Ruth Reichl's second novel is a touching story of how a woman who suffered childhood abuse and neglect finds home and purpose. The Paris Novel is also a love letter to a world city.
In 1983, Stella, a New York City copy editor in her early 30s, seems strangely untroubled by the news of her estranged mother's sudden death. Then again, Celia St. Vincent was cold and aloof; "I was not born to be anyone's mother," she always said. A self-made woman who rejected her working-class Italian American background, Celia became a sophisticated personal shopper. She never told Stella anything about her father, but a string of boyfriends came and went, including one who molested seven-year-old Stella.
Celia's sparse will leaves Stella $8,000, with instructions to go to Paris. Reluctantly, Stella complies. On her first day there, she wanders into a dress shop whose proprietress acts as if she's been expecting her and insists she try on a $6,000 Christian Dior. As in a fairy tale, the stars align thus wherever Stella goes. At Les Deux Magots, she meets Jules Delatour, an elderly art collector who becomes her friend and patron. A similar father figure is George Whitman of Shakespeare and Company, who takes her under his wing. Now a "Tumbleweed," she stays at the English-language bookshop in exchange for occasional work. George's plucky daughter, Lucie, is like an alternative version of Stella had she ever experienced parental love.
Reichl (Delicious!) crafts a cozy atmosphere full of lavish meals--escargots, foie gras, ortolans, and fine wines--as Jules educates Stella, who has a fine palate, in classic French cuisine. "You always look for reasons to be unhappy," a character observes to Stella, but she learns to take joy in art, fashion, and food. She also embarks on two quests: to find traces of Victorine Meurent, the muse depicted in Édouard Manet's Olympia, and a painter in her own right; and to locate her own father, allegedly an impetuous chef Celia met on a trip to Paris. The outcome of both is in keeping with the novel's wish-fulfillment mode. Happy coincidences can be forgiven; think of it as the universe making up for Stella's traumatic past.
There are delightful cameo appearances from James Baldwin, Allen Ginsberg, and other historical characters (detailed in an author's note). Francophiles and armchair travelers alike will relish the chance to tour Paris's famous churches, museums, and restaurants. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader and blogger at Bookish Beck
Shelf Talker: Reichl's second novel, an appealing modern fairy tale stuffed full of beautiful art and gourmet food, features a wronged young woman undertaking a Parisian odyssey to find a family and a vocation.