This story was beautiful and the early Paris backdrop had me so engrossed. Albeit this wasn't the easiest read as the characters and their back story became slightly overt and convulsed at certain points. It was still vivid and imaginative. I would highly recommend this novel.

I read this book during a blur of denial during the pandemic, and it fed my need for a captivating story that took me far from my own reality. The compelling individual stories here that tangentiality touch the lives of historical figures are fascinating, and their eventual, perfectly plotted intersection kept me well and truly clear of any life beyond those pages. A welcome respite and a terrific read.

Enjoyable historical fiction and if you love WWI historical fiction, then you'll especially enjoy this one. It follows the lives of 4 people, all impacted by the brutality of war in some way and on their own path. Heartbreaking in so many ways. Definitely a tearjerker.

The premise of the novel sounded interesting because it seemed to tell the story of the daily lives of four characters. However, the book keeps switching the viewpoints of the characters that made it hard for me to follow. Still, I recommend this for those that love reading novels with Paris as the setting!

I have tried picking this one up multiple times, but unfortunately it wasn’t for me. I got confused with the many point of views, and I was not getting engaged enough to stick with it. Thanks for the copy, but it was a DNF for me. I am glad many others enjoyed it though!

Paris 1927 – Four strangers are all a bit lost. Over the course of one day, they will find their lives inexplicably intertwined. Music, literature, love, family, and money – they touch the heart and drive action. Will Camille, Souren, Guillaume, and Jean-Paul find what they are looking for? A touching story that becomes even more interesting the further in it goes, and the closer the characters are to touching each other’s lives. Great book for book clubs.

“The Paris Hours” by Alex George follows four strangers during a single day in 1927 Paris. Each is haunted by their own past and daunted by what lies ahead in the future. As the day continues on, each character is searching for something they’ve lost and each story will be somehow seamed together.

I love how George takes such vivid stories and weaves them together. Each character is unique, but their struggles are at the core the same. Each story also contains more than what initially meets the eye, which makes time spent with each character interesting and fresh. The way the characters pass by each other or see each other makes for small moments, much like everyday life, that would ordinarily go unnoticed, but in this moment are important from the outside.

I struggled a little to get into this book. The beginning feels dry and there is only pressing urgency for one character. The other matters feel less pressing, so at times their stories seem to take away from the intensity otherwise. I feel like this book would feel more enchanting as a film or maybe read aloud.

In the end, I gave this book 3 stars. George captures something uniquely human about living life together. Our stories all swirl around in the same space, we pass each other on the street, but we may never know the common loss, joy, or loneliness the other people may be feeling. Definitely a book worth picking up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Paris Hours takes place during a single day in Paris in 1927. The concept alone was enough for me to want to pick it up, as I enjoy fiction with historical settings. It is a character-driven and atmospheric novel with multiple character POVs. The book also has several cameos from historical figures, like Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and flashbacks with Marcel Proust.

Camille is the former caretaker of Marcel Proust. She is on the hunt for a notebook from her former employer, one she promised to burn. It contains her deepest secret, so she must find it before the truth comes out. Souren is a refugee from Armenia who puts on puppet shows with a dark twist. He reflects on his youth, as well as his earliest days in France. Guillaume is an artist running from debt and following the woman he loves. When a notable figure purchases one of his pieces, he thinks that his life could change soon. Jean-Paul is a journalist who avoids his own story as he tells the stories of others.

I typically love stories with multiple POVs, but I had trouble differentiating some of the characters for the first half of the book. Souren’s story was important for his own development, but his storyline likely could have been cut and the major outcomes would have been the same.

Alex George did an excellent job with his lyrical writing and character development, but the big reveal at the end fell flat for me. I also struggled to want to pick up the book even though it is short and well-done on a technical level. I’d still recommend it to people who want to read literary fiction set in 1920s Paris.

I loved this book! The story of Paris in one day and how all of the lives of the characters overlap is so intriguing. It's an excellent historical read.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2021 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2021/02/2021-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

I wanted to love The Paris Hours by Alex George. The book traverses between four characters and stories through the course of one day, a day in Paris with a dramatic conclusion. This book is more like reading four interconnected novellas. The fact that there are four stories introduces a lot of characters. The fact that the book goes jumps from one to the other chapter to chapter makes the book challenging to follow and invest in.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2020/04/the-paris-hours.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

