Linden wondered why his mother organized a family get together in Paris for his father’s 70th birthday since his father didn’t like Paris.

In addition to his dislike of Paris, Paris was having torrential rainfall with threats of flooding. The rain and flooding continued throughout their time in Paris and throughout the book with worries it would be as bad if not worse than the Paris floods of 1910.

THE RAIN WATCHER brings together this family of four from Venozan, London, and San Francisco - no spouses or children - just the four of them. We meet Linden from San Francisco who never got along with his father, Tilia from London who is unhappily married for the second time, and Paul and Lauren their parents.

All the characters seemed to have something to hide, but you warmed up to them as the book continued.

The children had grown up in Venozan after their parents met when Lauren was on a vacation in France more than 30 years ago. It was a whirlwind romance that had Lauren never going back to the states.

The family was still indifferent as always as they gathered together for breakfast and the rain continued to pour down. Lauren insisted they were in a non-flood area of Paris and should continue with their celebration plans.

Their celebration was wonderful until something tragic happened at the restaurant and Lauren became ill as well.

Besides being part of family issues and seeing how people interact, there was a lot of interesting information about photography. Linden was a famous photographer with a photo of his father taken years ago that made him famous. There is also wonderful information about plants and gardening and Paris.

THE RAIN WATCHER is beautifully written and pulls you into the story line with Ms. De Rosnay’s marvelous storytelling skills and details about every situation. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NETGALLEY and in print in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Honestly, this was boring. Nothing really happened. I mean, lots happened - a family grappled with natural disaster and tried to overcome the secrets between them - but really, nothing happened.

This is another great book by Tatiana de Rosnay. The story of the Malegarde family is told through parallel storylines with the modern story set against the rising Seine which is engulfing Paris in dark murky waters. This phenomenon is paralleled by episodes that have occurred across the lives of the modern Malegardes. de Rosnay evokes images of the dark waters with descriptive prose. I only had two things that I didn't like much. Tilia Malegarde's second husband Colin is an alcoholic, but his appearance in Paris during the family crisis doesn't add much development to the story other than to provide a foil for Linden to express a side of himself his family has not seen before. Also the ending felt rather abrupt. I don't need for a book to wrap up everything in nice, neat packages, but this book felt like you were climbing a mountain and that you stopped just short of the summit. It was a little disappointing.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley, but all opinions are my own.

The Rain Watcher involves much family drama, set in Paris as the Seine floods the city. The writing was fast moving and easy to follow.. The plot was well developed. The locations in the books almost serve as additional characters. I would definitely recommend this book if you love Paris or have always wanted to visit the City of Light.

I was hooked from the first few pages of this book. I just flew through it, which was interesting since it was very character based and sometimes those types of books are slower reads. De Rosnay's atmospheric writing and accomplished character development, set among chaotic circumstances really pushes the story along quickly. I think if you enjoyed Sarah's Key, even though this book is quite different, you would like this one.

With the lack of true dialogue in this book, it moved slowly and was hard to stick with. Wanted to love it, but the writing style is not my favorite and not the easiest to follow. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my opinions.

Family secrets, loss and redemption are the center of this powerful new novel, by Tatiana de Rosnay, author of one of my all-time favorite novels, Sarah's Key. When the Malegarde family comes together to celebrate the father Paul's 70th birthday, it is supposed to be a weekend of re-connection and family bonding. Instead, against the backdrop of a historic flood and unexpected catastrophic illness that forces an extended stay in Paris, family secrets emerge as quickly as the rising waters of the Seine.

Through the voice and lens of son Linden Malegarde, an internationally recognized photographer, the images of Paris flooding are both powerful and descriptive, presented in vivid detail. As we grow to understand the all- consuming connection that Paul, as patriarch, has to the world of trees (with a nickname Mr. Treeman), the reader is put front and center into a drama that is much bigger than one family's secrets. We witness the potential ruin of an international city as a result of a cataclysmic natural disaster, and through the appreciation of trees and forests on a much larger scale, are left to wonder how human progress, deforestation, and global warming have and will continue to affect our Earth for centuries to come.

