Book Review: The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

Rating: 5 stars of 5

The Paris Novel is now my favorite modern novel. I rarely rate modern novels with 5 stars these days, but I loved this book so much and definitely want to read it again at some point. The pacing is good, the characters are lovable, and something about the writing is just enchanting.

The overall vibe of the book is like a delightful mix between the friendship between Iris and Arthur in the film The Holiday mixed with the absolute joy of Julia Child’s memoir of moving to France and falling in love with Paris, cooking, and good food.

The book starts out a little bit bleak as we learn about Stella’s back story and where she is now, but it gradually increases in this sparkly, captivating sense of warmth as the book progresses. It’s cozy and wonderful and it made me want to live in Paris and learn to cook, walk to the market for fresh ingredients every day, spend afternoons in museums looking at art, and hang out with George Whitman and the Tumbleweeds at Shakespeare and Company.

I wondered if the book was based on a true story many times as I read because the story is so believable and there are some intriguing details and real-life side characters woven in; thus, I loved reading the author’s note at the end. It gave me some jumping off places for some research I would like to do, and I also came away with the names of several poets and chefs whose work I want to look up now that I’ve finished reading the book.

This was my first Ruth Reichl read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Paris Novel has already been added to my list of favorite books, and I immediately went to a local bookstore after I finished reading it and purchased her other novel, Delicious! I’ve since learned that Ruth is also a restaurant critic, former editor in chief at Gourmet, and a well loved memoirist. I’ve added her foodie memoirs and cookbook to my wishlist and am looking forward to reading more of her writing in the future.

Content advisory: brief description of child SA - not graphic; easily skippable - skip chapter two (pages 10-14) to avoid it

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