The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay is anything but dreary despite the never ending rain and flooding that descend upon Paris just as the Malegarde family arrives for a family celebration. Disaster strikes the family not only with the weather conditions and flooding but also with the health of the parents.
There were some endless details about the rain and flooding, but these descriptions weren’t as distracting as the constant references to Paris landmarks, streets, and neighborhoods—all in French. I might have had a bit more patience with these details if I had a bit more familiarity with the setting; sadly, I do not. I got to where I did a bit of skimming when places (in French) were included.
The tense story that develops between Linden (the narrator), his sister Tilia, and their parents Lauren and Paul kept me turning the pages and slogging through the flooded Paris setting to see if/how these alienated characters would reconcile.
Some unfinished or unnecessary plot lines kept me from giving The Rain Watcher more stars: the mother’s alleged affair with a former lover and Suzette, Linden’s childhood caretaker. In fact, the reason for Linden’s trip to his parents’ home from Paris at his father’s request left me with more questions than closure. I’m still not sure of the meaning as Linden’s discovery doesn’t seem to be fully revealed.
Thank you to NetGallt for the digital ARC.

I wanted to love this book because I love de Rosnay but I wasn't satisfied in the end. Linden the main character who is telling the story, I felt was so bottled up in his own life that he didn't take the time to talk with him father or really be involved with his family.
The ending I didn't really understand. I felt we didn't get enough information as to what was in the box, what had happened. I believe it is part of his father Paul's story of why he loved trees so much but I may need to read it through again to know for sure.
A good story line, but it took a long time to get where it was going.

Thank you for the free ARC. I always like de Rosnay's books and this one did not disappoint. In short, a family reunion leads to new revelations in flooded Paris.

Like so many others, I loved Sarah’s Key and have read all of the subsequent Tatiana de Rosnay books in hopes that they would measure up to that amazing novel. None have, including this one. I was so disappointed with The Rain Watcher that it might well be the last of hers that I read. I hardly know where to begin. The descriptions of the flood in Paris gave an atmosphere of the world closing in on the characters and was really well done except that it went into far too much detail, and with far too much repetition, of the streets, buildings and areas of Paris that for those of us not familiar with the city, just seemed to be LOT of white noise and I ended up skimming those pieces. The characters themselves seemed to trudge through their lives, going over and over the same themes. By the time any of them opened up about their secrets, I had lost interest. I kept on, however, knowing that a surprising resolution might be lurking around the next page. When I got to the end, however, I felt totally let down. Neither of the story lines (there are two) felt fully resolved.

I want to thank NetGallery, the publisher and the author for allowing me to have this ARC to read and review.

First off I absolutely love the cover so two thumbs way, way up for that! In this perilous situation set in Paris, you get to see a family fight to survive the impending rain, and trying to over come the father family having a stroke as he is hospitalized. This story is mostly told through the eyes of the family as they watch life happen around them and you see how they do .don;t adjust accordingly. There really wasn't much action to the book per-say, as it was more character driven. This book envelops many layers of the family, and slowly you see each one pulled back as long kept secrets come to light as well as many buried emotions. This was a wonderful afternoon read and i immensely enjoyed it! 3.5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me this electronic copy in exchange for an honest review. #TheRainWatcher #NetGalley

The flooding of Paris early in 2018 served as a backdrop for this story about a family reuniting to celebrate the father's birthday. The tension of the constant rain and the concern about being able to maneuver around the city was ever-present. The story of LInden's complicated relationship with his parents unfolded layer by layer and I never lost interest in it. The characters of Linden's sister and niece were developed well and they were equally as interesting. The author clearly knows Paris well and the descriptions of the locations are wonderful.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s for allowing me to read The Rain Watcher, by Tatiana de Rosnay. This a beautiful book about love, family conflict and resolution, tragedy, and healing. When world famous photographer, Linden Malegarde, travels to Paris for a family celebration, little does he know that his life, as well as everyone in his family, will be changed forever. Paris is suffering the worst rain in history and streets are flooding. The Malegarde family is there to stay while his mother and father are both taken ill. Stories are shared and family bonds are tightened. This is a beautifully descriptive book, leaving the reader with many insights into living your best life and trusting the people you love.

I loved SARAH"S KEY so I was really excited to see THE RAIN WATCHER. The writing, not surprisingly, is beautiful - so delicate and careful and lovely. The characters are very well-drawn. The plot--well, I confess it gets off to a little bit of a slow start. Just as I was beginning to worry that we as readers would hear more about the rain and potential flooding and not much else, the story did begin to pick up in a very real way. Overall, I really enjoyed this elegant story and the setting and characters will stay with me.

There are many things I enjoyed about this novel...
....I’m absolutely glad I read it. I definitely recommend it. TRUTH IS I LIKED IT A LOT.....( gorgeous writing and vivid descriptive experiences - a very interesting story - with characters to cozy up with and become intimate rather quickly).

