The Little Paris Bookshop
“There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.”
Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.
After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.
Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.
MY REVIEW: A lovely literary journey traveled through waters and words, "The Little Paris Bookshop" is a charming, poignant read from author Nina George. Monsieur Perdu is a bookseller extraordinaire. He doesn't just sell books--he prescribes them--after diagnosing just the cure for what ails the book seeker. His magical, medicinal matchmaking of book and reader is uplifting and life-changing, and the doctor is long overdue for a dose of his own medicine. After twenty years, a chain of events will propel Monsieur Perdu to seek out the woman who broke his own heart. Along the way, he will collect an assortment of comrades, experience new adventures, and finally come to terms with his own very personal issues. Nina George writes with warmth and spins an atmospheric tale that will appeal to romance readers, food lovers, and armchair travelers. Recipes are included, as well as a special selection of emergency remedy reads from Monsieur Perdu's Literary Pharmacy.
Book Copy Gratis Crown Publishers via Blogging for Books
The Little French Bistro
From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop, an extraordinary novel about self-discovery and new beginnings.
Marianne is stuck in a loveless, unhappy marriage. After forty-one years, she has reached her limit, and one evening in Paris she decides to take action. Following a dramatic moment on the banks of the Seine, Marianne leaves her life behind and sets out for the coast of Brittany, also known as the end of the world.
Here she meets a cast of colorful and unforgettable locals who surprise her with their warm welcome, and the natural ease they all seem to have, taking pleasure in life's small moments. And, as the parts of herself she had long forgotten return to her in this new world, Marianne learns it s never too late to begin the search for what life should have been all along.
With all the buoyant charm that made The Little Paris Bookshop a beloved bestseller, The Little French Bistro is a tale of second chances and a delightful embrace of the joys of life in France.
MY REVIEW: It's never too late to find your true place in life--never to late to learn to speak definitively with your own inner voice. In "The Little French Bistro", from author Nina George, a woman in her sixtieth year begins life anew and experiences much before her own inner compass points her in the right direction. Marianne Messmann, of Germany, has been married for four decades to Lothar, a man set in his ways and devoted to his own comfort and enjoyment. On a trip to Paris, and no longer able to bear the stifling repression of their relationship, Marianne decides to take her own life in Paris in the icy waters of the Seine. When her attempt fails, she makes another radical decision and journeys to Brittany, in northwestern France, to a culture and community far different than she has known. Here she finds friends, food, and sights and sounds which stir her heart and imagination. She also finds romance with an artist, Yann, who colors her world in ways she could never have dreamed. When unfinished business from the past shows up in the form of Lothar, Marianne must search her soul and make the most profound choice of her existence: return to the known and predictable past, or take a great leap of faith for a chance of a future filled with new hope and joy.
Book Copy Gratis Crown Publishing via Blogging for Books
Nina George
Born 1973 in Bielefeld, Germany, Nina George is a prize-winning and bestselling author (“Das Lavendelzimmer” – “The Little Paris Bookshop”) and freelance journalist since 1992, who has published more than two dozen books (novels, mysteries and non-fiction) as well as over hundred short stories and more than 600 columns. George has worked as a cop reporter, columnist and managing editor for a wide range of publications, including Hamburger Abendblatt, Die Welt, Der Hamburger, “politik und kultur” as well as TV Movie and Federwelt. Georges writes also under three pen-names, for ex “Jean Bagnol”, a double-andronym for provence-based mystery novels.
Nina George teaches writing at Literaturbüro Unna, Alsterdamm Kunstschule, Wilhelmsburger Honigfabrik, where she coaches young people, adults and professional authors. George also moderates (bilingual) readings and works as a speaker.
www.nina-george.com
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