Blog Tour ~ Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain (Translated by Emily Boyce)

Jaffareadstoo is thrilled to be part of the blog tour for Vintage 1954

Gallic
20 June 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and to edpr for the invitation to be part of this blog tour

When Hubert Larnaudie invites some fellow residents of his Parisian apartment building to drink an exceptional bottle of 1954 Beaujolais, he has no idea of its special properties. The following morning, Hubert finds himself waking up in 1950s Paris, as do antique restorer Magalie, mixologist Julien, and Airbnb tenant Bob from Milwaukee, who's on his first trip to Europe. 

After their initial shock, the city of Edith Piaf and An American in Paris begins to work its charm on them.

But, ultimately, they need to work out how to get back to 2017. And the key lies in a legendary story of the vineyards of Chȃteau Saint-Antoine..

My thoughts..

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could take a drink from a vintage bottle of wine and cross through time, back to the glorious era in which the grapes were harvested and bottled, and that's just what happens in this lovely story which takes us, thanks to a vintage bottle of 1954 Beaujolais, back in time to the Paris of the 1950s, and to all those lovely people who made this vibrant post-war city such a joyous place to live.

The story starts with a disappearance, and then whisks us forward into 2017 Paris to meet up with four eccentric neighbours who find themselves living at 18 Rue Edgar-Charellier. This disparate group of characters who, collectively have very little in common will, in the course of the story, have the adventure of a lifetime.

This is such a wonderfully quirky story that it is easy to just sit back and enjoy just how it all unfolds. To allow the author's clever writing to transport you back to a bygone time is such a joy, especially as we spend time in Paris when it was a less frenetic city. Back to a gentler time when there were tiny bistros tucked away and fruit sellers on street corners who had time to stop and chat. It was also a city where the great and the good loved to visit, so it's wonderful to have the fleeting opportunity to meet up with the likes of Salvador Dali, Audrey Hepburn, Hubert de Givenchy and Edith Piaf.

Vintage 1954 is a hidden gem and the most perfect summer read, especially if you are visiting Paris but it would work equally well sitting in the garden, preferably with a glass or two of Beaujolais close to hand 🍶

About the Author

Antoine Laurain is a wine-lover, journalist, and antique collector. Born and bred in Paris, he is the author of bestselling novels The President’s Hat (a Waterstones Book Club pick) and The Red Notebook. His books have sold over 155,000 copies in English and Antoine’s work has been adapted for French TV, translated into 14 languages, and won the Prix Relay des Voyageurs amongst others.

Website

Twitter @BelgraviaB  #Vintage1954

@ed_pr

Review ~ That Deplorable Boy by Jasper Barry

Matador
2018
(Miremont Trilogy #2)

My thanks to the author for my copy of this book

The long-awaited follow-up to The Second Footman. 

A modern take on the nineteenth-century novel, set in 1880s’ France and full of period detail and atmosphere. 

No matter how deplorable Max Fabien appears there is something about this deliciously handsome boy which intrigues and captivates, and perhaps, dare I say it, enthrals even more in this second volume of the trilogy which began with The Second Footman.

In That Deplorable Boy we catch up with the Marquis de Miremont and his young lover when they are some years into their clandestine relationship. Miremont is as besotted as ever with his young protégé and yet, there are signs that perhaps Max has had his head, and affections, turned by other more interesting sexual conquests. Overwhelmed with jealousy, Miremont must not only cope with his feelings of rage towards the perfidity of his young lover, but must also contend with the dreaded arrival of his estranged wife and the interference of his elder daughter as Miremont prepares to launch his younger daughter into the maelstrom which masquerades as the crème de la crème of Parisian high society. 

The author writes so beautifully that, with the utmost charm, the glory of Belle Époque Paris comes gloriously to life, from the boudoirs and grand salons of the great and the not so good, the story never falters, and there is never a moment when you don’t believe, with absolute conviction, that you are walking along the same streets and boulevards as Max Fabien, tiptoeing in his shadow as he goes about his sometimes shady business. And what a fabulous character he is, this deplorable boy who charms you with a glance and then cuts you down like a knife through butter. 

