From Powells.com
Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Staff Pick
The setting, a bookshop in Paris, intrigued me. The first line hooked me. While some aspects of this tale are reminiscent of The Little Paris Bookshop, the larger story of a family searching for a missing father is so much more. Beautifully written, it questions the nature of parenting, marriage, and what we tell ourselves about love. But too, there is the bookstore and the mystery of connection and truth that books offer. Wonderful! Recommended By Kathi K., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
A missing person, a grieving family, a curious clue: a half-finished manuscript set in Paris.
When eccentric novelist Robert Eady abruptly vanishes, he leaves behind his wife, Leah, their daughters, and, hidden in an unexpected spot, plane tickets to Paris.
Hoping to uncover clues — and her husband — Leah sets off for France with her girls. Upon their arrival, she discovers an unfinished manuscript, one Robert had been writing without her knowledge… and that he had set in Paris. The Eady women follow the path of the manuscript to a small, floundering English-language bookstore whose weary proprietor is eager to sell. Leah finds herself accepting the offer on the spot.
As the family settles into their new Parisian life, they trace the literary paths of some beloved Parisian classics, including Madeline and The Red Balloon, hoping more clues arise. But a series of startling discoveries forces Leah to consider that she may not be ready for what solving this mystery might do to her family — and the Paris she thought she knew.
Charming, haunting, and triumphant, Paris by the Book follows one woman’s journey as she writes her own story, exploring the power of family and the magic that hides within the pages of a book.
Review
“Liam Callanan’s Paris by the Book is much more than an elegiac portrait of an artist who has vanished. Here we witness the sacrifices and yearnings of the ones left behind as they continue to love, live, and flourish. Like James Salter’s Light Years, Callanan depicts the once seemingly simple conditions of a young marriage and what it takes to let such conditions go.” Min Jin Lee, National Book Award finalist author of Pachinko
Review
“Sublime…Callanan has crafted a beautifully-drawn portrait of a woman interrupted set among the exquisite magic of Paris, where life frequently imitates art at the ghosts of the past linger just out of sight.” Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)
About the Author
Liam Callanan is a novelist, teacher and journalist, whose first novel, The Cloud Atlas, was a finalist for an Edgar Award. Winner of George W. Hunt, S.J., Prize for Excellence in Journalism, Arts and Letters, Liam has published in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The San Francisco Chronicle, and has recorded numerous essays for public radio. He’s taught for the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and lives in Wisconsin with his wife and daughters.