Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this free digital copy for my honest review of this story.

The Paris Novel is a Michelin 5 Star read. It has been sometime since I have read such a thrilling novel. This is a trifecta plot-driven story about a young woman, Stella, visiting Paris after her narcissistic mother, Celia, passes away with Stella never knowing a word or the name of her father. Celia considers her daughter a dud. Yet, her mother leaves Stella a trip to Paris The author’s descriptions as Stella takes bite after bite of each titillating morsel set before her at some of the finest restaurants Paris has to offer is orgasmic. Some of these foods I could never imagine ever eating but Reichl certainly makes them sound tempting. Personally I don’t know the criteria for Michelin Restaurant Rating, but Django, one of the top chefs of the novel, feels that Chez Django will definitely qualify for a Michelin star. I know that this book is a definite 5-star rating.

I want to look up every artist the author talks about and learn of their works; some I know of but many I don’t. The author’s note gives information on those artist that are fictitious and those from her imagination. Surely no one could consider a person with facial features like a Modigliani were pleasing or handsome.

This story includes family relationships, world famous art, food and Paris’ couture. There is no downtime in the story. The author keeps the storylines moving at a thrilling pace. I know that this book is a definite 5-star rating.

Ok, I’m ready to book a flight to Paris. This was great — it really felt like I was there enjoying the sights of the city and enjoying the delicious food alongside Stella. It was a bit slow at times, but I loved watching her grow throughout the story.

You can tell the author put a lot of research into this. I don’t normally read the acknowledgments, but it was interesting to learn more about that process and how she added her own personal experiences in.

Thank you to Ruth Reichl, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

Loved every moment!! Every time I read a Ruth Reichl book I am astounded at just how much I enjoy them. I had read her memoirs but wasn’t sure what to expect from a novel. But I found this book delightful! Experiencing Paris and adventure through the life of the main character, Stella was a joy all the way through as her eyes were opened to food, fashion, and especially relationships - found family. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy. Highly recommend!!

Love, love love this novel. After Stella's flamboyant mother dies, she discovers a letter and a ticket from Celia encouraging her to go to Paris. Not one to take chances, Stella decides to go against her better judgment. What she learns about herself, her mother, a lost artist and her many new friends is a delightful adventure. Ruth Reichl never disappoints. A very enjoyable novel filled with colorful characters - some real people and other fictional.

Thank you @randomhouse and @netgalley for the eARC of The Paris Novel by @ruth.reichl in exchange for an honest review.

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
Publication Date: April 23, 2024
Random House Publishing

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Stella and her mother never had a strong mother-daughter bond, just the opposite as their frayed relationship led to estrangement. When Stella’s mother died, she received a note and a one-way ticket to Paris. The Paris Novel is a exquisitely written story about healing generational trauma in the throes of grief, and the magical setting in the City of Lights adds the most romantic touch. A truly immersive journey back to 1980’s Paris, where a change of scenery allows Stella’s eyes and heart to open to all new experiences. And through this all is the opportunity to reexamine her own life, a truly unique experience to see that even in grief, there is beauty.

4.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review is in Goodreads and will be on Instagram soon!

THE PARIS NOVEL
Ruth Reichl

When I think of Paris, I think of premier fashion, streetside cafés, believing in the magic of a life lived before you, and the lights.

I think of the lights.

THE PARIS NOVEL was on everyone’s most anticipated list, so when I came across it recently, I requested it right away. I am obsessed with all things Paris and Paris-related and plan to visit in early May of this year.

THE PARIS NOVEL is set in Paris and features a copy editor as the main character. It’s about books and love, and old-fashioned things like being a gentleman, doing what’s right, and falling in love for eternity.

I loved this book. I liked the story and the level of reflection. You can tell Reichl has affection for the city and her vibes are contagious. It feels like you’re in the heart of Paris at a corner table in the best restaurant reading about the people sitting next to you.

There really isn’t anything better than that!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Random House for the advanced copy!

THE PARIS NOVEL…⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stella, who seems to lead a pretty dull and boring life, embarks on a journey to Paris at the request of her estranged and recently deceased mother (who has left Stella a monetary inheritance to pay for her journey). Thus begins Stella’s journey of self-discovery, one bestrewn with events which cause her to recognize that life can have many unexpected pleasures, even in the simplest of things. This is a beautiful story, and Stella’s experiences in 1980s Paris — especially her involvement with the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company, as well as the food that she comes to truly appreciate — make for a very entertaining read. Anyone who loves literature, art, food and all that is Paris should really enjoy this novel.

Books about Paris instantly draw my attention, and this book did not fail to disappoint on the Paris front!

