Such a beautifully written story...I couldn't put it down! Books set in Paris are some of my favorites and this one was no exception. The family is well developed.

I thought this was a beautifully portrayed story of a family reunion gone terribly wrong. The devastating weather in Paris only highlighted the turmoil the various family members were going through. I loved the relationship between the father and son and how it evolved throughout the novel. The father's love of nature and his sons treasured gift of photography were perfect foils for each other. The only thing I thought was unnecessary to the story was the box buried in the tree. I felt like it was just added on with no real attachment to anything. I highly recommend this book.

I’m having trouble writing this review. I enjoyed the storyline with the history and setting in Paris. On the other hand I felt like all the details made for a slow read. This just wasn’t my style of book but others may find it more compelling.

The Rain Watcher is a beautiful ode to Paris. Tatiana de Rosnay’s descriptions read like love letters and are what kept me enraptured through the entire book. The story of the main character, photographer Linden Malegarde, also had my heart. He became an incredibly likeable character I found myself caring about very much. And I so wanted to learn more about his beloved Sacha, who truly seemed like his perfect match.

The story tells of Linden and his family in Paris for a get-together to celebrate his father’s birthday and his parents’ anniversary. His father falls ill in the middle of a natural disaster and they are stuck in Paris because of a flooding Seine. While there are flashbacks to a mystery involving his father and a rush to get information at the end, I feel that part of the story had really nothing to do with the main part at all and could’ve been left out. While I wasn’t keen on that aspect of the book, the descriptions of Paris and the person Linden was kept me reading until the finish. Unfortunately, the ending was incredibly abrupt and left me wanting a little bit more of the story. I wanted to know how the father’s mystery tied into Linden’s story and how his mother’s secret had to do with anything at all, since it was not related to anything.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Paris, but wish I could’ve read more about the Malegarde family.

(I received a copy of THE RAIN WATCHER through NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.)

There were a couple things that drew me to this book -

1) Paris is on the cover and I need to get to Paris at some point in my life. Need. Until then, vicarious visits via fiction will do fine.
2) I've wanted to read a Tatiana de Rosnay book for awhile, so I jumped at the chance to read this. I can't say I read the synopsis closely before I requested the ARC, just requested it.

It was an absolute win on the first point. Paris is a main character in this story. The individual streets, the parks, the arrondisements, the statues... they all play a role in the story. And, as the title suggests, it is raining Paris. Flooding, really, because the rain won't stop and the Seine overflows it's banks with a viciousness that brings a modern, bustling city to it's knees. This has happened in Paris, as de Rosnay illustrates with details of the catastrophic 1910 flood, throughout history and will likely happen again.

Honestly, I'd read a nonfiction account of the 1910 flood. Or the most recent flood in January 2018. Anything Paris, really, because Paris is history.

But the flood in THE RAIN WATCHER is a supporting plot that is a background for the true plot - the trials and tribulations of the Malegarde family. In short, anything bad that can happen to a family has happened to the Malegarde family. Linden, named after his father's favorite tree, flees his rural French home as a teenage because he's being bullied at school for being gay and he doesn't feel like he can be open even with his American mother and French father. Tilia, his sister who carries the Latin name of their father's favorite tree, had a daughter young, got divorced young, was the only survivor of a horrific car crash, and is married to a controlling drunk. Linden found a safe haven with his aunt in Paris and then became a world-famous photographer who seems to do his best to not get too personal with his family while regretting that they don't know the man he loves well.

The plot comes together when the four Malegarde's, parents and children, gather in rainy Paris for father Paul's 70th birthday. And then all sorts of calamity strikes, leading to scenes of weeping at hospitals, dramatic evacuations from flooded places, and angsty confrontations between family.

There were some threads in the story that seemed dropped (like why mother Lauren refused to allow Linden's boyfriend Sacha or Tilia's husband or daughter to come or clarity in terms of the 'flashbacks' about Suzanne) but the ending of the story was fitting enough. There was tragedy and there was happiness.

This is how families work.