I have read quite a few works of historical fiction set in Paris in the past couple of years, and this one does seem to do the city justice. I liked the four interwoven character arcs, the appearances of famous figures, and the compressed timeline of the story being told in just one day--kind of like a season of 24 being transposed into 1927. Well, not that much. But a little. Bioterrorist attacks, lost notebooks, potato, potahto.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Thank for the opportunity to read and review this book. I ended up DNFing this book.. It didn't match my current reading interests.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. It was well written... just lovely, and with interesting characters told over the course of one day (plus their back stories) in 1927 Paris, the premise was unique. The setting was just superb and I enjoyed the fact that it was historical fiction without the constant presence of war. That being said... I just didn't care about the characters. They were intriguing and I wanted to know what would happen to them - but I didn't feel emotionally connected to them. It was worth the read but fell flat for me at times. The ending was smart but wasn't my favorite type of ending.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced ecopy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

The Paris Hours takes place in the course of a single day in 1927, and is a quick read. It was beautifully written and enjoyable. Some books are too long and feel like they drag in some areas, but this book kept me engaged the whole time. I really liked it and felt connected to each character for different reasons. Beautiful story telling.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The glitz and glamour of Paris 1927 come to life in The Paris Hours. Set in the course of one day this literary fiction is a fast paced historical literary fiction masterpiece.

In these months of covid I have to be honest I have not been in the reading mood. Then I saw an author talk with bookreoprter.com with Alex George. I loved his book THE GOOD AMERICAN, I was intrigued with his interview and anxious to read THE PARIS HOUR. Thank you Alex for getting me out of a reading slump, and thank you Carol Fitzgerald for your wonderful author talks.
The Paris Hour is a story so beautifully woven together like a warm afghan. A book I did not want to come out from under the covers of his words. The story, Alex's style of writing just blew me away. This book is for fans of Khaled Hosseini and THE Mountains echoed. The Paris Hours intertwines three major characters, a painter, a puppeteer and a writer as their lives connect in the most extraordinary way.. Big fan of Alex George 5 stars *****

Intricate plot of 4 tales woven together. The characters' individual stories were of interest and bringing them together was effective and convincing. Fiction is truer than reality. The brief portrayal of Josehine Baker was attractive and reminds us the openness to color in France that is shamefully missing in the USA. An excellent read with a surprise at the very end.

<B>I RECEIVED THIS BOOK VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.</b>:
A polyphonous choral piece, not an extended solo. We are not left in one narrator's head for long; all of them speak to us on this one ordinary day in Paris. Yet what is most perfectly described is, oddly enough, not Paris; it is the interior landscape of the four souls whom Alex George has plucked from his imagination as a former r&eacute;sident &eacute;tranger from boarding school years. His life there clearly made a deep impression on him. His evocation of fellow-foreigner and city-garden puppeteer Souren's life in hiding behind the small stage he puts his shows on is almost the most heartbreaking thing in the book. Then, when contrasted with the way the lone and lonely man sets his day up, Author George slips the shiv nito your ribs:
<blockquote>This man's music has become part of Souren's mornings, as essential as the sun rising over the rooftops of the city. The familiar melody offers him a moment of quiet grace, and this gives him strength for the day ahead. The pianist knows nothing of this, of course. He plays only for himself. Souren wonders how the arc of the man's own days is changed by creating such beauty each morning. He watches as the pianist makes his lonely way down the street. The man looks tired, defeated. He does not play for joy, thinks Souren. He plays for survival.</blockquote>
Souren, and Author George, are not really empathizing with the defeated creator of beauty so much as inhabiting his worn shoes as he slumps into another day.

Lovely no-longer-young mother Camille's place is really the most attention-grabbing one, though, as she was once femme de m&eacute;nage, growing into confidante, of the divine auteur Proust. It is fascinating to follow her through her memories, trace her regrets, but in the end, I felt the least personal connection to her...it was flat and expected, the way she dealt with the great author; no fresh angle was adduced, but the events are certainly involving and make for good reading.

I hate it when reviewers go all coy about endings. I know why they do, of course, and I'm about to do it to you. The ending of the book is truly what makes the work a polyphony, not a dirge or an aria or even a chorale. The music to your own inner ear will necessarily be different from mine. I don't think it's wise or fair to enable you to dismiss or demand a book based on what my response to the ending might be. In this book's case, I do not think it's wise to say more than "you will be moved to a greater or a lesser degree depending on factors including your belief in human lovingkindness as a guiding star."

But the beating heart of the story is:
<blockquote>Some things you cannot leave behind. Your history will pursue you doggedly across frontiers and over oceans. It will slip past the unsmiling border guards, fold itself invisibly into the pages of your passport, a silent, treacherous stowaway.</blockquote>
Resistance is futile; escape is impossible; grace, nonetheless, finds us wherever we are.

I absolutely loved the idea of this concept, and the premise of the book was my dream. It was difficult for me to follow at times, but I still really enjoyed it.