I absolutely loved how this book was written. The descriptions were detailed enough that I could visualize what I was reading, but were not so detailed that they bogged down the plot or distracted me in a negative way. This is difficult to achieve, and I comment Ruth Reichl on her skillful adeptness at creating a world in her writing. I loved the focus on food, fashion, and artwork, especially through a Parisian lens. The only reason I did not give this book a full 5 stars is because at times, it lacked a relatable factor. I felt that Stella's adventures in Paris seemed too perfect, and that there were too many magical coincidences that linked characters and fates together. However, this type of book can be very uplifting and lighthearted, which can be a welcome change from one's own reality. I also found the dialogue spoken by the characters in the book to be a bit awkward, clumsy, and cliché, which contributed to my 4 star review.

However, I do want to emphasize that I really enjoyed this book. I loved the french phrases incorporated throughout, as I am actually learning French so it was fun to test my skills! One of my favorite parts was actually reading the author's note and learning how much research Ruth Reichl did in order to write the book. It is fascinating that so many characters are real people and that so many of these stores and places are also real. The book has inspired me to do my own research on Rose Valland, Victorine Meurent, and the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. I am grateful to Ruth Reichl for the amount of work that she put into this book and for the inspiration it has given me. Thank you additionally NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me to read this ARC! Looking forward to reading more from Ruth!

Like so many, I am a huge fan of Ruth Reichl’s memoirs and was very much looking forward to this novel. Not surprisingly, I enjoyed the detailed food descriptions and Parisian setting. I was less drawn to the characters and plot, which felt less fully realized than I prefer. But this was still a fun read, and I would recommend it.

I feel like Ms. Reichl phoned this one in. The sex abuse scene in the beginning was gratuitious in detail, (and I am not a prude) especially as it didn't really serve the story or much character development. As for the rest, it was implausible even as a fantasy. I wanted to like this so badly.

This book was a fun little palate cleanser from all of the thrillers and fantasy reads I’ve been into lately. You quickly feel as if you are right in the heart of Paris, experiencing all of its charm, culture, and (most of all) food!

I would have liked there to be a little more plot to this story, as it mostly felt like continuous descriptions of food, art, fashion, and literature throughout without a whole lot of plot. That said, it was still enjoyable and had fun and clever historical aspects woven into the story throughout.

Thank you to Ruth Reichl, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

Having read Reichl’s memoirs it was so much fun to read a book that was obviously part her own life experiences, part careful research and part imagination. I was caught unawares that this was historical fiction until I began the book, but other than not understanding all of the cultural references without having to look them up, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the novel. I really enjoyed Stella’s coming of age story and the ways in which she found herself through her research. The Paris Novel features an eclectic cast of characters and they all contribute to Stella’s growth and the woman she becomes. I loved that she didn’t set out to go to Paris to find herself, but that is in fact what she did. The food descriptions are evocative and make me want to book my own trip to Paris immediately.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

Why did her mother want her to go to Paris?

Stella liked her quiet, solitary life and her predictable job at the publishing house.

She wasn’t a spender.

She wasn’t one to be extravagant, and she definitely wasn’t someone that liked to socialize like her mother did.

After her boss forced her to go on a vacation, she decided she might as well head to Paris. She didn’t like it at all.

Or she didn’t like it until she was enticed by an eccentric woman to buy a very expensive dress created by Dior that made her feel amazing in all ways.

She didn’t know this dress would make her see things differently and meet wonderful people or was it just Paris itself?

Is this what her mother wanted her to feel and where she wanted her to be?

Besides loving how Stella is able to find herself you will love all the name dropping of fashion icons, famous artists, places in Paris, and the mystery Stella was trying to solve and a mystery she was not trying to unravel, but so happy she did.

You will love the characters - eccentric, sweet, and loving. And of course you will fall in love with Paris.

A delightful, breezy read, but don’t read this book if you are hungry. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Ruth Reichl writes about food in a way that no one else can, full stop. Her memoirs are delightful and the descriptions of food in this novel are no exception. However, her fiction writing is…not my favorite. This was fine, I finished it for the food and setting descriptions, but I wasn’t invested in this story and the plot felt very secondary to the food descriptions that are Reichl’s comfort zone and strength. I think I’ll let myself skip her novels going forward.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions found within are my own.

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Like many readers, I picked up this book because I was in love with Ruth Reichl's food writing. And true to form, Reichl's descriptive prose has a wonderfully sensual and synesthetic quality, breaking time and space to carry the reader to 1980s Paris with every morsel of food Stella eats and every vista she lays eyes on.

As for Stella herself, I found her to be an okay protagonist. Likable enough, but a bit of a pinball. Normally, this would have been a serious mark against her. I prefer protagonists who drive the plot. But in this case, at least part of Stella's job was to serve as vessel for my vicarious Paris trip, and in this, she did a marvelous job.

There are some aspects of her characterization I wish to comment on in particular, however. Firstly, I don't know how to feel about the fact that throughout the entire book, almost every meaningful connection Stella makes is with a man. These men, in fact, drive the story far more than Stella does. And don't get me wrong. They are lovable. They are charismatic. But combined with Reichl's comparative paucity of female characters and her treatment of the most notable of them, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

The two most notable women in the book, Stella's mother, Celia, and her mentor's gold digger daughter-in-law-to-be, Eugenie, are both portrayed in a generally negative light. Eugenie, in particular, is a caricature: Terrible, one-dimensional, and easily vanquished.

