I knew immediately that this novel wasn't for me. As much as I like historic fiction, I couldn't get through this one. The style of writing actually turned me off and so I've abandoned the book. What a shame, since I have a feeling it would have been something I would have enjoyed, but for the narrative. And while this isn't "biographical" in detail since there is nothing behind it to substantiate Ms. Bishop's 3 weeks in Paris, the author could have written it (or imagined it) so much differently to entertain the reader. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elizabeth Bishop, the renowned poet, went to Paris for 3 weeks with her college friends. The year was 1937. The world was changing quickly and war was on the horizon. They are all Vassar students and Paris was not all they expected.
It should be noted that during this time she made no notes of her activities so it’s conjecture on the author’s part.
Their adventures during Elizabeth’s formative years will affect her dramatically. The main drawback is the unevenness of the story line.
Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an ARC OF THIS BOOK.

I thought I would enjoy this book much more than I actually did. I wanted more of a focus on Elizabeth Bishop and her work, but that aspect felt lacking. The narrative style was not my favorite either. Overall the story had the potential to be much better but fell short. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The story is supposed to be concentrated on Elizabeth Bishop’s three weeks in Paris, but 15% through the story she is still in NY and there is very little substance to the story.

As the story starts it jumps from one place to another not making much sense, at some points, with a style of writing – trying to be poetic it makes even less sense.

This is not a book for me.

Paris in 1937 - one of my favorite periods of time. . Elizabeth Bishop - a fascinating woman. I was excited to read this book, and while I enjoyed it, I have to say I didn't love it. The focus was more on Elizabeth's obsession with other women that on her own talents, or on Paris. I think there was much, much more to Elizabeth Bishop than this book gives us and I'm sorry for that. I am a a fan of Liza Wieland, and just feel this was not up to her usual high standards.

The genre of this book is the main thing that drew me to wanting to read it. I love this time period and following the different perspectives. One thing that makes this book different was that it was from the perspective of American women. It’s the first historical fiction book I’ve read that is from this perspective, so that was a great differentiator. Another positive was the different style of writing. At first, I didn’t love it because the lack of punctuation bothered me. But about 20% through, I was impressed by the author’s ability to write with such flow. It was impressive. All in all, I would recommend this to the historical fiction loving, patient reader.