Lost in Paris - Elizabeth Thompson
The whole finding out that you have inherited a hidden apartment in Paris that has been untouched for over 70 years sounds like a dream come true to me! I really enjoyed this book, the storyline, and the characters. And, on a personal note, I also enjoyed the mix of countries and cultures of the characters, as they are the same as my own (born in the UK, grew up in France, currently living in the US). I feel like the author was able to display the characters well without resorting to too many stereotypes.
Hannah Bond works in the UK as a literary tour guide, specializing in Jane Austen. She is quite estranged from her mother Marla, who is an alcoholic and was never around long enough for Hannah to bond with her as she grew up. Hannah’s main mother figure was her grandmother, Marla’s mother, who recently passed away. When Marla suddenly turns up on Hannah’s doorstep with the deed and keys to an apartment in Paris in her hands, the women find themselves thrown together to work out the mystery and possibly find a new normal for them.
This book has a good mix of interesting storylines that keep the reader intrigued, smart, funny, and flawed characters, and also a few little twists along the way to make sure the reader doesn’t sit there smugly thinking they had figured it all out.
There are a few things that may have strayed towards stereotypical casting in my opinion: Marla’s sometimes ridiculous remarks and her brashness, which all screamed “American tourist” at me, but because they are part of her personality they worked, and Gabriel, the French seducer dude, who I feel didn’t really add to the story in any beneficial way. But otherwise I really loved all of the characters AND I adored Ivy’s journal excerpts from the late 1920’s that appear all through the novel, they were a great way to provide the reader with more information without having the main characters explain it all.
This book hit the spot for me: I was really looking for something that would take me away for a few hours, that would make me laugh, cringe a bit, and that would wrap up nicely, and Lost in Paris fit the bill!
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
(By the way - the apartment story is actually a real life story, and it’s just as intriguing as the fictional account in this book, look it up!).