A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE The secret daughter of a French politician and a famous actress drops the startling revelation that will shatter her family in this beguiling debut novel of intrigue and betrayal.NAMED ONE OF SUMMER’S BEST BOOKS BY The Skimm • Marie Claire • LitHub • Subway Book Review • Paperback ParisMargot Louve is a secret: the child of a longstanding affair between an … Paris
Margot Louve is a secret: the child of a longstanding affair between an influential French politician with presidential ambitions and a prominent stage actress. This hidden family exists in stolen moments in a small Parisian apartment on the Left Bank.
It is a house of cards that Margot—fueled by a longing to be seen and heard—decides to tumble. The summer of her seventeenth birthday, she meets the man who will set her plan in motion: a well-regarded journalist whose trust seems surprisingly easy to gain. But as Margot is drawn into an adult world she struggles to comprehend, she learns how one impulsive decision can threaten a family’s love with ruin, shattering the lives of those around her in ways she could never have imagined.
Exposing the seams between private lives and public faces, The Margot Affair is a novel of deceit, desire, and transgression—and the exhilarating knife-edge upon which the danger of telling the truth outweighs the cost of keeping secrets.
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The Margot of the title is the teenaged love child of a French actress and a married politician who tires of being her parents’ secret and outs the relationship in the press. The novel is full of complicated relationships, all of which become even more difficult because of Margot’s impetuous decision.
Set in Paris, the book is a love-letter to the City of Lights with vivid descriptions of its neighborhoods and parks, its food and drink, and its traditions and culture. Lemoine writes beautifully and her words draw you into Margot’s world. Part coming-of-age story, part family drama, The Margot Affair can be frustrating at times – the pacing is slow and it’s not a story where a lot happens but things pick up considerably in part two. I wasn’t sure how Lemoine would resolve Margot’s predicament but the ending was satisfying and felt true to the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley, Hogarth (Penguin Random House) and the author for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for my unbiased review.
Very disappointing, especially the ending.
I enjoyed the book. It was well written, entertaining and I cared about what happened to the heroine
I’m still crying with that ending, especially Anouk’s words were beautiful.
The story of Margot wasn’t easy, she really went through so many things that I’m not sure how she was able to keep walking, she was a great heroine in a way that she was very mature and strong for her age, sometimes I even forgot how old she was. Her mother wasn’t easy, she was not very nurturing and Margot felt the need to seek advice and help from other people.
I felt very sad for Margot as I was learning more about her. she was very lonely, she didn’t have many friends, she was always seeking the approval or the acceptance of her parents maybe that’s why she always felt and crave affection and love, she didn’t felt beautiful, a lot of people betrayed her trust hurting her in the worst way. she only wanted a family, a father that will care for her always.
“When I asked you to stay with your wife, it was before meeting the other love of my life”
The secondary characters were great, Juliette, Mathilde, Theo, David, and Brigitte. One of my favorite characters was Madame Lapierre, she really surprised me in many ways, I didn’t expect to like her and at the end, she really was a lady.
Worst moment of the book, When Bridgitte spoke with Margot.
Many things to say about The Margot Affair, it was steady, I felt a melancholy feeling around the story at all times, I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, it was suspenseful in many ways but at the same time, it was dramatic and with a lot of misunderstandings. I always felt like too much “silence” was slowly killing Margot.
Overall I really love it and I’m thankful to the author that in the end, she gave justice to Margot, it was necessary and so well deserved!
The Margot Affair by Sanae Lemoine is an excellent literary fiction novel that packs so much into just one novel.
Margot is the main character. We as the reader get to see her circumstances, visions, interpretations, and viewpoints through her: a teenager. With her perceptions, we can follow along as she evolves, grows, and changes through her discoveries and mistakes. She is flawed, but she is fascinating. To see her filter and digest these decisions, revelations, and acceptances feels as if we are peeking into her soul.
Fundamental themes of: love, loss, acceptance, relationships, marriages, forgiveness, mistakes, a desire to belong, and coming of age are all at the heart of this book. What better subjects are there that we all can identify with at one level or another? Beautiful characters, descriptions, prose, and pace lend this novel the complexity that it deserves.
5/5 stars
Thank you Random House Publishing Group for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.