The Little Paris Bookshop: A Novel

The Little Paris Bookshop is a gem of a story written by Nina George. My book club chose this 2015 novel and the title drew me in immediately. I love to read any book written about or set in the City of Light. The bookshop referred in the title was a very unique bookshop—it was a barge moored on the Seine, filled with all sorts of books, as well as its proprietor, Jean Perdu, and two cats. Jean Perdu (Lost John) is a 50-something man who prescribes books to people to cure what ails them. Be it relationships, loves, family issues, politics, or work, Perdu knew the exact book to aid his customers in their quest for something they needed to heal or advance their lives.Quote describing Perdu's gift:Perdu used his ears, his eyes and his instincts. from a single conversation, he was able to discern what each soul lacked. to a certain degree, he could read from a body’s posture, its movements and its gestures, what was burdening or oppressing it. and finally, he had what his father had called transperception. “You can see and hear through most people’s camouflage. and behind it you see all the things they worry and dream about, and the things they lacked.”So the next time I travel to Paris, I will be looking out for this sweet boat waiting for me on the Seine. Oh, how I wish!Perdu is a wonderful helper to his customers, but his own life seemed very lonely and depressing. He lives in a building and interacts with some of his neighbors and concierge, but had suffered a tragic romance 20 years earlier and really had little social interaction or love life since then. Throughout the novel, George lets us know the circumstances of this great romance via Perdu’s recollections and a diary left by his lost love, Manon. One of the couples that live in his building are getting a divorce, and Perdu decides to bring the woman some books to help her heal and move on. As they talk and get to know each other, a bond forms and Perdu once again starts to feel his emotions and seems to want to love someone again.One of the other neighbors in Perdu’s building is popular author, Max, whom Perdu really did not know well or hold in high esteem. He had sold many books recently and was always recognized in public, but Perdu paid little attention to him. This author was younger than Perdu and seemed to look up to him regardless of Perdu’s treatment of him. After meeting with the soon to be divorcée, Perdu’s emotions were running high when he decided on the spur of the moment to unmoor the Literary Apothecary, and travel the canals south and find out what really happened to his lost love. Max happened to be nearby and jumps aboard. An extraordinary adventure begins!I don’t want to give any little thing away so I will stop where the real escapade commences. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book from beginning to end. Not only were there magnificent quotes on love and reading and books all throughout, but Ms. George is obviously a Hemingway fan. She mentions the writer at least four times (more than the one or two times for most), and I think she even got the idea for part of her story from Hemingway’s life. Let me just say that at one point in his life, Hemingway was in love with two women at the same time.Following are a few of the quotes I bookmarked as I read:We cannot decide to love. We cannot compel anyone to love us. There’s no secret recipe, only love itself. And we are at its mercy–there’s nothing we can do.Reading–an endless journey; a long, indeed never-ending journey that made one more temperate as well as more loving and kind.Whenever Monsieur Perdu looked at a book, he did not see it purely in terms of a story, minimum retail price and an essential balm for the soul; he saw freedom on wings of paper.“Saudade”: a yearning for one’s childhood, when the days would merge into one another and the passing of time was of no consequence. It is the sense of being loved in a way that will never come again. It is a unique experience of abandon. It is everything that words cannot capture.All the love, all the dead, all the people we’ve known. they are the rivers that feed our sea of souls. If we refuse to remember them, that sea will dry up too.The trouble is that so many people, most of them women, think they have to have a perfect body to be loved. But all it has to do is be capable of loving–and being loved . . .

Author Nina George is one of those people with an inner desire to solve the puzzle of love’s pain. She writes with earnest feeling but does it in a gentle manner that does not intimidate the reader. Her lessons on how love should feel and be expressed resonate deeply and the reader hardly notices it. Other writers also feel it but don’t have a clue on how to get it out.In “The Little Paris Bookshop,” George tells us about Jean Perdu, the proprietor of a book barge on the Seine, who has a unique presence about him. His enterprise has the title of “literary apothecary” because he can tell what ails a reader and prescribe a book that might provide a cure. Heartwarming is a term often overused but totally appropriate in this case. Perdu’s own broken heart bangs away and he hasn’t a clue how to stop its persistent thump. Twenty-one years prior his beloved, Manon, left him and, having never read her farewell letter, he doesn’t understand why. But he remains sensitive to the feelings of others.So he goes through life having many friends and acting as dispenser of healing thoughts for others. Manon dies, leaving even a greater void in his being. He meets Catherine, a discarded young woman, and is attracted to her, resulting in him opening Manon’s letter. He, is prompted, along with a young writer and Catherine, to set sail for the South of France to put his questions about Manon to rest. The story is particularly meaningful for the author, having suffered many of life’s disappointments herself, allowing her own deep feelings to be exposed. In her own exodus to South France she was also looking for warmth because “I was in sort of a living coma” and wanted to escape her own apathy.The themes are deeply personal to George and she relates with the reader in their authenticity. There are references to inspirational books, warming food, and the peace of beautiful surroundings. In fact, some good-looking recipes are included at the end of the book. It’s a book of strong emotions and healing adventures that bolster the readers’ own inner feelings. I highly recommend it as a tranquil respite from life’s disruptions.Schuyler T WallaceAuthor of TIN LIZARD TALES

