An American in Paris navigates her family’s secret past and unlocks her own future, in this emotionally evocative novel byNew York Times bestselling author Juliet Blackwell.
As a girl, Genevieve Martin spent the happiest summer of her life in Paris, learning the delicate art of locksmithing at her uncle’s side. But since then, living back in the States, she has become more private, more subdued. She has been an observer of life rather than an active participant, holding herself back from those around her, including her soon-to-be-ex-husband.
Paris never really left Genevieve, and, as her marriage crumbles, she finds herself faced with an incredible opportunity: return to the magical city of her youth to take over her late uncle’s shop. But as she absorbs all that Parisian culture has to offer, she realizes the city also holds secrets about her family that could change her forever, and that locked doors can protect you or imprison you, depending on which side of them you stand.
My review:
4/5
While this novel is certainly not my favorite, I really liked it!
As a French speaking person, books where there's French and English are always ones that I enjoy, because I get to compare two languages and see how hard it is to do the opposite of what I did, which was learn English. Although I'm not actually French and I've unfortunatelt never been to Paris, I love to read about France in general, because my family comes from there and it sounds beautiful and amazing, except from the rude waiters, maybe. I liked to see the city through the eyes of someone who struggles with French and who's considering moving altogether to Paris, since moving to another country has always sounded incredible and romantic to me, even though it's way too scary for me to attempt it in a near future. I was relieved to see how Genevieve struggles with immigration and feels like giving up sometimes, because otherwise it wouldn't have been realistic and it would've bugged me the whole time, preventing me from enjoying this novel.
The writing style is great. I loved the alternated stories told in different chapters, because I had a better idea of the entire scheme that way. It helped me view the story as it is, instead of clouded by a character's opinion, which I really liked. I think that it could've been told only in Angela and Genevieve's perspectives, because they're the most important characters and their sides of the story are the most different.
I enjoyed the intriguing part of this story. There's one plot twist that I saw coming from the very beginning, so I was deceived to see that I had known it all this time and that it was so obvious. However, I remained curious about other parts of the story, which is why I continued reading, anxious and doubting every sentence, trying to figure out the truth. I wasn't expecting to read a mystery book, but it ended up being a little bit like that, which I welcomed happily.
The plot is interesting, even though I wish some details were more in depth. Genevieve's divorce seemed very mature to me in the end, because she truly got to know herself better and figure out the reasons behind her actions. I particularly liked seeing her understand her mother, herself and her friends better, because it shows a lot of character development that's well displayed.
I would recommend this novel, especially to Paris lovers and locksmiths out there.
(Thank you Edelweiss for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)
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