If A MOVEABLE FEAST was Ernest Hemingway's 1920's love letter to Paris, this book is Liam Callahan's 21st Century epistle to the city.

This book is as filled with pain and longing as it is with love, but it presents the City as a central character in a story of hope, of promise, of fear, of disillusionment and of acceptance.

I read each page with anticipation that the story would turn sunny---and, although that doesn't happen, it does demonstrate strength of character, of love of family, and of faith in the promise of the future.

Netgalley provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest. I did not enjoy this book as much as I should have for a book about living in Paris. For me, I felt like the author never moved past the past of the story. Even the parts that were taking place present day felt like more exposition. The pacing seemed endless and unless the reader was very familiar with Madeline or The Red Balloon I feel like they might not understand some of the metaphors or points of the story. Overall, there were some scenes and descriptions of Paris I loved, but this wasn't as captivating or intriguing at I'd hoped.

I tried pretty hard to get into this, but just really struggled. I gave up around 20% in. Hopefully someone else loved it thought!

I I felt very confused by the characters. I didn’t think they were developed enough and there was not enough information until too late in the book to understand why they were living in Paris. I felt that by the time it became clear to me I had lost interest in the story.

Not my cup of tea. The characters are flat and I couldn’t connect with them. Hard to get into. The most interesting parts of the book was the history of the author of the Madeline books and information on the creator of The Red Balloon. It could have been heart-warming or suspenseful, but just falls flat. The author could have done so much more to make this an engaging book.

Paris by the Book has a great opening line, "Once a week I chase men who are not my husband." Midway into the story of Leah whose husband disappears from time to time leaving her and teenage daughters, I suddenly realized I was reading a work of fiction- the story was that real. Leaving their home in Wisconsin with plane tickets that were mysteriously left for them the family ends up in Paris where Leah amazingly acquires an English language book store. What luck! The girls are enrolled in a local school and all are soon immersed in the Paris they had long imagined. Leah continues to search for her husband including finding unusual clues along the way. The story is touchingly told with seemingly impossible twists and turns that were somehow believable. Strong writing and the ability to identify with the pain experienced by the main character were a plus for this reader.

As a Francophile and total bookworm, I do believe this book was written for me. From just the opening lines, I was completely transfixed, happily following the main character on her mission to find her missing husband. Liam Callanan creates deliciously descriptive sentences that bring this story, the characters and Paris to life. C'est Magnifique!

Interesting premise and who doesn't like a book about books set in Paris. I couldn't quite believe the husband's machinations, but I did think the wife and daughter's coping with grief was very poignant. The ending, however, was unsatisfying. to me.

The book is well written and has an intriguing premise. Sadly, it never really clicked for me. It begins with a woman who painted her book shop red and is following men who look like her husband and several chapters later we are back beginning with the red book store , following men who look like the husband. The author lost me in those first several chapters of backstory. The author writes well and someone else might love this book, but not me.

I enjoyed this very much and felt like it presented a realistic and terrific view of a city I love. It read, truly, like a non-fiction story, and it kinda broke my heart what the family went through. I will recommend it.

An interesting book about a woman and her two daughters and how they cope and move on after the disappearance of the father. Throughout their marriage, he would take sudden "writeaways," but always left a note. So when he is suddenly gone without one and fails to return, they don't know what to think. They end up in Paris (no spoliers!) and even here the questions of the past cloud the future. I enjoyed the book very much. Much is based on the children's books Madeline and The Red Balloon. I grew up on both and so this topic, which is deeply threaded throughout, was great. I felt the story was honest to how grief and loss both permeate a life and can in some ways restate reality and make us question everything.

Leah and Robert met when she tried to steal a copy of the book The Red Balloon from a book store in Milwaukee. Leah was an impoverished grad student in film studies whose specialty was the movie, The Red Balloon. She knew everything about Lamorisse, the creator of the movie. Robert was a children’s book author and his favorite book about children in Paris was Madeline by Bemelmans. Their interest in Paris became a focal point for their romance. Robert even took Leah to Paris, Wisconsin where she asked him to marry her.

However before they married, Robert promised to take Leah to Paris, France. Twenty years and to children later, the marriage was falling apart. Leah had turned out to be the breadwinner in the family as Robert’s writing career falters. Robert had a habit of disappearing from the family home for periods when he needed his space but he had always left messages promising to return. Then one day Robert left without leaving a message and did not return. He seemed to have vanished without a trace.

After a few months, Leah found that he had bought tickets to Paris for she and her teen daughters before disappearing. So they decided to take the trip in hopes that they would find Robert in Paris. Leah ended up as the part owner of a small store selling only English books. She registered the girls for school and also becomes the caretaker of the children of the nephew of the original owner of the bookstore. All the while Leah and her two daughters searched throughout Paris for Robert.

This book was confusing in the beginning and the character of Robert was shadowy and not as well developed as Leah and her daughters, Daphne and Ellie. I did enjoy it once It became clear why the 3 Americans were living in Paris.