The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

 

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl.

Published 2nd May 2024 by Magpie.

From the cover of the book:

Ripping open the envelope, she read Celia's last words to her. There was just one line written on the paper: 'Go to Paris.'

The last word anyone would use to describe Stella St. Vincent is adventurous. She's perfectly comfortable with the familiar, strict routines of her life as a copyeditor in New York. Or at least, she is until she receives a mysterious note from her late mother and a one-way plane ticket to Paris.

Alone and overwhelmed in a foreign city, Stella avoids new people and ventures out as little as possible. But then she meets Jules, an octogenarian art collector with very different ideas about how she should spend her time in the French capital. And to start with, there's a vintage Dior dress with her name on it.

Somewhere between the cramped shelves of Shakespeare and Company bookshop, the crisp tablecloths of the Brasserie Les Deux Magots and a pile of discarded paintings at a busy flea market, long-buried truths about Stella's own past begin to emerge. Soon she starts to wonder if there might not have been more to her mother's suggestion than she first suspected...

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Stella St. Vincent's tumultuous childhood has shaped her into an adult who only feels safe with a life of order and routine. The comfortable little existence she has carved out for herself as a copy editor in New York takes an unexpected turn when her estranged mother dies and leaves her a modest bequest and a one way plane ticket to Paris, accompanied by the instruction that she is not to return home until all the money has been spent.

Alone in  a strange city, Stella is afraid to push herself out of her comfort zone. Keeping to her basic hotel room, she only ventures out to visit some of the more famous tourist sites, and eat inexpensive, plain food - until chance takes her into a little dress shop, where she tries on a stunning vintage Dior dress... and feels herself transformed. 

Stella's Paris adventure is really about to begin, and with it she will go on a journey of self-discovery that encompasses all the delights the city has to offer - especially when it comes to food, fashion, art, and love.

The Paris Novel is an enchanting book about one young woman's adventure in glamorous 1980s Paris, where she finds out, not only, a lot about herself, but also about the complicated woman who was her mother. At a loss to understand why the woman she felt very little connection with has sent her to Paris, Stella's trip starts small, but a vintage Dior dress sets her on a path that immerses her in new sights, sounds, smells, and tastes - and brings her into contact with a host of new people who become friends... and something more.

Woven among the sumptuous threads of gourmet food and wine, beautiful dresses, and a charming sojourn in the magical environs of the Shakespeare and Company bookshop, Reichl conjures lovely storylines around friendship and family (both blood and found), which touch the emotional sweet spot to perfection. I also loved the treasure hunt thread to the story that has Stella delving into the history of a woman who was the muse to several famous artists, and whose own paintings (and reputation) have been lost to time.

There is a delightful whimsical quality to this novel that comes from the way Reichl blends fact and fiction to paint Stella as an Alice in Wonderland character who dives down the rabbit hole to discover a world she has never experienced before - and with Stella I went down a lot of rabbit holes of my own about the real characters and places that are part of this story. Warm, funny, poignant, and full of delicious food, this book is utterly entrancing! I adored it!

The Paris Novel is available to buy now in paperback and ebook formats.

Thank you to Magpie for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Ruth Reichl, Gourmet's editor in chief, is the author of the best-selling memoirs Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me with Apples, and Garlic and Sapphires, and the forthcoming Not Becoming My Mother and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way. 

She is executive producer of the two-time James Beard Award-winning Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie, which airs on public television across the country, and the editor of the Modern Library Food Series. Before coming to Gourmet, she was the restaurant critic for the New York Times, receiving two James Beard Awards for her work. She lectures frequently on food and culture.