A Paris All Your Own: Bestselling Women Writers on the City of Light

by Susan Roberts

English: Eiffel Tower as seen from rue de Monttessuy in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Paris All Your Own is edited by Eleanor Brown and includes contributions from Michelle Gable, Jennifer Coburn, Cathy Kelly, Julie Powell, Lauren Willig, Therese Anne Fowler, Maggie Shipstead, Meg Waite Clayton, J. Courtney Sullivan, Ellen Sussman, Susan Vreeland, Megan Crane, Paula McLain, Jennifer L. Scott, Cara Black, and M.J. Rose.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site.

July 2017; G.P. Putnam's Sons; 978-0399574474
ebook, audio, print (288 pages); world literature

When my husband and I retired, we decided that we would travel as much as we could afford.  We have been lucky enough to have traveled all over Europe plus places like Budapest and Prague.  Every new city we go to gets compared to our favorite city to visit - Paris.  We have seen all of the major sites there and now our favorite things to do in Paris are to walk (and often get lost) and people watch.  I must admit that we've found some of the most amazing things when we were lost - little parks and out of the way museums.  Because of my love of Paris, I have really been looking forward to the new book edited by Eleanor Brown called A PARIS ALL YOUR OWN.

This book is a compilation of essays by 18 female authors who have written books about Paris.  It details their love or lack of love of this great city.  As with any anthology, some of the essays were fantastic and some were so-so but together they made this a fantastic book to read.  So whether you've been to Paris and want to have your memories re-kindled, it's on your bucket list of places that you must visit or you just enjoy reading books about Paris, this is the book for you to read.

I loved Michelle Gable's essay "Too Much Paris" about a trip she took with her husband, mother and father, and two daughters ages 8 and 10 during one of Paris's heat waves. I laughed out loud at her descriptions of climbing stairs and trying to keep her daughters engaged in what they were seeing. I mean how thrilled is an 8-year-old going to be to see Monet's water lilies.

I also enjoyed Susan Vreeland's essay "A Myth, a Museum and a Man" about getting behind the scenes at the Louvre and the man at the museum who helped her gather information for her novel in places where the public doesn't usually even get to see.

"We'll Never Have Paris" by Jennifer Coburn tells about her taking her mom to Paris so that they can spend more time together and how much her mom disliked Paris. This was another laugh out loud essay.

And the last essay in the book was one of my favorites "Thirty Four Things You Should Know About Paris" by Meg Waite Clayton talked about rainy days in Paris with lots of information about food and wine.  At the end of each essay, each author gave more information about themselves and their Paris travel - favorite book about Paris, best things to see in Paris, what you can skip and songs you like about Paris.

Overall, this is a fun book to read while you are dreaming about having your picture made at the Eiffel Tower and seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

Buy A Paris all Your Own at Amazon

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling.  She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends.  She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with her on Facebook.

Get even more book news in your inbox, sign up today! Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.

Review: The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown

by Susan Roberts

I love to travel and my favorite place to visit is Paris.  When I can't be there, I enjoy reading about this beautiful city.  The Light of Paris is a new book about the City of Lights.

The Light of Paris was the first book that I've read by Eleanor Brown. I enjoyed it so much that I just ordered her first book (The Weird Sisters) from Amazon.

This novel is told from two viewpoints in alternating chapters - Madeleine in 1999 and her grandmother Margie in 1919. Both women had so much in common because they were both being forced by their parents and society to conform to the norms of their times and to become someone different than wanted to be. Madeleine is trapped in a loveless marriage and has had to give up her dreams of being an artist because her husband and mother thought that it was a ridiculous waste of time. Margie had given up her dreams to be a writer and was being forced into marriage because her parents didn't want her to be a spinster. When Madeleine goes to visit her mother, she finds Margie's journals about the three months that she spent in Paris pursuing her dreams. Will reading Margie's journals give Madeleine the courage to make changes in her life?

Brown did a fantastic job with the two main characters. They are both very complex but sympathetic and have a lot in common despite the years that separate them.

One of my favorite parts of the novel were the descriptions of Paris during Margie's time there. I love Paris and I love reading books about that wonderful city. The author didn't disappoint me at all with the Paris that she wrote about.

Buy The Light of Paris from Amazon

(A free galley was provided by NetGalley for this review)

Susan Roberts, reviewer. Susan grew up in the Detroit area but after deciding that city life wasn't for her she moved to North Carolina after college. She and her husband have several acres of land and they enjoy gardening and canning vegetables in the summer. They travel extensively. Susan reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook or Twitter. 

Book info:
available formats: ebook and print (320 pages)
published: July 2016 by Penguin
ISBN13: 978-0399158919
genres: women's fiction, family life
source: Netgalley



Get even more book news in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/mHTVL. Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.