The Rain Watcher was a highly anticipated book for me because I am a lover of Sarah's Keys. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to the hype for me. Told through the perspective of Linden, a middle aged photographer who is vacationing in Paris for a reunion with his parents and sister, the story lacks reason. Linden finds himself in Paris during a tremendous rainfall. The rain continues to fall, the Siene to continue to rise, and the city continues to grow into a state of panic. Throughout the course of this constant rainfall, a series of health tragedies fall upon Linden and his family.

I struggled to really connect with the characters stories. Much like the rain that kept dragging on, I felt the storyline did the same. I found myself skimming over some parts, which is unfortunate because I really love Tatiana de Rosnay's literary style. Though she did a decent job developing her characters through flashbacks as well as present day interactions, I felt the overall story lacked purpose, and that this is a book that requires a specific mind frame. I will say that I still appreciate the beauty of the style as well as description, I just didn't love the story overall.

Very well written family drama which takes place in modern day Paris during a massive flood, with continuous rain and the Seine rising to record breaking heights, paralyzing the city and suburbs. A family is gathering for a reunion with both affirmative and tragic results. Long kept secrets are revealed and everyone finds out more about themselves and others than they might want to know.
Tatiana De Rosnay has created a story of emotion that keeps the reader thinking about the characters, even when not reading the book.
I liked the narrative and the authentic setting drew me in because I plan to travel to Paris for the first time next month. It also has been raining almost non stop here in N.Y. for the past week!
I really like this author and would like to read more of her work.

I wanted to read this book because I have really enjoyed Tatiana de Rosnay's other books. Unfortunately this book fell a bit short of the other books I have read.
It was interesting to read about the rain/flood in Paris because I saw it in the news not that long ago. I had also recently read an article about some of the amazing things that trees do such as communicating with each other so I liked seeing those elements in a book.
Where this book lost me a bit was the premise that there would be a big secret revealed this weekend and that didn't really happen. Yes, mom is having an affair, but no one seems really shocked by it. Then the part about their father witnessing a rape/murder when he was a boy doesn't seem to fit into the rest of the book. It's such a sidebar that it doesn't really seem to add to the story.

I was rather disappointed in this one. Sarah’s Key was extraordinary— The Rain Watcher dragged and never achieved the level of character development of deRosnay’s previous work. A Dreary portrait of Paris under the siege of unending rain and flooding doesn’t do anything to drive the narrative. The ending falls flat. I do thank the publisher very much for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. Note to publisher: this was a very rough draft, I hope, because I found a great many typos!

I received a free copy of The Rain Watcher from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

It's rare that I finish a book and the only comment I can make is, "Huh?" It wasn't until I went back and reread the first chapter that I understood that the first person narrator of the first chapter and some brief chapters throughout the novel were not Linden's memories. It is through Linden's limited omniscient point of view that the rest of the novel is seen.

de Rosnay's latest has so much going for it. Set in Paris in the midst of torrential rain and record-breaking flooding, Linden Malegarde, an internationally famous photographer, is there to have a family reunion with his parents, sister, and niece. Somewhat distant from his family, especially his father, Linden carries the emotional and physical burden when his father suffers a stroke. The rain in Paris distorts the city as Linden is forced to revisit places and situations that greatly affected his life. Linden has always blamed his emotional distance from his family on his homosexuality and his belief that his parents are disappointed by his lifestyle. In fact Linden has never actually told his father about his sexuality.

I've read lots of books where family history is distorted by time, memory, age, and self-protection. Here, though, the father is almost a caricature since his character is so defined by Linden's perceptions of him. The ending appears rather abrupt and would have greatly benefited from some clarity concerning the first person narrator. I doubt many readers go back to reread the first chapter and some subsequent sections with the first person narrator. Once I did that, my connection to some characters totally changed.

The Rain Watcher is well worth reading since all of us must face, at some time, our aging parents, unspoken fears, and family secrets.

I wanted to love this book...I really did.
It was amazingly descriptive and had some really good character development but somehow it was all disjointed in a way I could not get past.
There were parts I felt like I had already read and parts where I felt like information was missing.
The ending was one of the oddest endings I have ever read and thought wait a minute...where is the closure? This can't be the end...but alas my Kindle said it was.
I never really connected with the characters in the way I have in prior works by Tatiana de Rosnay. Linden was the closest and as the protaganist I would expect more connection.
The flow was off as well.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Heartwarming tale of family, guilt, redemption, and love. Narrated by Linden, youngest son, with brief flashbacks told in letter form, the family gathers in Paris for the father's birthday. Each member has secrets and issues and Paris is experiencing a flooding that forces the four to confront their issues and deal with them.

