OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Stephanie Racine instills an enthusiastic tone of wonder at the transformative quality of books in this tale with a beautiful dreamlike quality. Juliette loves creating stories about the strangers who read on the Paris metro. A deviation from her normal route leads her to a bookstore, and to owner Soliman and his precocious daughter. Juliette falls into the role of a passeur, Soliman’s name for the booksellers he hires to match books to new owners. Julia’s melancholy is initially replaced by tears and wails of frustration at the enormity of the task. At first, Racine gives her a timid, questioning lilt, but soon Juliette finds comfort in her charming clients and their jovial, knowing voices. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
This quirky little novel is part fable, part romance, and wholly a love letter to books…It’s a fairy tale. But it’s charming to read, and its central theme—that books can change lives—is indisputable and satisfying.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“With a cast of characters reminiscent of the French film Amélie, Féret-Fleury creates a world that is delightful and enchanting…Light and sweet as a bonbon, this little confection of a book is delicious.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Will speak to fans of Nina George and Kate Atkinson, and any reader who loves getting lost in a secondhand bookshop. The author’s love of the written word comes through on every page…This ode to finding the right book at the right time comes with its own suggested reading list for those hoping to widen their literary horizons.” —Booklist (starred review)
“A life-affirming novel for our times about the transformative power of literature and the bonds people forge through their mutual love of books. It appeals both to the reader’s heart and soul." —The Bookseller
"A delightful novel." —Madame Figaro
"An enchanting story made of literary references that would convince anyone to become a reader, even the most reluctant ones." —Avantages
OCTOBER 2019 - AudioFile
Narrator Stephanie Racine instills an enthusiastic tone of wonder at the transformative quality of books in this tale with a beautiful dreamlike quality. Juliette loves creating stories about the strangers who read on the Paris metro. A deviation from her normal route leads her to a bookstore, and to owner Soliman and his precocious daughter. Juliette falls into the role of a passeur, Soliman’s name for the booksellers he hires to match books to new owners. Julia’s melancholy is initially replaced by tears and wails of frustration at the enormity of the task. At first, Racine gives her a timid, questioning lilt, but soon Juliette finds comfort in her charming clients and their jovial, knowing voices. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2019-09-02
Can the gift of a perfect book transform a person's life?
Juliette, a whimsical Parisian, leads a life far too dull for her magical spirit. She has an ordinary office job in real estate and dates men who are positively yawnworthy. Her love of literature and her active imagination, however, set her on a path to becoming a matchmaker between books and readers. Juliette lives in an almost-alternate reality where passengers on the Métro are actually reading paper books rather than texting friends, swiping Tinder, or even reading e-books. She is intrigued by the man in the green hat who makes his way through an entomology textbook and the hopeless romantic who sobs at page 247 of every book she reads. One morning, Juliette instinctively exits the Métro a few stops early on her commute to find herself at the quirky Books Unlimited, where she meets Soliman and his young daughter, Zaide. There, she is recruited as a book passeur; her mission is to follow strangers and observe their lives in order to give them the gift of the perfect book for that moment in their lives. Part charming stalker, part literary pharmacist, Juliette is more fulfilled as passeur than real estate agent and dives deeper into this secret realm of bibliophilic cupids. With a cast of characters reminiscent of the French film Amélie, Féret-Fleury creates a world that is delightful and enchanting. As she flits about this new universe, Juliette discovers that the life she may change the most is her own. This is the author's first book to appear in English, and it's been deftly translated to maintain the lyrical writing of the original French text.
Light and sweet as a bonbon, this little confection of a book is delicious.
