I wanted to love this book...I really did.
It was amazingly descriptive and had some really good character development but somehow it was all disjointed in a way I could not get past.
There were parts I felt like I had already read and parts where I felt like information was missing.
The ending was one of the oddest endings I have ever read and thought wait a minute...where is the closure? This can't be the end...but alas my Kindle said it was.
I never really connected with the characters in the way I have in prior works by Tatiana de Rosnay. Linden was the closest and as the protaganist I would expect more connection.
The flow was off as well.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Heartwarming tale of family, guilt, redemption, and love. Narrated by Linden, youngest son, with brief flashbacks told in letter form, the family gathers in Paris for the father's birthday. Each member has secrets and issues and Paris is experiencing a flooding that forces the four to confront their issues and deal with them.

I wish there are more than 5 stars available to give this book. Beautifully written. The characters so well developed that you feel you are standing right next to them. And the atmosphere - pulls you in and doesn't let go. Love this book!

I was given an advance copy of The Rain Watcher on kindle by Netgalley. I haven't actually read Tatiana de Rosnay before but I saw the film of "Sarah's key" based on her book. I also met her and heard her talk about her non-fiction book of Daphne de Maurier when she was at the American Library in Paris. I enjoyed her talk very much so when given the opportunity to read The Rain Watcher, I grabbed it.

I liked this book. It was almost dream-like in writing style. The story is set in Paris. Four members of a family have come together to celebrate the father's, Paul's, 70th birthday as well as the 40th wedding anniversary. Linden, the son, has come from San Francisco where he now lives although as a world famous photographer he is no stranger to travel. His sister, Tilia, has come from London where she lives with her second husband who is a drunk. The parents have come up from Sevral, which I couldn't find on the map. Linden says it is a three hour drive from Paris.

Linden's and Tilia's names both mean Lime Tree. Paul is a tree man. He loves trees. He protects trees. He will travel all over the world to stop an ancient tree from being cut down. His favourite tree is the Lime. In a long monologue about three quarters of the way through the book, he tells us why. Having read The Hidden Life of Trees this past Spring, I recognised exactly what the book wants the reader to know about the life of trees. De Rosnay gives the author, Peter Wohlleben, credit for much of what she has written about trees. The problem for Linden is that Paul communicates much better with trees than with his son.

The book is written from Linden's perspective with one exception. At the beginning of each of five parts, we are told a story that gradually starts to make sense in the larger picture. I won't say anything here so as not to be a spoiler. When Linden arrives in Paris, it is raining. It is torrential. The Seine is on the rise. The Seine rising, the news which soon becomes only about the possibility of the Seine flooding Paris, is the backdrop for the struggles of this family. During his birthday dinner, Paul has a stroke and ends up in the hospital in the 15th. Lauren, his wife, insists that they should still go visit museums as planned the next day. Then she becomes sick eventually getting pneumonia . Tilia is unable to go inside a hospital because of an earlier car accident where she was the soul survivor. Linden becomes the caretaker. Much of his time with his father is the dialogue he has with himself about how to talk to a stroke patient, one he has known all his life but couldn't communicate well with when both had voices. He has been assured that Paul can hear him and understand but is unable to speak himself or move any part of his body to confirm that he has heard. This part was so well written. My father also had a debilitating stroke and in the years before he died, I never knew what he could hear and what, if anything he could understand. One feels so foolish talking to a live being and not getting any sign of anyone being there.

I can't compare this book to her earlier ones. De Rosnay writes well. Parts felt contrived. The family members all seemed to be extremes of their personalities. And I was never sure what the rain had to do with the different relationships in the family. Living in Paris, I know it is quite the entertainment watching the Seine rise when there are many days of rain. The Seine overflowed it's banks in 1910, making the whole city a lake with buildings in it.
In the book, there is constant comparison and questioning about whether the Seine will rise even further than in 1910 and cause destruction in the millions of euros. Every member of this family is hostage to the rain. They cannot leave Paris and everything is a crisis, the rain, their relationships and the unearthing of secrets.

I recommend the book. If you like de Rosnay's stories already, I think you won't be disappointed. If you are new to her writing as I was, I think you will be pleased with the hypnotic, dreamy pacing of the story. I found I preferred reading it in long stretches.

This book gripped me from the first page. I was totally immersed in this book! I read Sarah’s Key and that story has stayed with me. This book is totally different from that, and the writing is just as wonderful. It is a page turner but not due to any mystery, but because the story was so good.
The timely story takes place in Paris when the Seine flooded the city. It is a family reunion to celebrate a birthday and an anniversary. Each main character had their own story, albeit parallel with another main character: Paris.
This book is sure to be a bestseller, deservedly so.