The story is complex, filled with intricate detail of Max and Miremont’s life together and yet, at the same time, there is a real sense of historical authenticity in the way that the places, the people and the era blend together so seamlessly. There is no doubt that from the tip of its glorious cover, to the very last word, That Deplorable Boy is every bit as good as I knew it would be.

If you haven't caught up with this trilogy, then do start with The Second Footman and go back in time to the glorious Belle Époque and become acquainted with Max Fabien.

 About the Author

Jasper Barry graduated from Cambridge with a degree in English and has worked in advertising, then in journalism. Jasper lives in London with too many books and three obstreperous cats.

Twitter @JasperBarry2

Amazon UK

Blog Tour ~ Paris in the Dark by Robert Olen Butler

Jaffareadstoo is pleased to be involved in the Blog Tour 

Paris in the Dark

No Exit Press
25 October 2018

My thanks to the publishers and Random Things Tours for my copy of this book
and the invitation to the blog tour.

AUTUMN 1915. The First World War is raging across Europe. Woodrow Wilson has kept Americans out of the trenches, although that hasn’t stopped young men and women from crossing the Atlantic to volunteer at the front. 

Christopher Marlowe ‘Kit’ Cobb, a Chicago reporter and undercover agent for the US government is in Paris when he meets an enigmatic nurse called Louise. Officially in the city for a story about American ambulance drivers, Cobb is grateful for the opportunity to get to know her but soon his intelligence handler, James Polk Trask, extends his mission. Parisians are meeting ‘death by dynamite’ in a new campaign of bombings, and the German-speaking Kit seems just the man to discover who is behind this – possibly a German operative who has infiltrated with the waves of refugees? And so begins a pursuit that will test Kit Cobb, in all his roles, to the very limits of his principles, wits and talents for survival. 

Fleetly plotted and engaging with political and cultural issues that resonate deeply today, Paris in the Dark is the finest novel yet in this riveting series.

My thoughts about it..

It's autumn of 1915 and Paris is a very dark place, incendiary devices are being deployed on the Parisian boulevards, and with only a vague idea of who could be behind these atrocities, Christopher Marlowe 'Kit' Cobb, a US undercover agent, is given the difficult task of infiltrating the network of a possible German source. Running alongside Kit Cobb's devilish pursuit of the clever perpetrators is a rather interesting connection, which in his guise as a Chicago news reporter he meets hospital nurse, Louise Pickering, a relationship which becomes more important as the story progresses.

Paris in the Dark is first book by this author I have read and even though this is now the fourth novel in the Christopher Marlowe Cobb series of early twentieth century crime thrillers I found it very easy to become involved in the story. I don't feel that I have missed anything by not having met Cobb before in previous adventures, that he is adventurous goes without saying however, Cobb is also fiercely intelligent and won't leave any clue uninvestigated until he has what he wants. There's a fair amount of political background to the story, specifically around the United States president's reluctance to involve the US in the escalating troubles on the Western Front, which I quite found fascinating. 

Thanks to the author's skilful writing, and excellent attention to even the smallest of detail, there is a distinct sensation of living through a dark and dangerous time; this comes across in the starkness and yet, lyrical quality, of the writing. The detailed description of meeting a train filled with wounded soldiers is bleakly evocative, filled with the sights, sounds and smells of broken and pain wracked men, and is something which will stay with me for a long time. 

Paris in the Dark is a compelling literary thriller, filled with the shadowy menace of a dark and dangerous period in WW1 history.

About the Author

Drawing on his own experience as a war veteran and news reporter, Robert Olen Butler has created a page turning thriller of unmistakable literary quality.

