th century. This fascinating book is inspired by the historical figure, Sarah Grimke. An abolitionist at heart from a young age after accidentally witnessing the whipping of a slave, she was frightened and appalled. At her 11^th birthday, she was given a slave, Handful (Hetty), as a birthday present. Her attempt to free this slave was unsuccessful. The note for that freedom written in her own hand was torn up by her father whom she loved and respected. This detail of his 'betrayal' is not revealed until much later in the story and she believes that her mother has torn up the note. The story unfolds from there showing the trajectory of both Sarah's and Handful's lives over a thirty five year period. Brutal facts of slavery are laid out. The strictured world of women, in the north and the south, are woven throughout this novel. Sarah leaves her home in the south, travelling north with her father, and becomes acquainted with a Quaker family, where there is more freedom for women, however still patriarchal expectations. 

Handful, as a woman is a fictional character. History shows that Handful died at a young age, however Sue Monk Kidd developed the character of Handful in juxtaposition to Sarah Grimke. Sarah and Hetty (Handful) followed very different paths, each learning about their own desires and plans for freedom. They are reunited at the very end in a final burst for achieving their goals.

Voice also was a central theme throughout the book. Sarah had difficulty with her ability to voice  her opinions, often developing a stammer or literally being unable to speak. Handful had to learn to speak in two voices, the voice of a submissive slave and her own voice within her community.

Note: At the back of the book is a section separating history and fiction.

“My body might be a slave, but not my mind. 

For you, it’s the other way around.”

~ spoken by Handful to Sarah

Sue Monk Kidd, The Invention of Wings

Title: The Invention of Wings
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Publisher: the Penguin Group (First published by Viking Penguin)
Publication Date: 2014

Type:  Fiction

Format:   Hard cover
ISBN: 978-0-670-024780-6