I liked the author’s writing style. Jean Perdu was likable, good-hearted, well spoken. At first I was sympathetic to his heart break. Then I had to put the book down for a month and when I picked it up again found the river voyage way too long and tedious. I also failed to understand Manon’s love for two men going on for 5 years. Yes, I get cultural differences but I’m a practical person who lives in the real world. However, since it’s a novel I’m glad he had his resolution with Luc and found happiness with Catherine. The trials of life mean we need to make peace with regrets and find joy with those who come into our lives. Three stars and now I’m back to reading more non-fiction.

THE LITTLE PARIS BOOKSHOP, BY NINA GEORGEPUBLISHER: BROADWAY BOOKS; MARCH 22, 2016Are you a lover of books and reading? Do you love beautiful language and carefully chosen words? Do you enjoy romance mixed with humor, soul-searching and finding peace within? If any of those things appeal to you (and really, why wouldn’t they??), then The Little Paris Bookshop, by Nina George should be next on your reading list. I received this novel last week and had a long list of books already waiting to be read, however, a last-minute getaway to the beach prompted me to pull this one out and read first – and it was perfect. I sat on the deck about 15 yards from the waves breaking on the shore, absorbing every wonderfully written line, and this book was exactly what I needed.This story is centered around Monsieur Perdu, a bookseller that has transformed an old barge docked on the Seine into his literary apothecary. Monsieur Perdu has a gift of choosing the perfect novel for a customer based on what they are feeling and/or experiencing. He also will quickly tell a customer when a novel the are seeking is not the right novel for them to read. Monsieur Perdu goes about his life each day selling books from his barge, talking to people as needed, but lonely and heart-broken due to his great love, Manon, leaving him 21 years ago. When a newly divorced woman (Catherine) moves in nearby and Monsieur Perdu is pressured to donate furniture to the woman, he must face the room long closed off because of the memories of Manon still remaining. Catherine finds an a letter in the table, which Monsieur Perdu later confesses he received from Manon 21 years ago after her leaving, but never had the strength to open the letter. Once Monsieur Perdu finally opens and reads the letter, everything he has thought and felt for 21 years is shattered and turned upside down, prompting an amazing journey! Monsieur Perdu fires up the old barge and decides to leave his safe location on the Seine, with a young author, Max Jordan, who manages to jump aboard the barge, begging to come along to avoid the press and his writer’s block. Thus begins a fantastic adventure of encountering new people, building friendships, trading books for supplies, and mostly – facing one’s true feelings and being honest with themselves and others.I normally fly through novels, but not this one. Not that I wasn’t burning up the pages to find out what happens next, but there are so many lines in this novel that are so beautiful you will want to re-read them, and then reflect for a moment on what they mean to you. Moreover, I found myself going back to read something again pertaining to a character’s description, because they were all so unique and wonderful in their own ways. This book represents the regret and sadness that we all experience at some point, but most importantly, it represents the choice that we all have to overcome and find happiness. Each of us has the option to succumb to sorrow, and walk through this world each day without truly living. However, we also each have the choice to address and conquer what haunts us, and live each day to its fullest! This novel doesn’t have a typical fireworks happily ever after ending, but it will leave you feeling cheerful and delighted for the characters and each of their transformations from within. I recommend this fabulous novel to any reader, male or female, they wants to experience a beautifully written adventure and characters unlike they’ve encountered before! Nina George has written and incredible novel with The Little Paris Bookshop, and I cannot wait to read more from her in the future!Want to know more about the author? Visit: [...]P.S. Make sure to check out the link to the Literary Apothecary, it’s so cool!Dying to know more about this novel? Visit: [...]*I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

