berit08 's review for:

The Paris Hours by Alex George

4.0

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Beautifully written and vividly told. Alex George’s debut is dazzling and packed with stunning pros. This is the story of a day in a life of four regular people in post WWI Paris. Camille, Souren, Guillaum, and Jean-Paul are all living seemingly ordinary lives, but they all have a story to tell. Told in short chapters we get to know each of these characters both through their current actions and flashbacks to their past. There was also a sprinkling of well-known historical figures throughout the book, such as Hemingway, Proust, Josephine Baker, and Gertrude Stein. The beauty of this book was in the storytelling it was quite magical.

Each of these characters spoke to me but I found Jean-Paul and Souren’s stories extra compelling. Jean-Paul’s grief was palpable and Souren’s determination was admirable. This was true literary fiction and while the writing was beautiful it was also quite dense. This is not a light easy breezy read, but it is definitely worth your time. This book will appeal to fans of historical fiction, literary fiction, and stellar storytelling.

This book in emojis