Notes from Jan 2017 group

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George – Discussed Wed Jan 4, 2017 at Geneseo Library

                                                                                                                                     

Monsieur Jean Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

This book had likeable characters, great settings, recipes, and our group loved the idea of a spur of the moment trip through France with friends.  This was a very descriptive story, and it dealt with men’s feelings which was unusual.  Main character Jean owned a barge with a floating library in Paris.  He had a 5 year love affair with a married lady, Manon.  She became pregnant with her husband, returned to her husband and left Jean a final letter.  Jean was so hurt he ignored her letter for 21 years only to find out Manon had died of cancer shortly afterwards.  Jean,who had shut himself off from most people for 21 years,  started interacting with people again.  He took the barge on the trip across France to visit Manon’s family and the adventures along the way.  It was an interesting plot which generated good discussions.  Our group had mixed feelings about this book.