A family comes together to celebrate the father’s birthday and the parents’ anniversary. They meet in Paris, during an unreal rainstorm that is causing Paris to flood in a way it hasn’t since 1910. The celebration would probably have been problematic even without the rain and various health problems. This is not a close, loving family. Everyone has issues. To say their relationships are complicated is probably an understatement. But the weather provides the perfect background to the underlying storm of the family dynamics.

It’s a slow burn of a book. It's all about the characters . The book is told from Linden’s perspective, so we obviously learn the most of his life and what has brought him to this point. I kept wanting to connect more with Linden. Having dealt with a parent's health crisis, I thought I would feel more empathy for him. But the entire time, I felt like I was just watching this story. I had trouble engaging with the characters. I can’t put my finger on exactly why. Although if I had to hazard a guess, I would say de Rosnay engaged my mind but not my heart.

De Rosnay does a better job describing Paris and the effects of the flood. I found those parts of the book to be engaging throughout.

The writing here just seems off at times. When Linden and his mother finally have a heart to heart, her thoughts are all conveyed as summaries of what she was saying. There was no actual conversation recounted.

The ending just sort of ends. I can understand why she chose to end it when and how she did, but it’s somewhat unsatisfying.

One minor issue is that each chapter starts off with a quote in French that is not translated. I’m hoping that by the time this book is actually published, translations will have been added. If a quote is worth including, it’s worth everyone being able to understand it.

My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Rosnay sets a family drama within the context of a larger drama caused by natural disaster in The Rain Watcher.  The son, Linden, is the narrator. Linden’s sister, Tilia, as well as mom, Lauren, and dad are meeting in London for the purpose of celebrating the father, Malegard’s birthday.  Both of the grown children have their own lives outside of their parents.

What is revealed as the novel progresses is how little these four family members actually know about each other.  A couple of emergencies happen which extends their time together and allows them begin to know each other a little better.  The rain and water are a large part in the book definitely setting the atmosphere.

Rosney has a unique writing style that does not immediately reveal the plot but meanders a bit on its way to getting the reader where she wants them and reveals key plot points in a well spaced manner.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel.

Thanks #netgalley #stmartinspress for the free copy of The Rain Watcher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Many readers have been eager for this new release from the author of Sarah’s Key, Tatiana De Rosnay.

A beautifully written, atmospheric, and multi layered family drama, this character driven story explores the complicated relationships of four members of a family who gather in Paris to celebrate the father’s 70th birthday and the parents’ anniversary. Historic flooding in Paris and its effects are vividly described and readers feel the cold, wet, and dreary conditions. Circumstances are dismal for the city as well as the family when a major health crisis threatens each parent. More complications and complexity is apparent as it is slowly revealed that the adult children guard secrets about their own past and present lives. As the flood waters rise, so does the family tension. Ultimately this is a story about a son finding the courage to declare the truth about his identity to his parents with the hope of gaining their understanding and blessing.

Themes include family secrets, communication, acceptance, reconciliation, traumas of childhood, family loyalty and support, and homophobia.

Although the writing is beautiful and the descriptions are breathtakingly vivid, I wish there had been more closure for some of the storylines. The parent/son storylines were nicely resolved, but other secondary storylines were left dangling. I wish there had been more dialogue which might have helped me make better connections with the characters. I wish there had been English translations for the longer French quotes at the beginning of the sections (I used Google translate!). This is minor and falls under personal preference, but I wish the story had been structured in Chapters instead of long Parts.

Overall, this is a solid, satisfying, quiet, and heartfelt read with a compassionate “coming out” theme.

Tatiana de Rosnay must have spent a LOT of time researching this novel. And the word pictures are as clear and tight as they can be. Paris and environs now has over 10 million people. One can only be grateful they aren't personally involved in such a catastrophic event as the Seine rising over the shoulders of Zouave and the impact of rampaging nature on the communities along her banks. Seeing it through the eyes of Tatiana de Rosnay, however, makes for an excellent read.

