Paris in July, 2024 - The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

Today is the French National Day, congratulations to all the French people. Believe it or not, this is my first post for this challenge. July has been very busy, reading very slow and I had no time to catch up with this my favourite challenge. Thank you so much Emma, at Word and Peace, for hosting the challenge. I do hope to catch up at the latter part of the month.

Only yesterday did I finish my first book about Paris and France, The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl. It is the kind of book I needed to read now. A charming novel about Stella, an American girl, somewhat at odds with life. She has grown up with her mother, who never revealed the name of her father. The only clue, if it is a clue, is a painting of a man that her mother held on to. When her mother dies, Stella inherits some money that has to go for a trip to Paris. She knew her mother lived there when she was young, but has no idea why the inheritance is dedicated to a trip for herself.

Stella lingers on in Paris until one day she finds a second hand dress that changes her life. Once she wears it, she feels different. It is a design by Christian Dior, is very expensive, but Stella decides to spend her last money on the dress. The owner of the shop gives her some instruction on where to go and what to do. If she does not like the dress, she will give back the money.

Stella follows the instructions of the lady and ventures into Paris life. Slowly, she adapts to the French style of doing things. Discovering the flavours of food and drink, Shakespeare & Company, and, to her own surprise, all of a sudden she has friends. Her benefactor Jules, almost adopts her and for the first time in her life she feels she has a family.

This is the basic theme of the book, as well as Stella's search for the paintings of a certain Victorine Merurent who modelled for Édouard Manet, among others. Stella finds out that she also did paint and exhibited several of her painting. It seems that her paintings disappeared after her death.

Reichl gives us a gourmet and historical tour of Paris and France. You should not be hungry when you read the book. The descriptions of the food is watering your mouth, the wine is so well described you wish you had a glass in your hand. The search for Victorine's story and her paintings is interesting. I had to look her up, and as was often the case, as a woman she had to fight for her craft, and when she was gone it was forgotten.

You also get a good doses of books, literature and authors, some real authors, who, as well as other real persons, figure in the book. You follow Stella when she changes into a totally different person, a real person in comparison to her former life. Of course, her story and everything that happens to her is a fairy tale story, and I doubt that all these things could happen in real life. Maybe this is the charm with the book, the mixture of what could be real and could not. It is an easy read, it gives you hints on what to do in Paris, and I did note down a few tips of restaurants and hotels to check up for a future visit.

Paris in July - BINGO

With this book I managed to cover six spots on the bingo card. I have still to figure out how to put a cross on the document, so in the meantime, here are the spots.

First line: Paris in title - Book set in France

Second line: French Food - French Fashion

Third line: Travels in France

Fourth line: French Art

A good start I would say.