Julie's Review: The Paris Hours

Author: Alex George
Series: None
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: 266
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line:
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Summary: One day in the City of Light. One night in search of lost time. Paris between the wars teems with artists, writers, and musicians, a glittering crucible of genius. But amidst the dazzling creativity of the city’s most famous citizens, four regular people are each searching for something they’ve lost. Camille was the maid of Marcel Proust, and she has a secret: when she was asked to burn her employer’s notebooks, she saved one for herself. Now she is desperate to find it before her betrayal is revealed. Souren, an Armenian refugee, performs puppet shows for children that are nothing like the fairy tales they expect. Lovesick artist Guillaume is down on his luck and running from a debt he cannot repay—but when Gertrude Stein walks into his studio, he wonders if this is the day everything could change. And Jean-Paul is a journalist who tells other people’s stories, because his own is too painful to tell. When the quartet’s paths finally cross in an unforgettable climax, each discovers if they will find what they are looking for. Told over the course of a single day in 1927, The Paris Hours takes four ordinary people whose stories, told together, are as extraordinary as the glorious city they inhabit. ~amazon.com



Review: Here's the thing about great writers, they don't spell it all out for you they make you put the puzzle pieces together yourself. Alex George is a great writer because in The Paris Hours he leads you down a path but then leaves it up to you to chose what you think it all implies.

We have 4 different stories at the beginning of the novel that are very separate from each other: Jean-Paul who seeks to tell other stories because he can't confront the pain of his own; Camille who is in search of a book that her old employer kept because she's fearful for what it will reveal; Souren who tells his story through his puppet shows and Guillaume who owes the wrong people money and is trying to scrape up the money by selling the only painting that is significant to him emotionally.

Each of their stories is about love, pain, loss and survival but in just very different experiences. Each of them showcases their decisions whether during war, during employment, during a love affair and during marriage. The story that impacted me the most was Souren's because his what he went through and saw during the war. That doesn't mean that each of the other stories isn't impactful because they most definitely are but his is the one that sticks with me the most weeks after reading the novel. 

I wasn't sure how all of these stories were going to intersect but Mr. George brings them all together in such a way that wasn't expected but was so beautiful, I couldn't imagine it ending any other way.

I have read all of Mr. George's other novel and he really never disappoints, except that he needs to write quicker. 😀 If you haven't read him, you must and any of his books will be wonderful.



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Julie's Review: Setting Free the Kites

Author: Alex George
Series: None
Publication Date: February 21, 2017
Publisher: Putnam Books
Pages: 336
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: A heart-wrenching story about the friendships that we have and hold onto
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: For Robert Carter, life in his coastal Maine hometown is comfortably predictable. But in 1976, on his first day of eighth grade, he meets Nathan Tilly, who changes everything. Nathan is confident, fearless, impetuous—and fascinated by kites and flying. Robert and Nathan’s budding friendship is forged in the crucible of two family tragedies, and as the boys struggle to come to terms with loss, they take summer jobs at the local rundown amusement park. It’s there that Nathan’s boundless capacity for optimism threatens to overwhelm them both, and where they learn some harsh truths about family, desire, and revenge. Unforgettable and heart-breaking, Setting Free the Kites is a poignant and moving exploration of the pain, joy, and glories of young friendship. ~amazon.com  

Review: In the way that Setting Free the Kites begins, you know there is tragedy in the pages that follow but you also know that there is hope. Robert is a lonely 8th grade boy when he meets Nathan Tilly and his life becomes that much better. Once they meet they are inseparable and the best of friends.

Robert has lived an isolated life for a couple of reasons: everyone thinks his family is well off because they own the amusement park outside of time and he's got a brother who is sick and slowly dying. Robert doesn't know what it's like to be the focus of his parents because it's always been about Liam. Robert doesn't begrudge his brother but he also thinks of himself as invisible. This doesn't effect their relationship because Robert is often in Liam's room listening to the punk bands of the late 70s. It really isn't his choice in music but it makes Liam happy to share it and explain it. Once Nathan enters their lives they spend even more time listening to Liam's music and with Nathan he has a rapt audience.