There are some problems however:
.....incomplete tale-add-ins....stories got dropped off. Some never got developed-barley off the ground- or they interrupted the flow of the greater issues pressing.
..... At around the 80% mark — I didn’t feel it was the right place to introduce a new character and lead-in- side- story. This could be my personal preference. I’m not a fan of bringing in new characters too close to the end of a novel unless there is a very clear distinct reason to do so .....which ties into the beginning of the book.
......’Possibly’ too many themes fighting for center stage: yet... I liked it anyway.
1- Trees and all that they teach us...2- The Seine River flooding Paris...3- The family Reunion....getting the scoop on each person and how they each relate to each other: ....communication - forgiveness - embracing each other - love.


Flaws included.......I REALLY LIKED THIS BOOK .....pimples - cellulite- gray hairs and all! Did I want to change a few things - a couple!
BUT....I am still basking in the afterglow of having read it!!!!! Tatiana de Rosnay is a great storyteller. The main characters are extremely well developed. Sometimes there is nothing better than getting a great compassionate take on the characters alone.

It was only last year ....when a magazine article came out saying “France, insurers fear a major flood of the Seine”. Although the rising water was not comparable of 1910... there was extensive damage with over 19,000 houses without electricity, and 4000 evacuees. That was the REAL NEWS....
So.... Tatiana de Rosnay setting her novel in the heart of waterlogged streets - the river rising much more rapidly than normal — made for a very scary possible fascinating story.

A family reunion was planned many months before any concern of floods in Paris.
Paul and Lauren were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.....and it would be Paul’s 70th birthday.
Lauren planned the gathering. She only wanted their two adult children to attend ( not their partners or husbands)...
Talia, artist, ....oldest sibling, in her 30’s, lived in London with her 2nd husband, Colin Favell. ( he was often intoxicated)
Paul, ‘TreeMan’, and Lauren, social knockout beauty- a little self-absorbed , lived in Venozan, near Sevral, in Drome valley, France....
Linden Malegarde, famous photographer, lived in San Francisco’s with his partner Sasha Lord. (loves opera - cooking - works for a startup)

Other characters:
Candace —- Linden’s aunt. Lauren’s sister
Mistral —-Daughter of Talia
Oriel —friend/ photographer of Linden - lives in France
Hadrien- pass lover
There are a few other characters also — and a strength in Tatiana’s writing is we feel we know them all pretty well.

Everyone has withheld something from one another....
And the reunion doesn’t go as planned. There is sickness - pneumonia and a stroke- personality differences between each family member -and everyone seems rather exhausted simply by the conditions of Paris in itself. The atmosphere is not a happy festive place .... with restaurants, galleries, and theaters, etc all dwindling down to almost nothing.

For the majority of the novel Linden is the narrator. He’s a beautiful- compassionate man. I LIKED HIM AS THE NARRATOR! The ‘inserted’ narrator was predictable from the start for me....( except 1 part of it)....
We watch Linden analyze and critique his relationships with each family member in the present and a little from the past - especially wondering why he had such a hard time talking with his dad.
His dad loved trees passionately ( and David Bowie music), in the same way Linden did photography....so they share having a deep passion in common.


One night - Linden was with Oriel part of the helping team - out on a motor boat - with search lights trying to help anyone who needed it. It was dark - midnight ...
“The moon radiates in a freezing blue-black sky, illuminating the swollen watercourse. There is a higher spot at the end of rue Cognacq-Jay, just before the bridge, and they head there. As a step out of the boat, icy waters shoots up to their shins. They wade through it, teeth clenched. The place is completely deserted. The Seine is now drenching the Zouave’s shoulders. The bridge has been entirely closed off by metal barriers and it seems to be poised on top of the river”.

The atmosphere in Paris is dark - cold - wet - filthy -
Hospitals have to move patients- streets smell - PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AFFECTED....
Can you imagine? Your family plans a celebration weekend together — it’s been a long time since THE FOUR OF YOU have been together—
Welcome to catastrophe after catastrophe!!!

“When nature got angry, there was nothing a man could do about it. Nothing at all”.

4.5 Stars

Thank You St. Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and Tatiana de Rosnay

I really wanted to like this book. I usually like the author's style and attention to detail but I could not get into it. I had trouble identifying with the characters and even the ending felt contrived and sudden.

This is an excellent book in many ways. It certainly shows the supremacy of nature particularly with water.
The city of Paris tries unsuccessfully to cope with a constant torrential rain threatening the overflowing of the Seine River.
A mother, father, daughter and son trying to reunite after years of estrangement must struggle with the catastrophe as the father becomes suddenly and seriously ill. He is in need of medical assistance.
There are wonderful descriptions of the flood damage and the people victimized yet trying to deal with the disaster.
There are however, in this novel many distractions. The author goes into too many memories of earlier days and it becomes interfering with the flow of the story which is interesting and suspenseful.

