A review by angelancoffin
The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

2.0

What do I say about this book? It’s not at all what the premise said it was? It was overkill? Some aspects were nearly unbearable? All of these statements would be true. This book is more about the entirety of a life rather than a book about an affair. And that life is overwrought with trauma. There are multiple accounts of sexual assault, two rapes, two drownings, cancer, child death. Lots of death in general. I mean, I get that bad things happen. I am no stranger to trauma, but there was so much in this book, that it felt forced for shock and awe value. Also, the amount of times afterbirth was mentioned was excessive. I don’t know what the author was trying to accomplish here, but whatever it was, she didn’t.