The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George is a fictional work set in Paris featuring the Parisian bookseller Monsieur Jean Perdu and his floating barge book store.
I read a lot and especially love reading historical books on France, biographies of French people and fictional books set in France and Paris. I also don’t seem to be able to resist travel memoirs or journals and cute sassy French lifestyle books.
So you get the idea that my house has lots and lots of books in it! Here is my review of a delightful book that held up the cooking of the family dinner, and delayed the hanging out of the washing for a few days, whilst I travelled with Monsieur Jean Perdu on his journey in The Little Paris Bookshop.
Parisian Bookseller Monsieur Jean Perdu
The Parisian bookseller Monsieur Jean Perdu takes us on his journey from total despair and living in an automated haze after the sudden departure of his much-loved lover; to an awakened and revived state of fresh awareness and new love.
The story starts in Rue Montagnaud in the Marais area of Paris and at the Literary Apothecary Bookstore. This bookshop is located in a restored barge moored on the bank of the Seine River.
Monsieur Perdu has a rare gift of sensing books that will sooth the troubled souls of his customers. He is a pharmacist prescribing books he feels will cure his customers’ ails. A sudden decision to uproot himself from all things familiar and safe takes him on a journey of self discovery and awakening as he travels down the Seine from Paris to Provence.
Monsieur Perdu travels with Max Jordan
Perdu travels with the novelist, Max Jordan, who is escaping from the publicity surrounding his best-selling novel. The pair of them travel along the canals and waterways of France giving out literary advice and cures all in search of Jean Perdu’s lost love.
The Little Paris Bookshop draws the reader into the private thoughts of the booksellers, the famous authors, the bookshop customers and the people that share their lives, so beautifully that we could forget we are reading a fictional tale.
Two of my favourite things about this book are: the in-depth psychological exploration of human nature and the interspersed quotes from famous (but fictitious) authors. “Whenever Monsieur Perdu looked on a book, he did not see it purely in terms of a story, retail price and an essential balm for the soul; he saw freedom on wings of paper.”
‘Words leave imprints in your mind like footprints in the sand’ – Book Trails. This is true and I’m sure this book will leave its imprint on you also. Read more about Avignon and Cuisery, two towns featured in this book.
Other Books by Author Nina George
Nina George has also written another book, The Little Breton Bistro where our heroine Marianne Messman who is in a loveless marriage, leaps off the Pont Neuf into the Seine only to be rescued to find a new life and love in a Breton harbour village. So if you enjoy The Little Paris Bookshop then you may like to read The Little Breton Bistro also. You can purchase books via Amazon on my Book Guide for Francophiles.
More Book Reviews
Almost French by Keith Van Sickle – the story of Silicone Valley resident Keith, who becomes a part time Frenchman
The Good Life in France by Janine Marsh – a story of relocation and renovation deep in rural France.
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