This was a delightful, heart-warming novel about the power of books to inspire, offer reflections upon life and people as well as escapism, and above all heal those who read them – especially if a person reads the right one. Enter the protagonist, Monsieur Perdu, a rather lost man who owns a floating bookshop on the Seine, a barge named Lulu, filled with 8000 books, which he gallantly tries to match to the right reader. You see, Perdu has a gift: calling himself the “literary apothecary”, he is able to find the exact book to cure almost any ailment or agitation of the heart and soul.Despite his gift for connecting stories and readers, Perdu cannot help himself or heal the broken heart he stubbornly nurses. A lonesome creature, he lives in a barren apartment, trapped in the past and the memories of the free-spirited and magnificent Manon, a married woman with whom he had a passionate affair over twenty years earlier and who left him with nary an explanation, only a letter which he has never read, he endures.It is not until an attractive neighbour, Catherine, convinces him to read Manon’s letter that he uproots himself, his barge and sails along the southern waterways of his country, determined to discover the whole story of which he possesses only the beginning and an end. Accompanied by a young bestselling author, Max Jordan, besieged with crippling doubt and unable to embark on his next work, and two contrary cats, Perdu encounters others on his journey, including a lovelorn Italian chef who becomes an intrinsic part of the motley crew.Perdu spends months cruising the rivers and learning more stories, dispensing books like currency as well as medicine, and encountering folk who challenge, embrace, and accept him. Passing through remote and popular villages, he’s encouraged to participate in rituals, traditions, dine at tables with families and, after so much water under the bridge (pun intended) step up and into the kind of life he only ever knew through his beloved books. As a consequence, Perdu undergoes a physical, emotional and psychological transformation, literally fleshing out his yet-to-be-completed story that ceased when Manon left.I thoroughly enjoyed this love-story/coming of middle age tale and the characters that people it as well as the wonderful cross-references to other literature, classical, contemporary and everything in between.

Bonjour Mesdames et messieurs! What? You knew this was coming, right? A writer who loves Paris finds an actual book written as a love letter to people who enjoy reading. It's heartbreaking, tender and hysterically funny. One could even compare it to a modern day Wizard of OZ.Monsieur Perdu is 50 years old and stuck in life. His paralysis comes from a broken heart. He once passionately loved a woman, though she was married (she and her husband had an agreement). But out of the blue she abandons Perdu leaving a sole letter in his apartment. A letter he would not open for 21 years while his life becomes brittle and empty. He can't even mention her by name, he loved her so completely, she is simple a breath (Ahh) if you listen to the audio version.("——’ s smell has gone.")So, Perdu tends to his loyal customers who've named him a literary apothecary from his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine. He has a gift for seeing, reading and hearing peoples' souls and can tell what each person needs to read at their precise moment in life. Each book is a prescription for them to move forward.("Books are like people, and people are like books. I’ll tell you how I go about it. I ask myself: Is he or she the main character in his or her life? What is her motive? Or is she a secondary character in her own tale? Is she in the process of editing herself out of her story, because her husband, her career, her children or her job are consuming her entire text?”)OR(“Books are more than doctors, of course. Some novels are loving, lifelong companions; some give you a clip around the ear; others are friends who wrap you in warm towels when you’ve got those autumn blues. And some… well, some are pink candy floss that tingles in your brain for three seconds and leaves a blissful void. Like a short, torrid love affair.”)A new occupant comes to the building, Catherine, who was ruthlessly thrown out by her husband with only the clothes on her back. When she arrives at 27 Rue Montagnard, Perdu looks after her cautiously as he feels himself drawn to her. But when they are finally eating dinner one night, it happens. Catherine not only stirs his heart, but she demands he read the 21 year old letter "——’ left for him.Another dagger strikes him when he reads it, learning his one true love left him because she was dying and she didn't want to burden him. She had hoped that he'd travel to see her because she couldn't travel anymore. Imagine how you would feel: is it too late?Hitting rock bottom, Perdu starts the floating bookstore's engine and begins his journey south to make peace. A cast of neurotic characters join him as he slowly begins to feel alive again.(Is there really no book that could teach me to play the song of life?)The whole novel is a metaphor for living. There are so many wonderful quotes, you may find yourself in tears. And no, don't roll your eyes at me men! This is a book especially for men.Let me share with everyone a passage that hit me like a brick. One that caused a deep stir within my own soul:"I read books— twenty at a time. Everywhere: on the toilet, in the kitchen, in cafés, on the metro. I do jigsaw puzzles that take up the whole floor, destroy them when I’ve finished and then start all over again. I feed stray cats. I arrange my groceries in alphabetical order. I sometimes take sleeping tablets. I take a dose of Rilke to wake up. I don’t read any books in which women like —— crop up. I gradually turn to stone. I carry on. The same every day. That’s the only way I can survive. But other than that, no, I do nothing."This was me. I've been reading non-stop for the past few months, avoiding life like Monsieur Perdu. And it took a book to make me realize this fact. Books can change your life. I highly recommend this soulful novel.