I wish there are more than 5 stars available to give this book. Beautifully written. The characters so well developed that you feel you are standing right next to them. And the atmosphere - pulls you in and doesn't let go. Love this book!

I was given an advance copy of The Rain Watcher on kindle by Netgalley. I haven't actually read Tatiana de Rosnay before but I saw the film of "Sarah's key" based on her book. I also met her and heard her talk about her non-fiction book of Daphne de Maurier when she was at the American Library in Paris. I enjoyed her talk very much so when given the opportunity to read The Rain Watcher, I grabbed it.

I liked this book. It was almost dream-like in writing style. The story is set in Paris. Four members of a family have come together to celebrate the father's, Paul's, 70th birthday as well as the 40th wedding anniversary. Linden, the son, has come from San Francisco where he now lives although as a world famous photographer he is no stranger to travel. His sister, Tilia, has come from London where she lives with her second husband who is a drunk. The parents have come up from Sevral, which I couldn't find on the map. Linden says it is a three hour drive from Paris.

Linden's and Tilia's names both mean Lime Tree. Paul is a tree man. He loves trees. He protects trees. He will travel all over the world to stop an ancient tree from being cut down. His favourite tree is the Lime. In a long monologue about three quarters of the way through the book, he tells us why. Having read The Hidden Life of Trees this past Spring, I recognised exactly what the book wants the reader to know about the life of trees. De Rosnay gives the author, Peter Wohlleben, credit for much of what she has written about trees. The problem for Linden is that Paul communicates much better with trees than with his son.

The book is written from Linden's perspective with one exception. At the beginning of each of five parts, we are told a story that gradually starts to make sense in the larger picture. I won't say anything here so as not to be a spoiler. When Linden arrives in Paris, it is raining. It is torrential. The Seine is on the rise. The Seine rising, the news which soon becomes only about the possibility of the Seine flooding Paris, is the backdrop for the struggles of this family. During his birthday dinner, Paul has a stroke and ends up in the hospital in the 15th. Lauren, his wife, insists that they should still go visit museums as planned the next day. Then she becomes sick eventually getting pneumonia . Tilia is unable to go inside a hospital because of an earlier car accident where she was the soul survivor. Linden becomes the caretaker. Much of his time with his father is the dialogue he has with himself about how to talk to a stroke patient, one he has known all his life but couldn't communicate well with when both had voices. He has been assured that Paul can hear him and understand but is unable to speak himself or move any part of his body to confirm that he has heard. This part was so well written. My father also had a debilitating stroke and in the years before he died, I never knew what he could hear and what, if anything he could understand. One feels so foolish talking to a live being and not getting any sign of anyone being there.

I can't compare this book to her earlier ones. De Rosnay writes well. Parts felt contrived. The family members all seemed to be extremes of their personalities. And I was never sure what the rain had to do with the different relationships in the family. Living in Paris, I know it is quite the entertainment watching the Seine rise when there are many days of rain. The Seine overflowed it's banks in 1910, making the whole city a lake with buildings in it.
In the book, there is constant comparison and questioning about whether the Seine will rise even further than in 1910 and cause destruction in the millions of euros. Every member of this family is hostage to the rain. They cannot leave Paris and everything is a crisis, the rain, their relationships and the unearthing of secrets.

I recommend the book. If you like de Rosnay's stories already, I think you won't be disappointed. If you are new to her writing as I was, I think you will be pleased with the hypnotic, dreamy pacing of the story. I found I preferred reading it in long stretches.

This book gripped me from the first page. I was totally immersed in this book! I read Sarah’s Key and that story has stayed with me. This book is totally different from that, and the writing is just as wonderful. It is a page turner but not due to any mystery, but because the story was so good.
The timely story takes place in Paris when the Seine flooded the city. It is a family reunion to celebrate a birthday and an anniversary. Each main character had their own story, albeit parallel with another main character: Paris.
This book is sure to be a bestseller, deservedly so.

Being a fan of Sarah's Key, I was very excited to see a new book from Tatiana de Rosnay. The story centers on a French family Malegarde and is told from the point of view of the son Linden and is set in modern day Paris where the family has gathered to celebrate the patriarch Paul's birthday. Unfortunately their celebration is brought up short due to an epic flood overtaking Paris and an unexpected illness that deeply affects the family. Add in the twists and drama that exist within family gatherings and you have the making of a great story..
I connected with the characters and found myself rooting for them to break through the longstanding walls they had developed over the years and find their way back to each other.
My only dislike was in a few places the references to various areas in Paris were a little too long and detailed than they needed to be to support the story.
I definitely recommend this book.

