Paper Palace, The (Reese's Book Club): A Novel

by Miranda Cowley Heller Narrated by Nan McNamara

Overview

REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

OVER 1 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE

THE PAPER PALACE IS:

“Filled with secrets, love, lies and a summer beach house. What more could you ask?”-Parade

“A deeply emotional love story...the unraveling of secrets, lies and a very complex love triangle.” -Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club July '21 Pick)

"Nail-biting." -Town & Country

“A magnificent page-turner.” -Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author

“[An] irresistible placement of a complicated family in a bewitching place.” -The New York Times

A story of summer, secrets, love, and lies: in the course of a singular day on Cape Cod, one woman must make a life-changing decision that has been brewing for decades.

“This house, this place, knows all my secrets.”

It is a perfect August morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace”-the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn't forever changed the course of their lives. As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity. Tender yet devastating, The Paper Palace considers the tensions between desire and dignity, the legacies of abuse, and the crimes and misdemeanors of families.

Editorial Reviews

AUGUST 2021 - AudioFile

Narrator Nan McNamara is the ideal choice to present this first-person novel about a family retreat on Cape Cod. The rustic compound affectionately called “The Paper Palace” has shaped the life of Elle Bishop. This story moves across time, involving loves, lies, secrets, and revelations. McNamara gives Elle a natural-sounding American voice that changes with her age or emotional footing. Her hideous stepbrother, Conrad, is memorably portrayed. Listeners can hear the menace in his voice as clearly as his Louisiana drawl. Equally evocative is the voice of Wallace, Elle’s mother. Her acid tone is Waspy, witty, and wonderfully rendered. The pace of this lyrical novel is leisurely but worth one’s time. D.L.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173330826
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	07/06/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	400,904

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