This novel is dense reading as there is little dialogue - as the reader, we are inside Linden's head for much the novel. We feel soaked inside and out from his many layered journey, and climb out of the waters towards his family's healing near the end. This novel left me thinking long after I read the last page. It is a story that is deep, reflective and forces the reader to think about issues that go beyond one family's journey to healing - and takes to a place where we must come to grips with our own individual and collective impact on our planet's shrinking resources. Highly recommend!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's press who provide me with an ARC.

3.5 stars
A family gathers to celebrate the father's 70th birthday in Paris, during epic flooding. DeRosnay's description of the water was incredibly realistic, making the rain and flooding another character in the story. Add family secrets to severe flooding, and what could possibly go wrong?

I really was not a fan of this book. The parts felt disconnected and even though short, it was very slow. Also somewhat predictable. It’s isn’t help at all that there was no dialogue - just description of conversations. I’m disappointed as I had high hopes based on this author’s reputation.

🔹BOOK REVIEW🔹

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my free advanced copy of The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay.

Linden Malegarde is meeting his parents and sister in Paris for a family reunion. His famous arborist father Paul is turning 70 and his mother Lauren has organised a weekend of activities for this celebration. But as they arrive in Paris, the torrential rain and the risk of La Seine flooding the city threaten to spoil the overdue reunion. Linden’s parents both fall sick during the weekend and he and his sister must stay in a flooded Paris to take care of them. This stay will bring painful memories to the surface and menace to shatter Linden to pieces.

Beautifully written, this book deal with family secrets, rejection, love, and forgiveness. This book will be available at your favourite bookstore on October 23, 2018.

This book is the story of the Malegrade family, and they have all come to Paris to celebrate their father Paul's 70th birthday and his 40th wedding anniversary to their mom, Lauren. Their children Linden and Talia have been asked just to come alone. It is the hope of Lauren that they will finally bond as a family.

Against the backdrop of Paris flooding and no end in sight, the unravelling of Paris coincides with the unravelling of this family. This party plays a major role in the plot of this book. Read how the river rises and how the thousands of people are misplaced, everything flooded and the problems it causes.

Paul Malegrade's passion is the land, in particular trees. He is renowned worldwide for being an arborist, and has saved many many trees and orchards in many lands. Paul may be the patriarch of the family but is not really in touch with anything except his land, especially his children.

Lauren met Paul on her first visit overseas from America, and on an unplanned stop met Paul, went with him to see his beautiful house and grounds, and she never went home. At 19 she decided Paul would be the one! Lauren was a beautiful young woman and is still beautiful in her early 60"s.

The story is mostly told in Linden's point of view. His secrets caused him to not confide in his parents, his secret is more than he thinks his father can bear, especially since his mother did not take it well. Linden was only 17, when he went to stay with his Aunt who loved him dearly and he could tell her anything without having to deal with her unapproval. Linden has felt out of place most his life, always felt different, and was ridiculed and picked on at school , so he is American in France and French is America, where he lives in San Francisco with his partner. Linden is also a world renowned photographer, which he loves, but keeps him hopping around all the time.

Talia, Linden's older sister, lives in England, with her second husband, Colin who is a drunk but has managed to hide this from the public. Talia is fed up with him. She has a daughter from her first marriage, Mistral, who is 17 and attending fashion college. She is the only grandchild. Talia covers up her insecurity by having false bravado and she curses like a sailor. She has been known to be obnoxious to everyone.

Once they all get there, when they are at a restaurant, Paul has a major stroke, causing him to be rushed to the hospital, his mother gets pneumonia, and Linden has to step up and take care of them all, as his sister hates hospitals and is deathly afraid to enter one. The flood further complicates things and Linden has to see to his father being moved from the hospital he is in as it has flooded! Paul must be taken by boat to the new hospital, in a glass type of container that keeps him dry. He is hooked up to oxygen and IV's to keep him alive and he is unconscious. Linden is terrified for his father, and his mother too. They get a nurse to take care of Lauren.

Will they finally be able to communicate? With Paul on his deathbed will Linden finally be able to confide in his father? The way this book ends is awesome and you will not want to miss this book filled with so many plot twists, rich descriptions, and beautiful moments despite the flooding of Paris.

I gave this book 5 brilliant and heartfelt stars. I will be rereading this book over and over in years to come, and I will be reading more by this brilliant author!

I really wanted to like this book.. I have attempted to read it three times and have yet to make it through the whole thing. It is well written but it is just not my cup of tea.

