Joliment écrite

 The Paris Hours by Alex George is a beautifully written novel that winds the stories of Camille, Guillaume, Souren, and Jean-Paul together in a way that not even the characters understand. Or even know. Add in Ernest Hemingway and Josephine Baker, shake it all up in 1927 in Paris and you will fall down a rabbit hole.

Each of the main characters, but not the famous ones, have their moment to give us their back story and panicked/depressing future. Camille worked for Proust and, in doing so, told him her deepest secret. She discovered later that he wrote it down to be used in his work and it's now out, loose, in the world. 

Guillaume is an artist, a literal starving artist, who is struggling in Paris. Falling in with sex workers and bad guys, he must get twelve hundred francs together or lose his life.

Souren, oh Souren. His story tugged the hardest on my heart. He escaped Armenia, and ended up in Paris. His past is tortured but we really don't understand how much so until near the end of the novel. For someone with such a past, he spent his time in Paris giving amazing joy to children as a puppeteer. 

Jean-Paul has another sad story but he plods on through life, collecting the stories of others instead. He does end up telling his story to Josephine Baker that ends up setting into motion a life-changing event for Jean-Paul, if only he could see it.

After the introductions, the novel takes you quickly through several days where the characters intermingle and, in some cases, impact others. But some just keep going through life, selfish, not concerned with others and not seeing their impact on their fellow human.

This really was a well written novel that makes you wonder.... as you go about your day, whose life are you affecting?

Chat with the author

A Distant Grave

 Last year, I got an early copy of Sarah Stewart Taylor's The Mountains Wild and enjoyed it, but it felt, at first, like an uphill trudge then got so good I read til wee hours of the night. I got an email that Taylor had a new book coming out this week and would I like a copy to read? Why yes, yes I would.

I downloaded A Distant Grave, Maggie D'Arcy #2, and went on essentially the same rollercoaster. I'm wondering if this is the style of the author since this is only the second book of hers I've read. I'm definitely not arguing with the style (maybe the wee hours in the night thing should stop. I'm getting old.)

Maggie is back in Long Island, investigating a homicide of a man shot to death on a beach. We find his name is Gabriel Treacy and he's from Ireland. Which, coincidentally is the same place  Maggie and her daughter Lilly are heading to for vacation. In the first book, Maggie reunites with Conor and, in this book, they are a full on, very long distance couple. Conor doesn't seem thrilled with Maggie's career choice and is concerned this murder might make her miss her vacation. Maggie mixes vacation with work and, while in Dublin, continues investigating Treacy's past.

Treacy's past is a doozy, to be honest. The investigation is nicely intermixed with stories from Gabriel himself about what happened to him when he was kidnapped as an aid worker in Afghanistan. When another murder happens in Ireland that appears related to Treacy's murder, things get a bit twisted up. The American murder throws in some twist with the murder weapon that confuses matters but eventually Maggie puts all the pieces together, while everything around her is really falling apart. She's a pretty stellar detective and honestly, I hope she ignores that boyfriend of hers enough to keep going on her path. 

There were just a few pieces that confused me but it's possible I skipped something in the first book. The DA Jay Cooney was incredibly hostile to Maggie in this book and I had a hard time figuring out why. Even with the reveals at the end, his hostility was, hmmm, extreme. Otherwise, this is a really good book, and most likely will be a good series. I really enjoy the America and Ireland connections and the fact that Maggie works well in both.

I don’t know what it’s like to fear death. I only know what it’s like to fear life.

Dear God: Honest Prayers to a God Who Listens by Bunmi Laditan was a book that both spoke to me and didn't.  I am not religious. Perhaps the furthest thing from it. This book was actually recommended in an Instagram post by Jenny Lawson and I'm glad I took the chance on it. It felt more like poetry with a desperate, faithful touch.

Of course, some poetry is both desperate and faithful too. 

Since this was on my Kindle, I was able to highlight all of the pieces that resonated. Looking back over my "notes", the desperate resonated, not so much the faithful. If I ever needed proof I have been in a bad place, this is it.

"But if we all treated people according to what they deserved, I think we’d all be in hell."

Turning a blind eye. Turning the other cheek. Waiting for karma. All of those things are very hard when people are wearing you down.  It's also hard to get out of a dark place when it seems like your job is to be talked down to, mansplained to, and ignored.

"I didn’t love you because I confused you for your children on their worst days and equated you with buildings. You are so much more."

Christians are really sometimes the worst depiction of Christ. I'm still not a Christian but I'm going to try harder to not assume all Christians are the terrible people that 2020 showed them to be.

"Thank you for those who feed stomachs before minds, give hugs before teachings, and help pull you out of the fire before the reprimand for playing with matches."

But not all Christians. Some truly do understand how this life works and understands that they are not the ones who should be judging. They also understand that actions speak louder than all their preaching. Show me you are good, stop telling me how good you are.

"On the days hope feels like a cruel mirage, when you’re wandering, spinning in place, unable to believe there are plans to prosper and not harm you, unable to believe there are any good plans with your name on them, listen. Hope does not exist to make fools out of pilgrims, for when it is placed in the hands of the eternal, it is the scent of things to come. Let go of your imaginings of what life is meant to look like and let hope lift your soul up and away from present pains, providing respite and breath enough for one more step forward."

"Some days, I wonder who I’d be if I’d had an easier life."

I wonder who I would be without chronic pain and illness. Without a past full of hospitals, surgeries, and bullies. Where my present is full of the same and my future isn't terrifying in it's bleakness. If I could wake up and feel OK (I'm not even asking to feel good. Just OK). 

This is a beautiful book, in spite of the God talk or perhaps because of it. But probably in spite of it.

Interview with the author