Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Its not the book-barge in the book but it could have been an inspiration. The Word on the Water bookshop is on a 100-year old Dutch barge in London.
Bastille Day brought out dancing in the streets during the 1920s. Paris between the two World Wars was full of musicians, artists and writers. Perhaps this is the original "flash mob."
The Litte Paris Bookshop by Nina George, translated by Simon Pare
Reviewed by Todd Vandenbark, MLS. Library Director, Columbia County Rural Library District, Dayton, WA
Floating on the banks of the Seine River in France is a barge where Monsieur Perdue has a bookshop. He considers himself as a "literary apothecary" and uses his intuitive sense of what a person needs to "prescribe" novels about the hardships of life. Perdue's gift has helped to mend broken hearts and wounded souls for his customers but it cannot help him heal for the disappearance of his one and only true love. She left behind a single letter that he has never opened.
A young author's first book about love has been wildly successful and he is pursued by fans on a daily basis. When the young author takes refuge on the bookstore-barge, it sets off a chain of events leading them both on a trip downriver to learn about themselves and one another, and help Perdue solve the mystery of why his love left him.
I found this book to be engrossing and entertaining, and it held my interest through to the end. I have given copies to friends and recommend it to anyone wanting a light and enjoyable read. This title is available at the Columbia County Library and is worth putting a hold on it if someone else already has it checked out.
The Paris Hours: A Novel By Alex George
Reviewed by Lane Gwinn
The story takes place over a single day in 1927 Paris, where great artists, writers, and musicians defined the city. The four main characters live on the periphery of this glittering world. In alternating chapters, we learn about their pasts and how tragedies and secrets move them to the climactic ending in a Montmartre jazz club.
Camille worked as a maid and a caretaker for Marcel Proust. She betrays him by keeping one of the notebooks she was to destroy after his death.
Guillaume is an artist whose debt to a loan shark may force him to leave Paris. His last hope is a studio visit from Gertrude Stein, who he thinks may save him.
Jean-Paul is a journalist who suffers physical and emotional wounds from the Great War. He writes the stories of others, including Josephine Baker, avoiding his own about his lost daughter.
Armenian refugee, Souren, uses puppet shows to exorcise the horrors of his escape from the Turks.
In this internet-free world, it is nice to be reminded of how we are deeply connected. This is life before social media, the COVID-19 pandemic, and reality TV. The best talents were in the city, at the clubs, and in the neighborhood restaurants. They were real. It was possible to run into Picasso or Hemingway, hear jazz played by Eugene Bullard.
I recommend this as a travel guide to a time of intense creativiy, promise, fear and healing.
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