We spend time in France off and on from the summer of 1976 until the present as we are allowed a view into the lives and hearts of the Malegarde family through three generations. Paul 'The Treeman" and his American wife Lauren live in a quiet backwater near Sevral, the second generation of Malegardes' on the family land there. Their adult children, international photographer Linden lives in San Francisco with his partner Sacha, and younger sister Tilia is in London with her 18 year old daughter Mistral and her second husband, art expert and closet alcoholic Colin Favell. Lauren has spent two years planning a week long celebration with parents and adult children only in Paris, to celebrate Paul's 70th birthday and their anniversary marking 40 years together. Who could have known it was going to rain? Day after day after day....

Like a lot of events in the real world, there are no insightful answers to many of life's problems. I like that we can make up the rest for ourselves.

I received free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Tatiana de Rosnay, and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

A gloriously written story. The details and descriptions paint a vivid picture of a flooded Paris, a troubled photographer, ones inner demons and the reunion of the Malegarde family. While the story revolves around one mans love of trees, the backbone of the story speaks of love and acceptance. 4 stars.

See my review on goodreads.com

3.5 stars. What can go wrong when a family decides to meet in Paris to celebrate the father's 70th birthday and the parents' 40th anniversary? How about everything?

Let's start with the weather. Paris is experiencing torrential rains--what will happen when, not if, the Seine reaches historic flood levels? Is this the result of global warming and spreading development or is it just nature expressing its supremacy over man?

The father, Paul Malegarde, is a French arborist, who travels around the world speaking about the importance of saving our trees. As the family gathers in Paris, they are concerned about his health, with good reason as it turns out. His wife, Lauren is an American who may not be as happy in her marriage as everyone assumes. The rotten Parisian weather plays havoc with her health as well.

The story is told by their son Linden in third person narrative. Linden is a well-known photographer living with his partner Sacha in San Francisco. He feels his homosexuality has raised a barrier that prevents the closeness he'd like to have with his family, especially with his father. Can he find a way to make it right before it's too late?

The daughter Tilia is married and living in London with her alcoholic husband and teenaged daughter from a previous marriage. She is still haunted by the horrific accident that killed her friends and left her physically and emotionally damaged. Why was she the only one to survive?

So many secrets! At the beginning of each part of the story, there is a little journal-like entry written by Paul about something horrible he experienced as a four-year-old boy. Slowly, tantalizingly, that hidden story is revealed as we read along. I liked the way she tied that in at the end!

Tatiana de Rosnay is a favorite author of mine; she is a remarkably good writer. If I have any criticism, it would be that I found some of the story to be repetitive. De Rosnay obviously knows Paris very well and takes us around it almost street by street.

As someone who has lived through two floods myself, I squirmed over the flooding scenes in the story. The author depicts that well: the desperation and helpless feeling, the damage caused, the pollution and even the stench. Add to that, the fear of looting carried on by despicable people taking advantage of circumstances.

De Rosnay writes well about family dynamics and the secrets that are kept. Many relive painful memories. Perhaps we should all learn to let them go.

In the author's afterword, she mentions several books that helped her write her book, including one of my favorites: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben.

I received both an ebook arc from the publisher via NetGalley and a paper copy from Jordan Hanley, Associate Marketing Manager @St Martin's Press. Very grateful for the opportunity to read and give an honest review. Many thanks!

The Rain Watcher is a compelling and very interesting story. It is about family, about secrets and revelations, about second chances.
I have to say it is a complex story, with complex characters. And, since it isn’t a story just about the present, at first it wasn’t easy to read. But once you get trapped in the story and you get to read all the flashbacks everything starts to make sense and you know how things happened and how they led to this moment. Like I said, there were parts that were not so easy to read, either because they were touching or because they were, sometimes, very slow (there is a lot of background); but I think it is actually a book you have to read slowly, to fully understand and enjoy it.
At first, we only get to know Linden, but then we know more characters. I liked Linden the best, however I could not like Tilia and Lauren.
They were some scenes that were beautiful (like one with Linden and Paul), I liked reading about Linden and his work. Also, I liked that it’s set in Paris, not just the city that we know but the real city with problems and in a difficult situation. I actually have never thought about what It’d like in the case of a flood and it was interesting to read about that.
Overall, I relished the story, although the flashbacks don’t always work for me and in this case they made it hard to read but I liked the story in the end and I enjoyed reading it.