Website

Twitter @RobertOlenButler #ParisInTheDark

@noexitpress

#RandomThingsTours

Hist Fic Saturday...The Betrayal by Kate Furnivall

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to....Paris, 1938

Simon and Schuster UK
November 2018

My thanks to the publicists edpr for my copy of this book

The story starts in Paris in 1930, when a devastating family tragedy occurs when twins, Florence and Romaine Duchamps are teenagers, only for the story to then flip forwards to 1938 when the twins are living very different lives. Socialite, Florence is married to a powerful business man and she has a five year old child, whilst Romaine is a female aviatrix who regularly risks her safety to take to the air in her flimsy, Gypsy Moth, aeroplane. That, Romaine is risking much more than her safety in the skies becomes apparent in her interaction with those who are fearful of the shadowy threat posed by Hitler in the dangerous months before the outbreak of WW2.

The story is compelling, from its decidedly dark beginning, through to the description of life in Paris for both Florence and Romaine. The sisters may be bonded by their birth but they are separated by their lifestyles and the secrets they keep from each other. The action is exciting, particularly Romaine's story as she gets drawn further and further into a dark underworld and yet, Florence's life is equally compelling, as she mingles with the social elite of pre-war, Paris.

The Betrayal is a truly compelling read, not just for the description of the relationship between the sisters, but also for the accuracy of the historical background which explains the build up to the outbreak of war, and of the steady increase in restlessness and apprehension which pervaded all levels of society. The author writes well and certainly brings time and place alive with an authenticity I found fascinating. The action is fast and furious and doesn't shy away from revealing danger and violence and of the consequences of actions which have devastating repercussions for both Florence and Romaine.

This is well written historical fiction which has an absorbing edginess which lasts throughout the whole of the story, from its startling beginning, through to its timely and dramatic conclusion.

About the Author

Website

Twitter @KateFurnivall

#TheBetrayal

@simonschusterUK

Review ~ To Capture What We Cannot Keep by Beatrice Colin

Allen & Unwin
Atlantic Books
February 2017

What's it all about...

In February 1887, Caitriona Wallace and Émile Nouguier meet in a hot air balloon, floating high above Paris, France--a moment of pure possibility. But back on firm ground, their vastly different social strata become clear.As the Eiffel Tower rises, a marvel of steel and air and light, the subject of extreme controversy and a symbol of the future, Cait and Émile must decide what their love is worth.

What did I think about it...

This interesting love story is set during the glory days of the La Belle Époque when the world was innovated both by design and invention. Widow, Caitriona Wallace, is the paid companion of brother and sister, Jamie and Alice Arrol, and their arrival in Paris is the culmination of a European tour. Caitriona does not expect to find love again, nor does she seek it out, but a chance meeting with, Émile Nouguier, the Eiffel Tower architect, starts a delicate relationship which opens up a wealth of unseen possibilities for Caitriona.

The story is nicely written and brings eighteenth century Paris alive in the imagination. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and think that the author did a good job in demonstrating the expectations of people in different social classes. There are a few really interesting female characters that help to give the book its light and shade. I particularly liked Gabrielle, Émile's feisty mistress, whose chaotic lifestyle clearly showed that life, for some women was never going to be easy. However, I'm not sure that the men come across with any redeeming qualities, Jamie Arrol, in particular, is a bit of a loose cannon and I think that the author captured what it was like for an aimless young man who had too much time and not enough common sense. Émile Nouguier is rather an enigma, and whilst I wanted to like him for Caitriona's sake, I found him rather disappointing as a romantic lead character. The detailed description of the construction of the Eiffel Tower was particularly fascinating as was the people’s reaction to its construction and completion.

To Capture What we Cannot Keep is a quietly confident and intelligently written historical novel. It captures the atmosphere of nineteenth century Paris really well both in terms of its social constraints and also of the magic of living in such a wonderfully inventive age.

Best Read with ... Delicate French pâtisserie..

About the Author

Beatrice Colin is a novelist based in Glasgow. The Luminous Life of Lily Aphrodite, a novel set in Berlin in the early twentieth century was translated into eight languages and was Richard and Judy pick. Beatrice has been shortlisted for a British Book award, a Saltire award and a Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award. She also writes plays and adaptations of BBC Radio 4.

