Jean-Philippe Blondel

"The 6:41 to Paris" is a most unique and thought-provoking book.

Forty-seven year old Celine is on a crowded train back to her home in Paris after visiting her aging parents for the weekend. The train stops and more passengers board. A gentleman asks if the seat next to her is available. Both Celine and the gentleman (Philippe) realize at the same time, and too late to change seats, that they know each other. Nearly thirty years prior they had a short, but passionate affair that ended very badly. They haven't spoken since, yet the affair and its end have deeply affected who they have each turned out to be.

Told in alternating chapters, the reader is privy to the thoughts in Celine and Philippe's minds. We learn their stories and their history with each other. The author lets us ask ourselves questions about the extent to which mistakes of youth can impact another person's life; what we might say to someone who has hurt us; and how to forgive.

I love books about complicated relationships, and I was thoroughly enjoying this book until the very last paragraph. Then this book went from a 4.5 star to a 3 star book for me. I HATED the ending. It was written by a man. I wonder if a woman would have written a different ending. … (more)

*Happy Publication Day*
July 11, 2023

“It’s other people who captivate me. All the people my age, making their way, fearful or bold, convinced they’ve been through the most intense time in their life during these various lockdowns, and that they’re rediscovering a world that they’d taken for granted. I find them touching, and I envy them as well. Though you might not think it, I’d like to join in the dance again, too, but I’ve forgotten the steps.”

After eighteen months of shelter-in-place, lockdowns, curfews, travel restrictions and much more, people are figuring out how to restore a semblance of normalcy to their lives in the post-pandemic era. After eighteen months of shelter-in-place, lockdowns, curfews, travel restrictions, and much more, people are figuring out how to restore a semblance of normalcy to their lives. Set in a classic café in the French provinces, Le Tom's, during current times, over the course of a single day, we are privy to the innermost thoughts of its patrons and the waiters and owners. We follow their most private thoughts as they ponder over how their lives have changed, the significant events and people they have left behind, how they are reframing their hopes and dreams, and how they perceive themselves, others and life in general after months of uncertainty and stagnancy.

Two estranged friends, one of whom is now an established writer and once harbored attraction for the other, meet after almost a lifetime with their own share of regrets and resentments. A mother of two grown-up children sits with her son and shares her decision to finally leave her family and embark on the life she always dreamed of. A waiter ponders his choice to move on and spread his wings. A woman encounters a former boyfriend from decades ago. Both the new owner and previous owner of the café reflect on events that led them to the present moment and concerns about the future. In the midst of it sits a young woman, who returned home during the pandemic and is yet to move on. She regularly visits the café, sits at the back and tries to capture life in the café in her sketches. Few of these characters interact with one another; some remain lost in their own thoughts or within their own circle. But the common element in all of their thoughts and interactions is how the past eighteen months have compelled them to reevaluate their priorities.

Café Unfiltered by Jean –Phillippe Blondel (translated by Alison Anderson) is a beautiful, quiet and intimate novel - one that inspires pause and reflection. Each of these characters is very well-written. The author does not go into the upsetting details of the pandemic but focuses on the post-pandemic period when life was slowly returning to normal, though the threat of newer threads of the virus was looming large which resulted in planning for the future in a more guarded, tentative and reserved manner. The characters in this novel are real and relatable and as we follow their stories, we feel invested in their lives and hope that things work out for them. The writing is crisp and concise, yet able to convey the thoughts and emotions of the characters eloquently. Overall, this is a slow-paced, contemplative novel that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Many thanks to author Jean –Phillippe Blondel and publisher New Vessel Press for granting access to a digital review copy of this novel via Edelweiss . All opinions expressed in this review are my own.… (more)

Engaging and quite charming set piece from the author of Exposed and The 6:41 to Paris. Table by table, from the early breakfast customers to the following dawn, we meet the denizens of Le Tom's, a café in a middle-sized French provincial town. In each chapter, the table's occupant describes themselves, who they are, what they might be doing there that day - from a seemingly rootless young woman who sits in a booth and sketches all day, to a middle-aged man waiting to meet an old friend from his youth about whom he has long had conflicted feelings, a self-regarding young man meeting his rather dreary old mother, the surly bar man. As the day progresses, the young man leaves in a huff and we get to hear his mother's side of things; the man visiting his old friend comes with a poignant and reflective agenda of his own; the current owner of the cafe (who seems to be under the thumb of the surly barman); and finally, the aging woman who used to own the place. Most of them at some point suspect the young woman artist might be drawing them - but is she? They begin to talk to each other, eliciting scraps of each other's stories, plans, and possibilities.

It's an affectionate portrait of that irreplaceable French institution, the café. Blondel has expanded from his previous forays into the interior monologues and musings of individuals into a polyphonic tale. Some sections are more effective than others, but their stories interweave skillfully enough that more than once, I went back to a previous chapter to find the whispers of another perspective were indeed there. What appeared to be animosity is actually a complicated fondness and protectiveness; one entrapment into isolation grew from way too much entanglement; another's selfishness has blinded them to someone else's pain. Blondel's humanity and basic kindness redeems people's failings, and leaves you wishing you had a Le Tom's in your neighborhood.… (more)