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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
What can be more empowering to a woman than doing what they want when the world is against them? Both Madeleine and Margie didn’t belong in the life they were born into. They wanted more.
Madeleine visits Paris as a chaperone and soon her cousin leaves her behind doing her own thing. The people she meets, the places she visits, and the experiences she have forever change her view on life. I loved seeing the ins and outs of Paris through her eyes. The clubs, the Libe, and the café’s that Madeleine visited came alive to me while reading The Light of Paris. I could hear the jazz music, I could see the couples dancing, I could envision the art she was seeing, and I could hear the French language being spoken as she made her way around Paris. Eleanor Brown did an amazing job bring the city to life by using words. I am still on the fence about how I feel about the rest of her story. Was she destined to live that type of life? I had hope that things would be different for her but I suppose it was what had to happen. It wasn’t a horrible life she lived it was just so different from what she and I had hoped for her.
Margie… she had different problems. Her husband was horrible to her. There were times I felt like he was abusing her verbally. Her self esteem was so low. Then she went home to her mother. Her mother was not much better. I cannot imagine not having a mother who doesn’t support and protect you. Margie finds the support she needs in unlikely people. The friends don’t push her to make decisions or tell her what to do; they listen and just spend time with her. I loved her sharing of her grandmother’s, Madeleine, journals and how they lifted her up and showed her that there was more to life than what she was currently life she was living. I feel like those journals really pushed her to do more. Her ending was wonderful and perfect. I was hoping for an ending similar to that for her.
I finished reading The Light of Paris and just sat and thinking about how wonderful the story and characters were. There is so much more that I would like to share about this book but it would contain spoilers and I don’t share spoilers. Absolutely go get a copy.
Madeleine visits Paris as a chaperone and soon her cousin leaves her behind doing her own thing. The people she meets, the places she visits, and the experiences she have forever change her view on life. I loved seeing the ins and outs of Paris through her eyes. The clubs, the Libe, and the café’s that Madeleine visited came alive to me while reading The Light of Paris. I could hear the jazz music, I could see the couples dancing, I could envision the art she was seeing, and I could hear the French language being spoken as she made her way around Paris. Eleanor Brown did an amazing job bring the city to life by using words. I am still on the fence about how I feel about the rest of her story. Was she destined to live that type of life? I had hope that things would be different for her but I suppose it was what had to happen. It wasn’t a horrible life she lived it was just so different from what she and I had hoped for her.
Margie… she had different problems. Her husband was horrible to her. There were times I felt like he was abusing her verbally. Her self esteem was so low. Then she went home to her mother. Her mother was not much better. I cannot imagine not having a mother who doesn’t support and protect you. Margie finds the support she needs in unlikely people. The friends don’t push her to make decisions or tell her what to do; they listen and just spend time with her. I loved her sharing of her grandmother’s, Madeleine, journals and how they lifted her up and showed her that there was more to life than what she was currently life she was living. I feel like those journals really pushed her to do more. Her ending was wonderful and perfect. I was hoping for an ending similar to that for her.
I finished reading The Light of Paris and just sat and thinking about how wonderful the story and characters were. There is so much more that I would like to share about this book but it would contain spoilers and I don’t share spoilers. Absolutely go get a copy.
You know those books that create the problem where you want to keep reading to find out what happens but you don't want to finish because you don't want the spell to break? That's what this book is.
I well know the world Madeline comes from - even if from the outside as (thankfully) I am not from "Garden Club" or "Junior League" stock, though I went to college in that world and have friends who live in that world. And while I was not forced to give up anything, I drifted away from what was my life in high school and then the passion I found in college. I've recently gotten back into one of them a bit (thanks to the most unlikely of musicals), and I could totally empathize with Madeline. There were times I found myself weeping with her as I was reading - even on the subway one night!
Additionally, who hasn't wondered at times if there isn't more to someone in our family than we know? I know recently I've been curious about one of my grandmothers - why she was the way she always appeared to be to me. I would love to find a trunk of her journals to read - but for me that is only a fantasy. Madeline gets that chance. To say more would be to give away part of the wonder of the book.
This is a magical book - without one bit of literal magic in it - that hit a nerve and made me feel. Brava Ms. Brown, brava!!
I well know the world Madeline comes from - even if from the outside as (thankfully) I am not from "Garden Club" or "Junior League" stock, though I went to college in that world and have friends who live in that world. And while I was not forced to give up anything, I drifted away from what was my life in high school and then the passion I found in college. I've recently gotten back into one of them a bit (thanks to the most unlikely of musicals), and I could totally empathize with Madeline. There were times I found myself weeping with her as I was reading - even on the subway one night!
Additionally, who hasn't wondered at times if there isn't more to someone in our family than we know? I know recently I've been curious about one of my grandmothers - why she was the way she always appeared to be to me. I would love to find a trunk of her journals to read - but for me that is only a fantasy. Madeline gets that chance. To say more would be to give away part of the wonder of the book.
This is a magical book - without one bit of literal magic in it - that hit a nerve and made me feel. Brava Ms. Brown, brava!!
The book rang so true I knew it had to be based on the author's story somehow, and it is. The Light of Paris makes you wonder what would happen if you had found your Grandmother's journal. Would you read it? How would you react? Maddie does read it, and through it all discovers and understands much about her Grandmother, her mother, and herself and the legacy that the women have left behind.
Predictable and dull for the 1999 timeline. Characters other than the main women were flat bordering on cartoonish, and the main women were pretty fixated on one thing so the book felt repetitive and simple.
I really enjoyed the two main characters. I also felt inspired to live my best life and felt it was a good reminder to keep hobbies in my life.
At least once a year I have to read a book about Paris. This was a perfectly fine book to fill that need. Nothing more, nothing less.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The beginning of this book was promising, a 30-something visiting her hometown that she absolutely loathed to get away from her rocky relationship with her husband and stumbling upon her grandmother's journal from her time in Paris was a great concept. Both characters have personal issues that they were dealing with in their own timeline but I felt there was a lot of build up at the start and middle of the book but by the time the we've reached the climax, the storyline was fizzling out. There was closure but I felt like there was a timeline that the author was trying to reach and it didn't fully feel like the loop closed.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced