Reviews

The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman

sarahs_readingparty's review against another edition

4.0

Wonderful book! This story is rich and endearing...imagining Solange, Alex, Marthe, and the world of challenges in the the early years of WWII is easy. What a lovely book! A real page turner.

laboulaing's review against another edition

4.0

When I first heard about The Velvet Hours, a new book by Alyson Richman, I have to admit I was like, "Great, another book about World War II. Another book about Paris. Cliche AF." But seeing the dozens of four- and five-star reviews on Goodreads, I decided to take a chance. And this book truly impressed me. If you're interested in excellent storytelling, historical fiction, Paris during the Belle Epoque, or just getting lost in a great book, check out The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman.

The Velvet Hours is set in two tumultuous and iconic periods of Parisian history: the Belle Epoque and World War II. The main character, a young woman named Solange, discovers that her father is adopted, and that her real grandmother is a rich, elegant woman named Marthe de Florian. Solange's father encourages Solange to spend time with Marthe to distract his daughter from the passing of her mother, and because Solange wants to be a writer, and her father knows that Marthe has had an interesting life. Over the course of a year and a half, Solange gets to know her new grandmother, and Marthe de Florian regales her granddaughter with stories of her life, set against the sumptuous background of the Belle Epoque.

The narrative flips between Solange's first-person narrative in 1939-1940 and Marthe de Florian's third-person reminiscences. She tells Solange about her humble beginnings as a seamstress in Montmartre, her adolescent days performing onstage, and eventually becoming a woman of the demimonde--that half world occupied by courtesans, mistresses, and the like. Marthe meets and engages in a decades-long affair with a rich man named Charles, discovers her love for art and beauty, and becomes an elegant, accomplished woman who turns her life into a work of art.

Marthe's luxurious descriptions are punctuated by Solange's coming-of-age story in the midst of the beginning of World War II. Solange discovers she's half Jewish, and meets and falls in love with a Jewish boy with ties to her mother. The two have to navigate a drastically changing world, the threat of the German occupation, bombing, conscription, and the looming presence of the Holocaust (which we know, but they don't). It's an utterly breathtaking novel, wide in scope and rich with detail about both of these very different periods of Parisian history.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it! The writing was simple, straightforward, and yet rich. Richman is a true storyteller; getting lost in this book was so easy, but I never felt like the novel suffered from cliche, which is such an accomplishment given the subject matter! I loved getting to know Marthe and Solange as women and as granddaughter and grandmother. But the best part of this book was something I didn't know until I read the afterword: that Marthe de Florian was a real woman.

This book is actually based on a true story. In 2010, Marthe de Florian's apartment was discovered after being sealed for 70 years. Inside was a perfectly-preserved apartment from the Belle Epoque. It looks like a time capsule, and it's utterly breathtaking. Above the mantel was also a portrait of Marthe de Florian painted by the famous artist Giovanni Boldini. Richman's inspiration for the novel, which takes some liberties with history, was this "time capsule" apartment and the demimondaine Marthe de Florian. Learning that it was based on a true story made this novel that much more special. Imagine being able to walk through an apartment looking like this! Let alone living in it...

I would recommend The Velvet Hours for anyone who loves history, the Belle Epoque era of Paris, or an excellently told story, even if it does veer a little from the actual version of events!

I received this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

isapizza's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

suvata's review against another edition

3.0

Read for Litsy Markup Postal Book Club (#LMPBC) Round 5 - Group J.