I received an advanced e-book of The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay from NetGalley/St. Martin's Press - thank you for the opportunity. I had mixed feelings about this book, which had a most unusual main character - the rainy/Seine flooding weather in Paris.

There are stories within the story of the Malegarde family, which consists of father Paul, mother Lauren, and adult children Linden and Tilia. Unfortunately, the side stories are often disjointed and incomplete, leaving you to wonder where they tie in. The Malegards are a dysfunctional but loving family, each with their own secrets and crises which manifest following Paul's illness and hospitalization while the family is in Paris for Paul's 70th birthday. Running parallel to these stories is the interminable rainy weather which causes the Seine River to flood, culminating in a national disaster, and often complicating the Malegard's circumstances.

The best part of this book is the beautiful writing. de Rosnay gives her characters passion and emotion, and the rainy Paris weather intensity, brutality, and strength through her rich, detailed descriptions. It's this writing that kept me reading through the end.

"I fed all my terror into the tree. It took my fear and made me part of it. The tree held me. It locked me into itself. Never had I felt such protection."

Initially I wasn't sure I was going to like this book but I really did! When Linden and his family (sister and parents) convene in Paris to celebrate his father's 70th birthday and his parents' 40th anniversary, they are expecting a few days of re-connecting, sight-seeing, and eating fabulous meals. But real families are complicated and messy aren't they? And this family is no different. Each has either a secret or a complex relationship with other family members. Alternating between present-day Paris and father, Paul's childhood writings, de Rosnay gives us the poignant story of a family who must examine their own lives and come together to heal and find peace in the wake of tragedy. Although I've never been to Paris, I really felt as if I were there with this family. So many themes in this novel and all come together to weave the bittersweet story of a family in turmoil who lets down their barriers to find happiness.

The Malegarde family have decided to get together without their significant others, as per the mother’s request, to celebrate their father’s 70th birthday and their parent’s wedding anniversary. And what better place to hold a celebration than in Paris. Linden, their son who is a famous photographer flies in from San Francisco, while Tilia their daughter, a failed artist flies in from London. However, instead of being the wonderful weekend that was planned, the siblings have to deal with the medical emergency and health issues of their parents. Not only that, but after continuous rain, the Seine has flooded Paris. The looters are out and there is mayhem in the streets.
As the river rises so do the emotions of the family members. And long hidden secrets, hurt and pain are expressed. I think De Rosnay did a great job of building the tension of the floods and the emotions in the family but in a gentle way. She has a lovely poetic way of writing. I really enjoyed this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This book had me stumped at the end. I wanted so much more for it then what I got. I don't fully grasp the concept and point of the book. I also didn't care for the constant narration with no dialogue. It wasn't horrible but I would not read it again.
The book followed a photographer, Linden, who had come to Paris with his mother, father and sister to celebrate his father's birthday. It turns into a disaster when flooding from the Siene river and multiple other "complications" occur. I won't go into detail any further, because I don't want to give the rest of the story away.
The end was definitely a disappointment to me. I just wanted more from this book.

3.75 Stars

The Rain Watcher is a brief novel about family and the traumas that shape us. Linden Malegarde*, the central character, is a Franco-American San Francisco-based photographer who arrives in Paris for his father Paul's 70th birthday and his parents, Paul and Lauren's fortieth anniversary celebration. Linden's sister Tilia arrives from London shortly after him and they await the arrival of their parents as a steady rainfall in Paris begins what will become a major flood event. (Those who follow European news know just how real, and distressingly frequent, the flooding problems are in Paris.) This celebratory gathering, by design, excludes spouses and children, though we quickly learn that Paul has seemed to resist meeting Linden's fiancé Sacha and you start wondering if that's why spouses and children were excluded. Tilia, who is stuck in a terrible second marriage with a psychologically abusive alcoholic, is haunted by an accident that occurred in her mid-twenties, which left her with mobility issues. As we quickly see from Linden and Tilia's interactions, much is left unsaid in this family. Linden's confidantes are his supportive maternal Aunt Candice and his niece, Mistral, who quickly shows up in Paris, despite the lack of invitation from her grandmother.