Being a fan of Sarah's Key, I was very excited to see a new book from Tatiana de Rosnay. The story centers on a French family Malegarde and is told from the point of view of the son Linden and is set in modern day Paris where the family has gathered to celebrate the patriarch Paul's birthday. Unfortunately their celebration is brought up short due to an epic flood overtaking Paris and an unexpected illness that deeply affects the family. Add in the twists and drama that exist within family gatherings and you have the making of a great story..
I connected with the characters and found myself rooting for them to break through the longstanding walls they had developed over the years and find their way back to each other.
My only dislike was in a few places the references to various areas in Paris were a little too long and detailed than they needed to be to support the story.
I definitely recommend this book.

This book was incredibly disappointing. I was so looking forward to it, as the author's first book, Sarah's Key, was incredible. Things are happening throughout the book, but the pacing is tortuously slow. It takes place during the horrible flooding in Paris in early 2018, and the descriptions of the streets are painfully boring. During this flood, a family gathers together, and traumatic things happen. And I didn't care. At all. I didn't like one single character. I felt no empathy for any of them. They weren't bad people, I just...didn't care about them. I didn't care for the writing style at all. I hate books that don't use quotation marks when a person is speaking. It's completely distracting, and I spend more time trying to figure out who is talking rather than reading the book. Very very disappointing, and I would not recommend this book.

I really enjoyed Tatiana de Rosnay’s previous book Sarah’s Key, so I couldn’t wait to read The Rain Watcher. Unfortunately, I really didn’t care for this one at all. There was very little driving the story, and the characters felt flat. I didn’t care about Linden (the main character) or his family, and I felt nothing as I read their story.

The Rain Watcher has flashes of brilliance and beautiful characters. Overall I was really enjoying the different storylines but at times there too many words. When I got to the end, I realized I was confused during part of the book. And I really didn’t like the ending. So, I guess I consider this a book of great promise .

Let me start this review by saying I loved Sarah’s Key. I tried to finish this book but it was like swimming in molasses. The Malegarde family are meeting in Paris during a huge rainstorm. The Seine is starting to flood and the city is shutting down. Father has a stroke and the mother has pneumonia. If I’d want to read anything this depressing I’d read the front page of my newspaper!

Not sure what to say. Nothing I expected, I could not get into the book at all. I did read the entire book, but found myself skimming at times. I loved Tatiana's earlier book, so I guess I was looking forward to another well written book. Not sure if it was supposed to be a story, seemed disjointed with some of the story lines. Mom's affair, sis accident, dad's dedication to trees/nature. Nothing really connected for me. And the ending? What was that? Did it end? Did I miss something? I hate giving bad reviews, but this one did nothing for me.

Mentioning the phrase "soul searching" in a book description is a sure way for me to not read it; however, the premise of the book sounded interesting, and I'm glad I went forward with it. With bold personalities, fraught undercurrents and family complications, the author sorts these out to make a compelling story; she dodges areas that could become maudlin and sentimental and heads right for the heart of the story. I appreciated that. This is perfect for our book club and I will put it up as ut November selection. Thank you so much!!

I felt like I was in Paris - the flooding, the family dynamics. Loved this book!! Highly recommend.

This is my first read of a book by Tatiana de Rosnay, and whilst it often strained to retain a cohesive coherent whole, I nevertheless loved the beautiful rich tapestry of prose and description and its character driven narrative. This is an intensely vibrant, melancholic, atmospheric and multi-layered family drama set in Paris, as the city endures the dangerous and menacing flooding of the River Seine. It focuses on the reunion of the dysfunctional Malegarde family, gathering together for a significant wedding anniversary and the 70th birthday celebration of the tree obsessed arborist, Paul, who adores David Bowie. This has been planned by Lauren, his wife, and they have two grown up children. The eldest, Tilia, is a London based artist haunted by the terrors of a tragic car accident that left her the only survivor, she is married to Colin, her second husband, a man rather too fond of the drink. The compassionate Linden is a well known photographer, living in San Francisco with his partner. Each member of the family has secrets locked inside they have kept from one another.

In a story primarily narrated by Linden, nothing goes as planned as the family find themselves subject to one crisis after another, with intrigue and conflict spilling over. With the never ending and relentless rain, Paris becomes unrecognisable as the city floods becoming bleak, dark, dingy, freezing cold, sopping wet with the unavoidable consequent health hazards that arise. Within the family, a veritable overflowing emotional torrent is unleashed as secrets and memories begin to emerge. The thoughtful Linden reflects on his relationship with each family member, the closeness he had with his now deceased aunt, how he has never felt able to be who he is amidst his family. Against all the odds, the family begins to slowly come back together whilst Paris disintegrates.