Thank you net galley for an advance reader copy of the novel. This was a very well written historical fiction as expected from this author. The descriptions of the rain and flooding we're well done. Some of the subplots seemed disjointed but overall I enjoyed this novel that was more about current character family ties than a historical event.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Great setting and descriptions. I truly felt like I was there in rainy Paris waiting for a flood. I felt the fear, the angst, the heaviness, the sleeplessness. As someone who lives on the Gulf Coast and knows about flooding due to hurricanes, I was fully engaged in all the emotions this story could evoke. Well fleshed out characters that I can easily relate to. A gay son who can't tell his dad who he is. A wife that seeks love and the attention from an old lover rather than her husband, a daughter who has never recovered from her own personal tragedy of being the sole survivor in a car accident.... This is about a family who comes together in Paris for a birthday and anniversary. We know pretty soon that there are a lot of secrets than have been kept from each other and those unfold painfully as tragedy strikes.

It's slow at times and a heavy read. More sadness than I had expected. I definitely need something lighter to read after this. Very well written and I can see why friends rated it so high. The ending left me asking more questions than I like. I needed a few more answers. But, it was beautiful...learning about trees, the flood, the city. So much here to like.

Thank you St. Martin's Press via NetGalley and Tatiana de Rosnay for a digital ARC to read in exchange for a review. I do recommend this.

The Rain Watcher was my first Tatiana de Rosnay and I was a bit disappointed. Not because she doesn't write beautiful scenes and imagery, but for me - this booked just dragged on to the point where I just sped-read through to finish it. The lovely descriptions of Paris did set the scene, and the character development and complicated relationships did weave in and out, but after a while, I just wanted to get to the point. Unfortunately, I never quite felt like I was lost in this world.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There are many things I liked about Tatiana de Rosnay’s The Rain Watcher. I had a soft spot for the main character, Linden. His coming of age in Paris and the subsequent coming out scenes were heart-wrenching and entirely believable. I enjoyed the banter between Linden and his sister, Tilia, and his loving relationship with his aunt. His relationship with his parents was not surprisingly complex, and I grew eager for the revelations which were bound to come.

I also love books set in Paris. But, I prefer a Paris in springtime, as opposed to a drenched Paris amid a natural disaster. Nonetheless, Rosnay paints a vivid picture of physical and geographic elements this family faced amid the storm brewing in their lives.

Linden’s story meandered through dozens of other convoluted and unexplored storylines. Midway through the book, I realized those other storylines weren’t going anywhere, and my interest waned. I had several questions about the climactic ending but didn’t have the patience to go back and try to figure it out.

My expectations for The Rain Watcher may have been unrealistically high given how much I enjoyed Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key and A Secret Kept; however, I would only give it a 2.5-star rating.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC of The Rain Watcher in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! It was definitely a book that kept you thinking! I would definitely recommend this book to fellow readers. Thank you!

Not as gripping as her other books, but I think would have gotten more out of it if I had been reading it in Paris

This is a book about family, and secrets, and what happens when we're forced to face all that! The rain is coming down in Paris when Linden and his family (just the four of them) meet for a weekend celebrating his father's 70th birthday and his parents 40th anniversary. After a tragedy befalls the Malegarde family, they all must really hear and see each other for the first time in years. The whole time the rain is falling and the river is rising. People are being evacuated. The Seine is as much a character in the story as much Linden, Paul, Lauren and TIlia.

I normally gravitate to mysteries, but the blurb of this book caught my attention. And Miss de Rosnay's writing pulls you in. Her captivating style had me saying, "I'll stop after this page, or chapter"! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

My thanks to Netgalley for providing the galley of this book for my honest review. I was excited to start reading “The Rain Watcher”, but it felt more like watching grass grow. The story follows Linden Malegarde, his sister and parents as they gather in Paris for a celebration of his father’s 70th birthday. At the same time, the river Seine is overflowing from devasting rains.

The first half of the book seems more like notes on character development. The writing can be well done, but it has to take the reader someplace. Story lines seem to begin, never go anywhere and then disappear altogether. I nearly stopped reading the book on more than one occasion. In the last 60 pages, things started to pick up. I thought I was to be rewarded for my perseverance, but instead I was met with a brick wall. Everything just stopped.. And I was grateful.