My thanks to Karen at Atlantic Books for my review copy of this book

~***~

Review ~ The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

Gallic Books
5 April2015

“He was about to commit a forbidden act. A transgression. For a man should never go through a woman’s handbag.”

When bookseller Laurent Letellier finds an abandoned ladies handbag on a Parisian street he is determined to locate the owner and return it to them. But the handbag contains no phone or contact details and except for a few personal effects the only thing of significance is a small red notebook with the handwritten thoughts and feelings of a person Laurent would like very much to meet. Without a name to go on, finding the owner, in the city of Paris, is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

What then follows is an enchanting story of discovery, and of how the search for someone can reveal far more about ourselves,than the person for whom we search. Laurent, by trade a book seller, opens his heart and soul in his search for this mysterious woman; we learn of his life, his loves and of the people who mean the most to him. He is, at times, beguiling, lost as a little boy, vulnerable as a kitten and yet, is all consumed in his search to find this missing person for whom he yearns with a passion he cannot explain which is both touching and poignant.

To say more would be to spoil the effect of this lovely, lovely story and my only recommendation is that you read it for yourself, but first set aside an afternoon, draw up your favourite chair, open your favourite bottle of vin chaud and prepare to be charmed.

Translated from the French by Emily Boyce and Jane Aitken.

Amazon UK- published in paperback 5 April.
Amazon.com - published in paperback 7 April

My thanks to Sophie at edpr and Gallic Books for my copy of this book.

Find The Red Notebook on Twitter

What's in Your Handbag

#therednotebook

#inmyhandbag

Here's my handbag.

It contains

A cat notebook, my purse, a 2015 diary, a shopping bag, a copy of The Red Notebook, two bookmarks
and a monkey called Manuela.

~***~

Review ~ City of Dreams by Harriet Steel

CreateSpace
2014

The story opens in St Petersburg in 1864 as seventeen year old Anna, the daughter of a prosperous Russian furrier, is swept off her feet in a whirlwind romance with the attractive and elegant Frenchman, Emile Daubigny. In joyful anticipation, Anna leaves her family in St Petersburg and enters married life in the glorious city of Paris, where she expects to have a comfortable and affluent lifestyle amongst the great and the good of this enchanting city. However, Anna’s circumstances change dramatically when her husband Emile mysteriously disappears leaving her both homeless and penniless. As a woman alone, in a man’s world, Anna soon discovers that she has limited choices, and as the Franco-Prussian war looms, Anna must do whatever she can to survive. In a skilful blending of fact and fiction, Anna’s story is told against the back drop of a city in turmoil, the Franco-Prussian war encroaches, not just on the way in which the city of Paris went about its daily business, but it also demonstrated the fact that lone women would be always be considered to be at the mercy of powerful men.

The narrative is nicely written with a fine eye for detail and the author’s obvious love of history and skill at historical research shines throughout the story, so much so, the era really does come alive. The majestic splendour of sharing company with the Emperor Napoleon III during a rendition of La Belle Hélène at the opera house, and of chance encounters with Alexandre Dumas during intimate suppers at the Moulin Rouge, sit quite comfortably against the more colourful and lively description of washday in one of the city’s more salubrious washing sheds. The juxtaposition of vast wealth is counteracted against the descriptions of lives which are affected just as deeply by poverty and squalor. The rich array of characters who flit into and out of the story add an undeniable charm, and yet what shines throughout is Anna’s strength of character and the way in which she was able to keep her dreams alive.

Overall, the story adds a lovely touch of authenticity to a thoughtful and sensitive portrayal of a tumultuous period in French history. The ending of the book lends itself quite nicely to a continuation of the story, as there are still avenues to explore and loose ends which need some clarification. However, I am sure that this feisty heroine will find much to occupy her in her city of dreams.

 My thanks to the author for inviting me to read her novel.

*~*~*