I read Sarah’s Key a year ago and absolutely loved it, so I was very excited to receive a free copy of The Rain Watcher expecting to be wowed one more time. That was not the case.
I have to say when I read the last paragraph, my first thought was “you have got to be kidding me.” I have never read a book that ended so abruptly that left so many questions unanswered. Unfortunately I was never drawn in to care enough about the characters to even read a sequel if there is going to be one.
I struggled with this book for quite a while, and seriously thought about not finishing it, but I had faith in the author from Sarah’s Key that it would take off and we would find a direction, that didn’t happen. This story is mostly about Linden and his relationship with his parents, his aunt Candace, his sister and his male lover. We follow his sleepless nights as he deals with his father’s illness and he walks the streets of Paris re-living when he was younger. I found several things really odd, for one, Linden did not call his parents by mom or dad until the very end, he called them by Lauren and Paul. His sister was struggling just about as much as Linden is, due to a tragic car accident where she was the only survivor. Linden’s relationship with his niece was probably the best part of the book. This was just not my kind of book. 2**’s.
I thank Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to receive a free copy for my honest review. I wish I could do a little better than 2**’s but can’t.

When I received an ARC of The Rain Watcher I was very excited because I loved Sarah’s Key, a previous book by this author. This book is not at the same level as far as I am concerned. There was not one character to whom I could relate. I read to enjoy a story, not to try to understand the symbolism. The plot was slow-moving but the ending was abrupt. I felt I was missing chapters.

I wanted to love The Rain Watcher as much as I felt for Sarah's Key. Not so much.

The story starts off with the family meeting "just the family" per the dictator mom. And rain. Rain every day, flooding, disaster occurring. Apparently the family was completely clueless about the storm & continues to be throughout. Immediately something is "off" with the dad, who winds up in the hospital. Mom suddenly ends up with pneumonia, sister can't deal with the thought of the hospital, so it is up to Linden, the son to save the day. And so the story goes...on and on.

It just didn't do it for me. The ending was abrupt. I wish so many things about it were different.

Thank you to NetGalley & St Martin's Press for the preread of The Rain Watcher in exchange for an honest review.

De Rosnay once again delivers a novel rich with insight into family dynamics, set against a backdrop of the world's most fascinating city.

Wow! It's not often that I have to re-read a novel to come to an understanding of its theme. In her latest novel, The Rain Watcher, Tatiana de Rosnay draws the reader into a character study of a family who are stranded in Paris as the Seine overflows its banks. The severe flooding and disastrous drowning of the city makes an apt metaphor for a family that is drowning in secrets. As the water continues to rise to historic levels the family is both physically and emotionally trapped in Paris as their father, Paul; aka “The Tree Man”, suffers a critical medical emergency.

On the surface, the narrator, Linden, a world famous photographer, the only son of Paul appears to be the main character in the novel. He takes charge of the family's crisis while his mother is bedridden with pneumonia, his sister is trapped by her own terror of hospitals, his brother-in-law is a hopeless drunk, his gay lover is half a world away and his teenage niece appears to be the only other voice of reason.

But dig deeper, dear Reader. Reflect. Go back. Re-read. Mediate on the trees. Why has Paul named both his children after his beloved Linden tree? Why is this man so shy and reserved, only feeling truly comfortable among his beloved trees? Why is Paul such a fan of the late, great David Bowie? Your best clue is the epigraph to the novel which is, “The stars look very different today” from Bowie's Space Oddity. A song that is known to be a reflection on Bowie's dark past. The final hint I will give you, without revealing any spoilers is, “ . . . everything begins, and ends, with the tree . . .” is actually an allegory.

If you like a book that will keep you thinking for a long time then this is the book for you!

A family meets in Paris to celebrate the 70th birthday of their father, who unfortunately has a stroke and is rushed off to the hospital. All this takes place during a huge flood in Paris and the city is paralyzed. The family watches the Seine River rising and doing damage to Paris, as they watch their father in the hospital. They are waiting and watching and reminiscing. Interesting people and issues tacked, more of a thoughtful book than one of action. Good descriptions of the personal and public disasters taking place simultaneously in Paris.

Engrossing tale about family, reconciliation, love and loss set amidst an unthinkable natural disaster in Paris.

As a true fan of de Rosnay, I was very disappointed in this novel. The novel parallels the relentless rain in Paris with the relentless disintegration of Linden and his family. There are secrets uncovered by the pouring rain, there is endless unhappiness, there are memories and lies. All this takes place as the family is reuniting for the 70th birthday of the patriarch, a man famous for his love of trees, but sadly lacking in love and understanding of his own family..
He clearly was not well enough for the trip, but he managed to come and as the rains came, the trip fell apart.

I had no love for any of the characters, not even the narrator Linden. I think this novel deals with issues that are long gone and churns them up. Helpless women, parents unable to accept the homosexuality of a child, misery that is too paralyzed to move on.

Sadly, I was looking forward to this novel, but it did not live up to my expectations.

A mesmerizing, poignant story told through the eyes of a photographer son during a disastrous inundating Paris rain. As the city streets are flooded, family secrets are uncovered and feelings surge to the forefront as a generation deals with a family set back.

Highly recommended!