Interwoven with Linden's observations are Paul's memories which center on childhood recollections of a beautiful young woman named Suzanne. His fateful recollections of Suzanne are cast like breadcrumbs throughout the book. Although we see Paul's contemplation of his beloved trees (he is famous for saving celebrated trees around the world) from the very first moment of the book, for I time I felt like he was almost a cipher, because there was so much going on between Linden and his mother Lauren, especially given his rather painful coming out to her and her clumsy, self-consumed response to him. But the dark heart of the story surrounds Paul and the mysterious Suzanne (a name that makes "something inside me break").

This novel has an almost dreamlike quality to it, as so much of it deals with remembered events, or more accurately traumas, great and small. There is a gradual swell of emotion set against the backdrop of a literal rising flood in Paris. I was reminded of the Coleridge lines, "water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink." For the all the emotions pent up in the Malegarde family there is so little emotional communication to provide sustenance to their relationships. That is until it seems that everything just spills over and becomes unstoppable, like the flooding Seine.

An interesting portrait of a dysfunctional family.


*Malegarde is literally "bad guard"? One can analyze the choice of the name given the memories of a boy sheltering, too afraid to call out or fight, in the linden trees.

Trigger Warning: rape, murder

I received a copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley, along with a paper review copy, in exchange for an honest review.

Tatiana de Rosnay has spun a beautifully written tale of a family reunion set against the backdrop of torrential, never-ending rain in Paris and the flooding of the Seine river. The family is there for Paul Malegarde's 70th birthday and the 40th wedding anniversary of Paul and Lauren. Also in attendance are Linden, their son and Tilia, their daughter. This story is told totally from the son, Linden's point of view. The trip did not go as planned and there are several family dramas playing out at once threading through the story seamlessly. Hidden secrets - every member of the family has one - come to light and must be faced.

The characters are well-developed and believable. There is a sense of sadness throughout exacerbated by the atmospheric rain backdrop. The dual tragedies of the flood and the family intertwine. The writing was lovely and entrancing and I truly enjoyed the story - despite the depressing backdrop of the endless rain and flood.

I would have given this five stars except for two things: I still have questions about Suzanne, and some of the chapters have lines in French at the beginning that I have no idea what they say (this didn't detract from the story for me, but I would like to know what they say). Therefore I rated it four stars.

Thanks to Tatiana de Rosnay and St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy.

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I read The Rain Watcher during some of the rainiest days we'd had in Texas in a while. I curled up on the couch with a warm blanket, a warm beverage, a cat or two in my lap, and let the sound of the rain against the roof and windows transport me to Paris where the unrelenting rain is filling the Seine to catastrophic flood levels, threatening the Malegarde family's gathering. Seen primarily through the eyes of Linden, a well-known photographer, this tale is carefully woven, unraveling the characters and the relationships that have made them who they are. While it took a few chapters for me to get used to Tatiana de Rosnay's writing style, I quickly came to appreciate her ability to show things in detail without being verbose. I was completely drawn into this story, and I was sad when it ended.

If I'm to be totally upfront I have to say it took me quite some time to get into this book and I actually don't feel I ever got fully immersed in the story. I actually had to force myself to sit down and read it. Even then I'd have to take breaks and peruse social media just to take a break from it. I was quite heartbroken by it as I was so very excited to have been chosen to read an early copy.

This book was so scattered to me and no one storyline was really very developed. We get glimpses into the family and their dynamics but the author did not finish any of their possible story lines to give us a complete feel for any of them. Then we get the "big" secret and it was just confusing and very anti climatic. When I got to the end I actually tried to keep flipping pages on my kindle because for sure there was just a glitch with the formatting. But alas that was not the case.

While the story was based on the possible flooding of Paris by the rise of the Seine it just became so redundant the point that it may be worse than the flood of 1910. I understand it was part of the whole plot but seriously I think it was mentioned numerous times during each chapter.

I was torn between a 2 or 3 star but It really was just OK. Hence the 2 stars.

**Received ARC through NetGalley for honest review**