Nathan is everything that Robert isn't: he's a dreamer and a daredevil. He loves to push the limits and doesn't think anything isn't out of reach. He forces Robert out of his comfort zone by challenging him to do things he would have never done before like exploring the old, deserted paper mill.

What Mr. George does so well is weaving hope in with the despair. He also highlights how important and influential our childhood friendships are to us throughout our lives. How they shape us for our adult lives. He shows that life doesn't always pave us an easy path but with perseverance and a healthy outlook on life, you can overcome it.

If you are looking for a novel that will make you want to call your closest childhood friend, then pick up Alex George's wonderful novel, Setting Free the Kites.

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Julie's Review: A Good American

Summary: An uplifting novel about the families we create and the places we call home. It is 1904. When Frederick and Jette must flee her disapproving mother, where better to go than America, the land of the new? Originally set to board a boat to New York, at the last minute, they take one destined for New Orleans instead ("What's the difference? They're both new"), and later find themselves, more by chance than by design, in the small town of Beatrice, Missouri. Not speaking a word of English, they embark on their new life together. Beatrice is populated with unforgettable characters: a jazz trumpeter from the Big Easy who cooks a mean gumbo, a teenage boy trapped in the body of a giant, a pretty schoolteacher who helps the young men in town learn about a lot more than just music, a minister who believes he has witnessed the Second Coming of Christ, and a malevolent, bicycle-riding dwarf. A Good American is narrated by Frederick and Jette's grandson, James, who, in telling his ancestors' story, comes to realize he doesn't know his own story at all. From bare-knuckle prizefighting and Prohibition to sweet barbershop harmonies, the Kennedy assassination, and beyond, James's family is caught up in the sweep of history. Each new generation discovers afresh what it means to be an American. And, in the process, Frederick and Jette's progeny sometimes discover more about themselves than they had bargained for. Poignant, funny, and heartbreaking, A Good American is a novel about being an outsider-in your country, in your hometown, and sometimes even in your own family. It is a universal story about our search for home. ~amazon.com

Review:  How does a Brit write the quintessential American novel? Easy, he's an immigrant himself and has a love for this country that is evident in his writing.  A Good American is a novel that one won't forget and will come back to again and again. I was immediately swept up in the love story of Frederick and Jette. How could any girl resist a man who sang Opera? It is this love and devotion to each other that sets the journey of this family on their way to America. The story is told by the grandson of Frederick and Jette, James. For me, he was the perfect storyteller. He was honest and flawed.

What develops is a family that has trials and tribulations for generations but yet finds that the strength to persevere comes from the ties they have to each other. What binds them together is their history and in the end their love for one another. We see 3 generations of this family through James' eyes as he reflects back on life and how their family came to be in Beatrice, Missouri. The family experiences many of the major American historical events personally and in ways that will sometimes change the path of their lives. There are two things that hold constant: music and food. I loved how these two things were an integral part of their lives; one because of Frederick and the other because of Jette.

There are several moments in the novel when I found myself smiling and laughing reading one paragraph and the next paragraph my heart was torn apart. It is a rare author who can make you feel different emotions so quickly without making it feel like a ploy; Alex George does it extremely well.

I can't say enough great things about this book! I didn't really cry throughout the book, but as I closed the book and thought about my own grandmother(s) and grandfather(s), I found myself moved to tears. It is the kind of book that will inspire you to look into your own family's history and to start questioning your own place in your family. I could gush and gush about this book, but seriously just go and read it for yourself. I'm certain you will agree with me.

Mr. George also has a wonderful playlist on his website that speaks to the importance of music throughout the book. If you are looking for a truly remarkable novel that touches on family, love and American history, then look no further than A Good American. This is one book that I will be pushing on people to read. (I already told my dad to download it to his Kindle).


Final Take: 5/5