This is a gloriously thought provoking, profound and moving read of the wisdom of trees, marriage, the pain, hurt, loss, fears, the burdens carried within families and hope. The location of Paris serves as a huge central character, where the irrefutable power of nature reigns supreme as it exercises its ability to wreak unbound devastation. This is erudite and insightful storytelling with character studies that feel extraordinarily authentic and full of depth which I loved and appreciated. The novel certainly has its flaws but its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. Highly recommended. Many thanks to St Martin's Press for an ARC.

Thanks to netgalley I was able to read this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the story. I think the author did a wonderful job of portraying her characters. It felt like the family was real and suffering real life experiences based on the flood and other obstacles. I don't want to go into great detail and ruin the story for anyone else, but I believe it was well written. She wrote in such a way you got the feeling you were there and the characters came alive. Excellent descriptions so you could picture the entire story, rooms, surroundings, moods, lighting, you name it. Good job Tatiana. I look forward to reading more than this author.
I want to visit Paris, but only if it's not pouring rain and causing flooding! :-)

Wow, I don't know where to start. This book was a very vivid read, at times I could picture all the rain and devastation due to the flooding of the Seine. But there were a few parts of the story that were never finished. I felt lost not knowing what the end of that secondary character 's story.

Linden Malegarde, famous photographer, is meeting up with his Mother, Father, and his sister, Tilia to celebrate his father's 70th birthday and his parent's 40th wedding anniversary. Linden left home at a young age to live with his aunt in Paris. She accepted him as he was, and loved him just the same. His mother had a problem with his identity, it only made Linden want to get as far away from them as possible. He now lives in San Francisco.

This family reunion brings up old fears and discussions that finally need to be talked about by each member of the family. Only the same time that they are in Paris, the Seine is flooding the city causing great damages and both parents become ill. Linden steps up and takes over, and in the process feelings that he's buried years ago come to the surface.

He repairs his relationship with his father, and his mother admits that her own fears made her treat him cruelly years ago. He also sees that his mother isn't so perfect herself after accidentally reading a text on her phone.

An emotional read.

A fascinating and moving story. This was a very enjoyable and wonderful reading experience.
I loved the style of writing and how the characters were developed. I loved the plot and I couldn't put this book down.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to St. Martin Press and Netgalley for this ARC

A "perfect family reunion weekend" in Paris, just mother, father and grown son and daughter. How is that for a set up? Of course the son is estranged, and all attendees are carrying emotional time bombs. Significant others and offspring show up. All the while relentless rain falls and flood waters, like the familial emotions, rise threateningly around their Parisian hotel.
The characters are realistic and have a sense of humor. I found I cared about them and was glad to know their story.

The Rain Watcher by Tatiana De Rosnay

From blurb: The first new novel in four years from the beloved superstar author of Sarah's Key, a heartbreaking and uplifting story of family secrets and devastating disaster, in the tradition of THE NEST.

Beautifully written, I couldn't decide whether I was more interested in Linden Malegarde and his complex family dynamics or the Paris flood. Perhaps because I read the book so soon after watching the videos of the 2018 flood, the descriptions of the flooding of an ancient city were especially vivid.

A thoughtful book that inches up as the Seine rises--slow and deliberate. The Rain Watcher was as beautifully rendered as Linden Malegarde's photographs.

Read in April. Blog review scheduled for Oct. 9.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press

Literary fiction. Oct. 23, 2018. Print length: 240 pages.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and to NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid opinion.

This was a really, really good book. Kinda, Let me explain.

It is the story of a family meeting that takes place in Paris at the beginning of what becomes a catastrophic flood of the Seine. It is about families and how family members interact and communicate (and in this case, fail to communicate). It is about how different people express their love for each other in very different, almost incomprehensible ways.

There were about 3 different story lines that were unwinding in this book, and I was fascinated by them all. I really wanted to read this book and was reluctant to put it down. It is a compelling read.

However, perhaps I missed something while reading it, but the ending seemed somewhat abrupt and did not necessarily resolve all story lines. If I were editing this book, I would definitely ask the author to expand the resolution in this book. It almost seemed like the author had a deadline to meet and just hurriedly concluded the book. Which is a shame, as it is a very lyrical book with amazing symbolism.

I loved the writing style, I loved the subject. To me, the ending was a little abrupt.

I do look forward to reading more from this author.