The Little Paris Bookshop
A Novel
Book - 2015
Monsieur Perdu is a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore on the Seine, he prescribes novels as medicine for the hardships of life, using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs. The only person he can't seem to heal though 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 he finally reads the letter, he departs with his book-barge to the south of France, hoping to find the end of the story.
Publisher:
New York : Crown Publishers, 2015.
Edition:
First U.S. edition.
ISBN:
9780553418774
Characteristics:
392 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Additional Contributors:


Opinion
From the critics

Community Activity
Age Suitability
Add Age SuitabilitySummary
Add a SummaryQuotes
Add a Quotel
Liber_vermis
Mar 30, 2018
"'Fear transforms you body like an inept sculptor does a perfect block of stone,' Perdu heard Vijaya's voice say inside him. 'It's just that you're chipped away at from within, and no one sees how many splinters and layers have been taken off you. You become ever thinner and more brittle inside, until even the slightest emotion bowls you over. One hug, and you think you're going to shatter and be lost.' If Jordan [Perdu's young friend] ever needed a piece of fatherly advice, Perdu would tell him: 'Never listen to fear! Fear makes you stupid..'" (p. 130-131)

Comment
Add a CommentThis is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. Couldn't put it down. The writing of Ms. George is exquisite, the story line creative and engaging, the characters are believable and complex. I loved, loved, loved it.
How wonderful to find a book to help you through tough times, heal your soul if you let it. Even more wonderful to find someone who cares and tries to understand and heal you through a book. Loved this book and the idea behind the story, if only we had a bookseller like Jean.
Wasn't engaging, but the setting was cute and the characters were interesting at first. I usually don't mind thoughtful internal narratives in characters (sometimes it's even a plus!) but the ones in here became grating after a while. Didn't finish it.
The love stories and setting(s) of this book were magical for me.
A sweet story that I enjoyed on the dock this summer. A bit sad but quite endearing.
I didn’t finish this book- I alternately loved and disliked it. After awhile it became too disjointed and tedious
Well...I never gained interest in the constantly ruminating main characters. Nor was the plot viable as Jean Albert the twenty year Paris bookseller decides on a whim to unmoor his bookstore/barge and travel down the Seine. I am a glass half full kind of guy. I did like the descriptions of the French countryside. But was it worth the trip?
There is so much that could be written about this book. This book is the most beautiful book I have read this year or ever. The locations, the love, the books. One thing this book inspires.... love. Find love in life for another, for a place, for something you like to do, food, etc. Find the loves in your life would be a perfect description of this story.
... a profound book .... a profoundly beautifully written novel.
It was also on the bestseller list in many European countries. The English translation is lovely.
floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, books as medicine.