A review by tsenko2
The Paris Hours by Alex George

3.0

1927 Paris is such a fascinating setting. It’s the reason I chose to read this book but it has far more potential than the author delivered in just 272 pages. It is the story of four fictional main characters whose lives converge in a dramatic climax at the end of one day. Throughout that day Maurice Ravel, Josephine Baker, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Beach, and memories of Marcel Proust (among others) make appearances. Given that we also have flashbacks into the pasts of the four main characters, there’s too much going on to become deeply immersed in the place, the time, or in any of the primary fictional or secondary historical characters. The brief tastes left me unsatisfied and feeling that I would have liked more depth.

I did become interested and wanted to know how it was going to end, so that’s one positive aspect of getting through it so quickly. It’s not very cheerful though. Plenty of pain and disappointment to go around.