Nina George

This book opens with Marianne, a 60 something, unhappily married woman, attempting to commit suicide. I was not sure if I wanted to read about another unhappy senior who regrets his/her life, but as I was listening to this story, I thought I would keep going. So glad that I did. This suicide attempt is actually the beginning of her new life. She makes her way to Brittany, France where she meets the most wonderful people and learns to live life again.

I loved meeting these characters and show more getting to know about life in Kerdruc. As Marianne gets to know them, she begins to heal. The real Marianne, who has been buried deep inside, begins to emerge. I want so much to visit and get to know these characters better. I was drawn right into their lives, troubles and all, in order to see how both they affected Marianne and she affected them. I realized this book was about staying true to yourself and becoming the best you can be. Marianne escaped from a hospital to escape her verbally and emotionally abusive husband. I loved Marianne's character, her strength, uncertainty and love for others. Finding love in this quiet, out of the way village was like watching the sun rise. Nina George created a story that makes you feel like anything is possible, as long as you have the courage and strength to go after it.

The writing is rich and wonderful, beautiful and poetic. I listened to the audio book and I felt like I was there, listening to the characters speak. I enjoyed this book much more than The Little Paris Bookshop and I enjoyed that one, so this shows how much I loved this one. If you are looking for a book to fall in love with, evoke your emotions and having you wish that it did not end, then pick up this wonderful story. show less

Oh my, what an incredible book.   It is a roller coaster of emotion, from smiles, giggles and laughs all the way through to crying your eyes out and feeling heartbroken.   Although i'm sure there are people who can read this book and never feel a thing, which is entirely possible if you refuse to surrender yourself to the story and characters, but then what's the point in reading a book if not to surrender to it completely?

Characters...   There isn't one awful character, everyone in this show more book is nice, or funny in some way, even the grumpy lock keepers and their moustachioed wives with dogs that wee on Max's hands bring a smile or giggle to you.   And that's what makes this book so hard to take in places, you can fall in love with the characters and feel for them so completely.   Other books have those nasty characters, the evil ones to balance the good, and that holds you in balance and never lets you fly off into the good characters so much, this book doesn't hold you back from that.

Places...   Nina is a genius when it comes to putting you into a place, a room, even a simple field.   The way she describes tastes, textures, sounds, sights, smells, makes it all feel like a dream you are in.   She never overdoes it, and always when the story needs it.

Emotions...   You feel them along with the characters as you are taken into their lives.   So many haven't loved for 21 years (or there abouts).   21 seems like the magic number in this book.   You have to go 21 years without love to be a main character in this book.   But none of it ever seems unreal, just a coincidence.   This book is about losing, about finding, about tragedy, about love, about dying, about living, its got the most wonderful high moments and most heartbreaking lows.

Story...   The best bit.   And that's the bit where i will use the last book i read to draw a few comparisons.

This was my second reading of this book, having last read it just over 2 years ago before i started writing reviews.

One thing i remember when reading it last time was that it reminded me of 'Heart of Darkness' and so the plan was to wait a couple of years and then come back to it having read 'Heart of Darkness' immediately before and then write a review of both books and see if there were any similarities.

These two books are so similar, yet so very different.   The template is definitely there, that of the river boat voyage, the bizarre encounters along the way and the deeply emotional journey of our boat captains.   We begin one sitting on the Thames in London while the other begins sitting on the Seine in Paris.   A description of companions ensues before we are taken on our voyages.   And there's where they differ.

In HoD we are on a voyage up river into the centre of the land, into the darkness and ignorance of man's soul and what he's truly capable of at his worse.   While in TLPB we are on a voyage down river to the sea, into the light and opening up of a man's soul from 21 years of darkness and ignorance, and we're shown what people are truly capable of at their best.

Whereas in HoD we have Kurtz and his fiance, in TLPB we have Luc and Manan's diary.

In HoD the final conversation with Kurtz is replaced with the final entry in Manan's diary, while Luc replaces the crazy Russian.

