The Little Paris Bookshop

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George – Paperback 360 pages – Abacus – NZ$34.99 
I reviewed this title on Radio New Zealand National's Nine to Noon this morning,

When this book arrived in the mail last Thursday I got quite a surprise. I hadn’t seen the book before, hadn’t heard anything about it and I was expecting a small hardback, illustrated non-fiction title about one of Paris’ several famous small bookshops. But no, it was instead a paperback novel, quite substantial – running to 360 pages.

Interestingly the author is German and it was first published there where it was an instant best-seller before being widely translated. This English translation was carried out by Simon Pare who has done an excellent job. I always think if you are reading a translation but it feels to you like it has been originally published in English then that is the sign of a skilful translation.

The book is set entirely in France, initially in Paris and then south to Provence.  Monsieur Jean Perdu has a beautifully restored barge on the Seine and on that barge he has his bookshop or what he calls his “literary apothecary” for he possesses a rare gift for sensing which books his customers need that will soothe their souls and relieve any troubles they are experiencing. He mends broken hearts and souls. Despite these skills it seems the only person he is unable to cure is himself for he has been nursing a broken heart for 21 years after the woman that he loved abruptly left him leaving just a letter that Jean Perdu has not been able to bring himself to open.

This is a love story I guess – It is certainly a love letter to books, but it is also a love story about Paris, food & wine, canal trips, Provence,

the Mediterranean, literature & truffles, lost love, new love, and rediscovering love in middle age.

I reckon it is especially a book for bibliophiles, I really enjoyed it even though I found the otherwise endearing protagonist Jean Purdue quite frustrating at times. 

The story really gets going after the sudden arrival of a mysterious new neighbour in his apartment building and he decides to unmoor the floating bookshop and set sail for Provence in search of his past. At this point the book becomes something of a rather wonderful road trip as we travel the rivers and canals of France and visit charming towns and villages with him and two companions who join him – one a young successful author who is suffering writers’ block and the other a lovelorn Italian chef. They sell books for food and have all sorts of small but special adventures along the way. They become best of friends and enjoy a stunning summer in the south of France.

I have been to a number of the villages and towns they visited and was especially interested to read about Cuisery in Burgundy which is known as the book village because it is dominated by booksellers- with some 20 new and second hand bookshops, as well as having book printers, designers and others involved in the book world and where on the first Sunday of each month a huge book sale is held.

This is a delightful read, pure escapism especially if you like food, books and France !