The aptly named Jean Perdu runs a "bookstore apothecary" at which he dispenses the books that will heal his customers' hidden wounds. Although he is gifted at helping others, he is unable to heal the most grievous loss of his life: the death of his former lover, Manon. Spontaneously, one day he unhooks his book-barge from the Seine and embarks, with his cats and some friends whom he picks up, on a trip down the rivers of France to come to terms with his past and to rekindle his connection to his emotional self.What I loved: The writing in the book (prose style, imagery) is lush and poetic, and the translator is obviously a talented writer as well. The book is gentle and easy as a summer afternoon in Provence. Characters are quirky and lovable, though also broken. The novel's themes of mourning, loneliness, healing and redemption will resonate with most readers. Anyone who loves books will find lots of goodies--wonderful quotes about the power of reading and books to transform our lives. The author herself is obviously very well-read, and I have added several books to my reading list as a result of reading this book. The descriptions of the natural world are beautiful. As an ode to the eternity of love, the book is wonderful.What doesn't work (or why I couldn't decide between 4 or 5 stars): The book includes two sections--one at the home of an old friend whose daughter has cancer, and one at a tango dance--that I found irrelevant to the plot. I felt that the young girl was used as a plot device in a really unsavory way--both too cute and exploitative. The novel would have been tighter with fewer episodes. Some will find parts of the novel too "twee" and sweet. Conversely, the sexual scenes are a jolt--totally don't fit the tone of the rest of the book. And finally, I found the ending disappointing, though readers seem to like it. Can you or can't you say goodbye to love? I think the novel is saying one thing, and then seems to say another.Nevertheless, I gave this book 5 stars because, as a reader, I thoroughly enjoyed this trip on a barge full of books.

I'm not sure how I can so strongly dislike a book that contains so many of the things I love: books, a bookstore, a book seller, France, and food. And it is a loving ode to books. This started out promising and was sprinkled with some good moments, but I forced myself to finish it. Every few chapters I wanted to stop. I must admit that I have been in a reading slump. I have not liked the last four books that I have read.Jean Pardue (John Lost--get it?) is a book seller with a broken heart. The love of his life, Manon, walked out on him over twenty years ago. She left a letter, which he put in a drawer unread. Then he sealed up her favorite room in his apartment and went on with his unhappy life. He owns a bookstore that is located on a moored barge. He has a special intuition for matching the perfect book to a person. He uses books to heal other people's emotions, but not his own. In helping a new neighbor, Jean ends up reading Manon's letter. He is gutted and decides to pull anchor and pilot his barge to her hometown. Like one of those road trip comedy movies, Jean picks up various emotionally wounded passengers along the way. I did not care for this plot line and sadly it takes up most of the book. I don't think it is a spoiler to say that Jean (and everyone he encounters on his journey) find whatever emotional peace they are looking for. The book is also interspersed with Manon's travel diary, which gives some insight into her and her choices.People describe the writing in this book as beautiful and poetic. I found it to be too flowery and emotionally overwrought. There is a heavy dose of romance in this book, which is not my favorite genre. The story is also long--almost 400 pages--and was in want of some good editing. I also found the ending too neat, tidy, and happy to be believable. I don't want to be too specific, as that would be a spoiler, but Jean's blossoming relationship with Manon's family is just ridiculous. Who are these sainted people? There was an excerpt of the author's new book at the end. I did not read it. Maybe I am just a jaded and cranky old bat, but I did not enjoy this book.

I read then, put it down for another time, kept reading and lived the lives along with Jean. Engrossing, emotional, loving Provence....could smell the lavender. Loved your book Nina George. Thank you.

I loved this novel, have recommended it widely, and even my husband, a Harry Bosch fan, enjoyed its many charms, googling boat trips down the canals of France, and tango for beginners! I have purchased books on George's list. When I think of novels dealing with grieving I always go to 'The Accidental Tourist', like this, a journey of self discovery and of coming to terms with loss. Of course this is not a Tyler, but it is poignant and funny and has a whole cast of delightful characters. Buy and enjoy!

Nice

I loved the book. It was one of my favorites of her. I have 3 books of her, counting with this. I first knew her writing when i found a book at my work. Its very easy to read. I really recommend!!

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