To her credit, Reichl does try to infuse Celia with some humanity, at least through Stella's eyes. But here's the thing. It is entirely through Stella's eyes. We never get to meet Celia alive. She is, in essence, only characterized posthumously. I wish Reichl had drawn more of a parallel between Stella's search for the missing history of Victorine-Louise Meurent and her metaphorical search for her mother. It might have deepened the narrative and enriched the themes. But, to go back to my original point, the only adult women Stella formed a deeper connection with were dead. The negative space speaks volumes, and I doubt its words are what Reichl intended.

The other aspect of Stella I wanted to go into a bit has to do with her history of childhood sexual abuse. I admit, that plot beat was one of the first things I learned about this book, when I peeked at the reviews that came before me. So I knew, going in, that there would be a flashback dealing with this subject in chapter two. First things first: the abuse is not described graphically. Certainly nothing like similar content in, say, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, or She's Come Undone. It appears in a flashback, which then fades to black. Secondly, the resulting trauma is touched on and dealt with throughout the book, leading to Stella's backstory isolation, damaging her ability to trust, and leading her to panicking for her safety in situations which prove innocuous. It's not gratuitous or irrelevant to Stella's character arc. With that in mind, I think Reichl handled the subject with decent grace and respect.

I do wish, however, that the marketing for this book had been clearer in indicating that sexual assault - especially that of a child - might be a theme. The story is overall a fairly fluffy one, and the use of this extremely dark subject matter is likely to sucker-punch the reader. I get where the blurb is going with "a childhood trauma has kept her confined to the strict routines of her comfort zone." However, "childhood trauma" is simply too vague. It could be a car accident, or witnessing the death of an elderly relative, or so many other things. Even something like "childhood history of abuse" might have served better.

In short, I think Reichl did her due diligence here, but the marketing might have done better.

That all being said, I know what I came to this book for: food porn. And food porn I got, with a side of dress porn and genuinely fascinating art history. However much the critical side of my brain might grouse, I can't deny I enjoyed what I read. And I did enjoy it. Which, altogether, averages out to three stars.

I’ve eagerly awaited another Ruth Reichl novel since Delicious, this one does not disappoint! Her characters are vivid and so alive. The novel’s main character Stella leads such a quiet and invisible life with a mother that clearly wasn’t meant to be a mother. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but life events take her to Paris. Here her life is transformed through the people she meets and the chances she dares to take. The descriptions of the experiences and foods she encounters take me there with her. It certainly inspires me to cook with abandon! I loved this book. I only gave it four stars because I wish it had gone on just a bit longer. I would’ve loved to continue on this journey with her and all the wonderful people she met.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl.

How can you not enjoy a book that begins with a dress designed by Saint Laurent for Dior?!?!

The Paris Novel is like traveling to Paris with the most magical guide.

I appreciate all of the fine details in the book, including why Stella was named that. (Gotta read the book to find out why!)

Very few have the talent to write about food the way Ruth Reich does! Per the author's note, the meals Stella eats prepared by the top French chefs was Reich recalling her own transcendental meals.

It's important to note the book takes place around 1983 before the invention of the Internet.

I learned about the traditional way French gourmands art ortolans (and am very happy this is now outlawed). I also learned about snail farming, Shakespeare & Co book store, George Whitman and Tumbleweeds.

I adore Jules! He might be one of my favorite characters ever. Stella reminded me a bit of
Belle and Jules her dad in Beauty & the Beast. Parts of the book had almost a magical. Fairy tale component to it.

I need to know what perfume Severine wore that had an apricot & vanilla scent.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for an ARC in an exchange for my honest review.

What a delightful story of a women finding herself on a journey to Paris in the 1980s. When Stella's mom passed away, the only thing she got was a plane ticket to Paris and couple thousand dollars to use there. Well Stella took a leave of absence from her job as a copy editor and went to Paris for what she thought was just a couple of weeks. Stella loved her new routine and schedules but it wasn't enough. She found herself in a vintage shop and is talked into buying a dress that was meant for her, according to the shopkeeper. That one event leads Stella to eventually finding the people she would call friends and family. Stella meets so many interesting people at the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore and even stays there between hotels. She ends up going on adventures to find the model in a famous Manet painting from the late 1800s and finds some amazing details. I loved the quirky, fascinating characters Stella interacts with and how she turns her live upside down to become a better version of herself. I felt I was walking through Paris or living in the bookstore or lounging in the chalets. I could smell the meals cooked, as you would expect from this author. If you are looking for a book to take you away on a sensory adventure, I would recommend this book!
#TheParisNovel #NetGalley
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Net Galley for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is a fun story of a single woman’s adventure in Paris of the 1980s. An exploration of French food and art with many fun touchstones for Francophile readers.