NATIONAL BESTSELLERA missing person, a grieving family, a curious clue: a half-finished manuscript set in ParisOnce a week, I chase men who are not my husband. . . . When eccentric novelist Robert Eady abruptly vanishes, he leaves behind his wife, Leah, their daughters, and, hidden in an unexpected spot, plane tickets to Paris.Hoping to uncover clues–and her husband–Leah sets off for France … clues–and her husband–Leah sets off for France with her girls. Upon their arrival, she discovers an unfinished manuscript, one Robert had been writing without her knowledge . . . and that he had set in Paris. The Eady girls follow the path of the manuscript to a small, floundering English-language bookstore whose weary proprietor is eager to sell. Leah finds herself accepting the offer on the spot.
As the family settles into their new Parisian life, they trace the literary paths of some beloved Parisian classics, including Madeline and The Red Balloon, hoping more clues arise. But a series of startling discoveries forces Leah to consider that she may not be ready for what solving this mystery might do to her family–and the Paris she thought she knew.
Charming, haunting, and triumphant, Paris by the Book follows one woman’s journey as she writes her own story, exploring the power of family and the magic that hides within the pages of a book.
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Liam Callanan’s PARIS BY THE BOOK is much more than an elegiac portrait of an artist who has vanished. Here we witness the sacrifices and yearnings of the ones left behind as they continue to love, live, and flourish. Like James Salter’s LIGHT YEARS, Callanan depicts the once seemingly simple conditions of a young marriage and what it takes to let such conditions go.
Couldn’t get through it
Bookshops and Paris? Im in! When a Milwaukee father, known for occasional absences, doesn’t return, his distraught wife and two daughters follow their dream and head to Paris. When an opportunity for a partnership in an eclectic bookshop is offered, complete with accommodations on the floor above, they jump at it. The depressing part of this book is that the father, who is a writer, has a psychological disconnect, leaving his family in a state of grief during his latest and longest absence, because they don’t know if he’s dead or alive. So, far from my wanting this to be a fun time in Paris, with all its flavor and vibes, this is not an uplifting story.
I bought Liam Callanan’s Paris by the Book simply because he leaves in Wisconsin and I want to support local authors. Friends of mine also recommended his works. I enjoyed this book a lot.
It is the story of a Leah, who’s husband disappears and the only clue he leaves is plane tickets to Paris. Intending on staying for a while, she finds herself not able to tear herself or her two daughters away. They all see him (Robert) in the men they see around the city.
In many books, the protagonist is strong and determined. Readers want that. However, that is not how people work. I found Mr. Callanan’s portrayal of a woman with doubts and mind changes real, but without sending me on a confusing track of a narrator that changes her mind too much. His main character is filled with doubts, but it is done in a well-written way.
I also found that Mr. Callanan did a masterful job of describing Paris with out burying the reader in details. Also well done with how he handled the characters speaking French. He was able to provide realness while also getting what was said in French across.
I enjoyed this family drama set in a city that I now really want to visit. It makes me hope and believe that I can go there and find Leah and her two daughters running a small book store (though not well).
Interesting plot but a little too slow moving and meandering. Could have been shorter.
Hard to get into, but once I did, I was interested in what would happen next.
Loved this book.
Definitely an original; characters were realistic. In some ways it’s a sad story; in others it is a beautiful telling of a very real relationship. Will stay with you for a while.
One of my favorite books 2019. And I am a writer! Brilliantly conceived, magnificent execution, packed with details of the American in Paris, the nostalgia of bookstores, a mysterious disappearance of a husband, and the wrecked wife and children finding their footing in a world that makes no sense, except following an old dream to a new, wiser ending. Wonderfully packed with energy, delightful characters, and the frailty of our human emotions.
I enjoyed the story although I did find it hard to follow at times. Following the husband/dad wa a bit of a challenging concept. All told though, a good read.
I visited Paris many years ago. Took high school French and considered becoming a French teacher in college. My recently deceased book club friend had lived there for a time. She would have loved this book.
Rather depressing and unrealistic.
Convoluted, ridiculous story. I kept hoping it would get better.
I had no idea how it would end. I had to keep reading to find out if he ever returned. I need to know …why?
Boring, tedious, arrogant.
Not really about Paris. It’s a family story with a love of writing and books.
This book takes a seemingly routine family and sets them down in extraordinary circumstances. It is narrated in the first person by a wanna be film maker whose husband deserts her under mysterious circumstances and their two daughters. The three of them end up in Paris where she runs an English-language book shop and the girls acclimate surprisingly quickly. In addition to adjusting to their new lives and learning to adjust to all things Parisian, the question of the husband’s/father’s whereabouts permeates throughout. The ending is surprising and satisfying. But what makes this book special is that the first person woman narrator is written by a MAN! And very credibly at that.
“Every book in a bookstore is a fresh beginning. Every book is the next iteration of a very old story. Every bookstore, therefore, is like a safe-deposit box for civilization.”
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I have been reading other First Readers’ reviews, and am surprised that my reaction to the book was so different than so many others… I found the pacing to work for this novel – it is slower to build than many family dramas, but I felt that contributed to the feeling that Leah’s life was floundering as she and her girls tried to come to terms with their disappeared father. I found Leah frustrating – Robert WAY more so (I have sympathy for him, particularly as his story unfolds, but cannot bring myself to see him as anything other than painfully selfish) – but in a way that felt genuine and believable. I cannot imagine finding myself in her situation (or her life, pre-disappearance, frankly) but felt like she was presented as someone desperately trying to hold everything together despite the world’s insistence that doing so was not, ultimately, a process that was entirely within her control.
My run-away favorites in the book were her daughters – I enjoyed watching them develop as people and characters. I also thought the supporting cast (George and the twins and Madame especially) was generally quite strong. Declan and Eleanor occasionally got on my nerves, perhaps (I suspect) because they felt too earnestly, clearly single-minded and focused – I rather liked the more rambling personal style of the Parisians… I also enjoyed the bookstore and Paris as characters in and of themselves. The story unfolds in an origami-like fashion, and I thought that using narrative and manuscript and organization of the bookstore (and city) references helped that feel somehow more coherent for me. (I know, that sounds odd – but it’s true nevertheless.)
It was a bit of a rambling narrative, but I quite enjoyed it as such and will definitely be on the lookout for more from Liam Callanan. His style may meander more than some readers enjoy, but I for one found it to be as pleasurable as a meander through the city itself…
My review copy was provided through the Penguin First to Read program.