I’m purposely being vague about this book because I want the other members of this group to be surprised when they read it. I would give this WWII novel 3.5 stars. I really like how it was told from two perspectives: a grandmother and her granddaughter.

cordillia's review against another edition

2.0

אכזבה גדולה. אחרי כל הסופרלטיבים, לא ציפיתי לרומן כל כך שטחי במסווה של רומן היסטורי.
אכן, הסיפור החדשותי העומד מאחורי הרומן שטוותה אליסון ריצ'מן - מעניין ומסעיר, אך כדי להתרשם ממנו ומהציור המופלא שצייר ג'ובאני בולדיני, די לחפש מידע בגוגל אודות הדירה הפריזאית שננטשה למשך 70 שנה והתגלתה לפתע בשנת 2010.
הרומן של ריצ'מן לטעמי זול ומקושקש. לא אהבתי את שתי הדמויות הראשיות: מרת דה פלוריאן מתוארת כאשה נרקיסיסטית, חובבת יופי ותענוגות, אשר השיגה את עושרה ואת כל הישגיה בחיים באמצעות גופה, יופיה, וכישורי הפיתוי והקסם האישי שלה. לדעתה האומללות הגדולה ביותר עבור אשה היא להיוולד לא יפה, וקשה להימנע מהמחשבה כי גם הקשר הבוסרי שנובט בינה לבין נכדתה סולאנג' לא היה מבשיל לולא היתה סולאנג' נערה יפהפיה, לשביעות רצון סבתה.
סולאנג', הדמות הראשית השניה, נושאת חן בעיני סבתה, לא רק בשל יופיה, אלא גם בשל העובדה כי הקשר בין השתיים מבוסס על הערצה חד צדדית של סולאנג' לסבתה, ועל כך שלאורך התקופה הקצרה בה השתיים בקשר, סולאנג' יושבת מול סבתה, מקשיבה לסיפורי ההצלחה של סבתה בעולם האהבה, המין, אספנות האומנות, והעושר, ורק מתלהבת מסבתה, כותבת בשצף קצף את סיפורה של סבתה במחברתה האישית (על מנת להפכו לרומן בבוא העת) ושתי הנשים היפהפיות יושבות יחד ומעריצות בעיניים חולמניות את מרת דה פלוריאן, הקורטיזנה המהממת ואהובת הגברים. איזה בסיס נפלא לקשר בין סבתא לנכדה.
מעבר לכך, סולאנג' היא דמות משעממת עד מוות. היא מספרת כמחצית מהסיפור בגוף ראשון, אך איננו יודעים עליה דבר. היא אף פעם לא מתווכחת על שום דבר, לא נלחמת, לא יוזמת, לא מביעה רגשות סוערים. היא ילדה טובה, מושלמת וחמודה, שכולם אוהבים, והיצור המשעמם ביותר עלי אדמות.
זה הספר הראשון של אליסון ריצ'מן שקראתי. איני יודעת אם ספריה הקודמים טובים יותר, אך לפחות לפי הספר הזה, מדובר בסופרת שלא יודעת להסעיר את הקורא, לרגש ולטלטל. יצאתי אדישה ומאוכזבת.

ambhall's review against another edition

4.0

Beautifully written with just enough suspense that I read it in one sitting. It was a delight to learn, after finishing it, that this novel was based on a real apartment abandoned for 70 years.

lovelyoutliers's review against another edition

5.0

The Velvet Hours grows from an extraordinary event - the discovery of a perfectly preserved Parisian apartment in the 1990s that had remained undisturbed since the Second World War. This book is a beautifully written imagination of the life of the woman who owned the apartment, set in 1880s-1900, and her granddaughter, who gets to know her in the lead up to the war. Wonderfully written story and fully formed characters.

bookhero6's review against another edition

4.0

When Marthe de Florian's Belle Époque Parisian apartment, closed for 70 years, was discovered and reopened in 2010, it opened a world of literary possibility, and Alyson Richman has taken wonderful advantage of that, giving us a beautiful fictional account of Madame de Florian and her granddaughter's lives. It straddles the Belle Époque and World War II and gives life to possibility. A really enjoyable story.

samanthaliss's review against another edition

4.0

I really like her writing and enjoyed this story based on a real woman and her painting in Paris and the way it went back and forth from the late 1800s to the 1930s.

kiercarnahan's review against another edition

3.0

This book was ok. It wasn't what I expected. It seemed like it didn't have a real focus or point but it was written beautifully.