Author: Tatiana De Rosnay
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publishing Date: February 2012
Length: 222 Pages
Summary: (From book) Paris, France: 1860's. Hundreds of houses are being destroyed, entire neighborhoods reduced to ashes. By order of Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann has begun a series of large-scale renovations that will permanently alter the face of old Paris, molding it into a "modern city." The reforms will erase generations of history, but in the midst of the tumult, one woman will take a stand.
Rose Bazelet is determined to fight against the destruction of her family home until the very end, even while others flee to new houses on bigger streets. She stakes her claim in the basement of the old house on rue Childebert, ignoring the sounds of change that march closer and closer each day. And as she waits, she escapes in the past, writing letters to her beloved late husband, Armand. By delving into the ritual of remembering, Rose is forced to come to terms with a secret that has been buried deep in her heart for thirty years.
My Thoughts: Well....this book was nothing like the cover promised. I'm guessing the picture is supposed to portray how Rose and Armand looked as a young couple-but they didn't live in some mansion down a tree lined drive, so I'm missing the point here...
I liked the writing style. It was elegant and too the point, but the story overall fell a little flat for me. I saw the movie Sarah's Key, and have had that story impressed on my mind for quite some time, so when I saw a new book by this author, I wanted to give it a try.
Rose is a widow living in the cellar of her house waiting for the destruction of her neighborhood. She does't want to let her house go, and is planning on staying until the bitter end. It wasn't a public protest, just her alone by herself, so the fight was more personal than rallying.
While she waits, she writes letters to her dead husband, Armand. I have to say I felt like she was a little selfish. She talks about how her mother paid little attention to her and her brother growing up, but then justifies not loving her own daughter in favor of their son. It's like an abuse cycle.
The big secret she carried around for thirty years wasn't something I wanted to read about, and I didn't feel like it was necessary to the story, but it works.
I have never wanted to visit Paris; it's always felt very pompous and...French. But I get the impression I would have liked to visit the old Paris before the renovations; that sounds more like something I'd love. So for giving me an interest in the old city, the book did it's job. For plot and characters....not so much.
Things To Be Cautious Of: *MAJOR SPOILERS* Rose's secret is that she was taken advantage of in her home and that is where her son comes from. I found it awkward and not necessary to the book and really wished I hadn't read that. After the son, *SPOILERS,* dies, the husband writes her a letter and says the way to overcome their grief is to love each other. ....Right. There's hinting at romance lovey stuff, but nothing obscene, just married couple things. I really don't care for adult fiction since that seems to be an underlying theme.
What I Learned: Old Paris sounds amazing. I don't want to be an old widow waiting for my house to cave in on me.
No comments:
Post a Comment