The bizarre encounters along the banks are quite awful episodes in HoD as they expose Marlow to ever more wrong, and dim the light ever further, while in TLPB the bizarre encounters along the banks expose Jean to ever more right, and turn on the light ever brighter.

And instead of pilgrims on the boat they are replaced with a runaway writer, a cook, and another writer who has been waiting for the love of her life to turn up; while the cannibals are replaced with 2 cats.

And no, i have no idea if Nina has even read 'Heart of Darkness', maybe she has, maybe she hasn't.   And even if she has, was that any influence on 'The Little Paris Bookshop'?   I could write and ask, but i simply love the not knowing because it really doesn't matter.   What mattered was that the first time i read TLPB i could barely remember reading HoD, it had been decades, and both were read while under the influence of alcohol, numbed, but this time i decided to read them one immediately after the other and i have been sober for 22 months.   This time i wasn't numbed by alcohol and really felt both books, i really felt that i read them both, and i really felt that they complemented each other in so many ways.

To be taken right into the depth's of Charles Marlow's darkness in HoD and be left hanging there at the end only to go immediately to the depths of Jean Perdu's darkness in Paris and be then taken back into the light was quite the literary journey, and definitely one i would very much recommend for anyone looking for a true roller-coaster experience.

But however, and whatever, you want to read, just make sure 'The Little Paris Bookshop' is on your 'To Read' pile, everyone should read this book.

I have also read 'The Little Breton Bistro' but wasn't writing reviews at that time either.   But i assure you, it's also a wonderful book.   And Nina's latest book, 'The Book of Dreams' is now out, which i'll most certainly get around to as soon as i've re-read 'The Little Breton Bistro'. show less

Every once in a while the description of a novel is perfect! "...The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives."

I have been a reader since I was a little child. My first memories of reading are of my Mother reading a different story to me every night from "365 Bedtime Stories" by Nan Gilbert (pseudonym). I still have this dearly loved book. My Mother and my Father were readers. Especially as an only child, show more books have been my constant companion. Books have taught and mentored me, inspired me, entertained me, comforted me, allowed me to travel to locations where I might never have the opportunity to visit or live in person, broadened my views and opinions, increased my vocabulary, and soothed my soul with a sense of peace and tranquility.

For all of those reasons, this novel enveloped me between the book covers in a wonderful story of Monsieur Perdu and his bookstore, a floating barge on the Seine or a literary apothecary. But Monsieur Perdu needs something that he has been able to offer to others but has not been able to find himself. After 20 years, he begins on an odyssey of his own to heal his heart.

Although I sometimes feel the emotions of a novel intensely, I rarely am actually brought to tears. As I finished reading the novel I realized tears had fallen down my face. There was a death in my family that occurred a long time ago and particularly as the beginning of August comes, sometimes I am taken back to the joyous memories of yesterday but sometimes I am deeply saddened for all that has been experienced without this loved one. When I was reading this novel, I felt as though Monsieur Perdu was saying things that I have felt so deeply over the years and never once voiced aloud. Sometimes there are no words for one's grief. Sometimes you read a novel and discover that there is someone that can describe what you have felt and it comforts you as nothing else could. show less

Clever book,
“Everything is connected, says Love.
I know, says Death
That’s terribly illogical, says Logic
The olive tree has its own thoughts on the matter.”

Nina George has written this book from the perspective of Love, as a thought, as a character, with a speaking and thinking part. Love tells us about Reason and Logic and Curiosity and Desire and Pleasure and Lust and how and why they play their parts in a person’s life. But, “the important thing to remember is that whichever show more … is the first to leave their mark most influences an infant’s character. They set the tone and lay the foundations.”

But it is Death that visits and sets the path that Marie-Jeanne will travel, how she will interpret her observations of Love as she returns to share her thoughts with the olive tree. Slightly obscure but beautifully written with tenderness, insight and humor. The description of Fate and Fate’s everyday activities was a work of art, likewise Skepticism, Fear, Pragmatism and Whimsy. A bit long but well done with Ms. George’s interpretation and various voices adding depth and understanding.

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for a copy. show less