This book was incredibly disappointing. I was so looking forward to it, as the author's first book, Sarah's Key, was incredible. Things are happening throughout the book, but the pacing is tortuously slow. It takes place during the horrible flooding in Paris in early 2018, and the descriptions of the streets are painfully boring. During this flood, a family gathers together, and traumatic things happen. And I didn't care. At all. I didn't like one single character. I felt no empathy for any of them. They weren't bad people, I just...didn't care about them. I didn't care for the writing style at all. I hate books that don't use quotation marks when a person is speaking. It's completely distracting, and I spend more time trying to figure out who is talking rather than reading the book. Very very disappointing, and I would not recommend this book.

I really enjoyed Tatiana de Rosnay’s previous book Sarah’s Key, so I couldn’t wait to read The Rain Watcher. Unfortunately, I really didn’t care for this one at all. There was very little driving the story, and the characters felt flat. I didn’t care about Linden (the main character) or his family, and I felt nothing as I read their story.

The Rain Watcher has flashes of brilliance and beautiful characters. Overall I was really enjoying the different storylines but at times there too many words. When I got to the end, I realized I was confused during part of the book. And I really didn’t like the ending. So, I guess I consider this a book of great promise .

I’ve been a fan of Tatiana de Rosnay since Sarah’s Key. Her novels explore complicated family relationships, often in difficult times. In this case, Linden Malegarde is meeting his sister and parents in Paris for the weekend to celebrate his parents’ anniversary and his father’s birthday. During this time there has been ongoing rain which threatens to flood the streets of Paris as the Seine continues to rise. This creates the backdrop to the turmoil that ensues as Linden’s father becomes ill, and past traumatic events in each family member’s life comes to the surface. This novel was engaging and fast paced. I cared for the family and wanted a good outcome for each individual. I enjoyed this novel and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Note review posted to Goodreads July 22/18

Let me start this review by saying I loved Sarah’s Key. I tried to finish this book but it was like swimming in molasses. The Malegarde family are meeting in Paris during a huge rainstorm. The Seine is starting to flood and the city is shutting down. Father has a stroke and the mother has pneumonia. If I’d want to read anything this depressing I’d read the front page of my newspaper!

Not sure what to say. Nothing I expected, I could not get into the book at all. I did read the entire book, but found myself skimming at times. I loved Tatiana's earlier book, so I guess I was looking forward to another well written book. Not sure if it was supposed to be a story, seemed disjointed with some of the story lines. Mom's affair, sis accident, dad's dedication to trees/nature. Nothing really connected for me. And the ending? What was that? Did it end? Did I miss something? I hate giving bad reviews, but this one did nothing for me.

Mentioning the phrase "soul searching" in a book description is a sure way for me to not read it; however, the premise of the book sounded interesting, and I'm glad I went forward with it. With bold personalities, fraught undercurrents and family complications, the author sorts these out to make a compelling story; she dodges areas that could become maudlin and sentimental and heads right for the heart of the story. I appreciated that. This is perfect for our book club and I will put it up as ut November selection. Thank you so much!!

I felt like I was in Paris - the flooding, the family dynamics. Loved this book!! Highly recommend.

This is my first read of a book by Tatiana de Rosnay, and whilst it often strained to retain a cohesive coherent whole, I nevertheless loved the beautiful rich tapestry of prose and description and its character driven narrative. This is an intensely vibrant, melancholic, atmospheric and multi-layered family drama set in Paris, as the city endures the dangerous and menacing flooding of the River Seine. It focuses on the reunion of the dysfunctional Malegarde family, gathering together for a significant wedding anniversary and the 70th birthday celebration of the tree obsessed arborist, Paul, who adores David Bowie. This has been planned by Lauren, his wife, and they have two grown up children. The eldest, Tilia, is a London based artist haunted by the terrors of a tragic car accident that left her the only survivor, she is married to Colin, her second husband, a man rather too fond of the drink. The compassionate Linden is a well known photographer, living in San Francisco with his partner. Each member of the family has secrets locked inside they have kept from one another.

In a story primarily narrated by Linden, nothing goes as planned as the family find themselves subject to one crisis after another, with intrigue and conflict spilling over. With the never ending and relentless rain, Paris becomes unrecognisable as the city floods becoming bleak, dark, dingy, freezing cold, sopping wet with the unavoidable consequent health hazards that arise. Within the family, a veritable overflowing emotional torrent is unleashed as secrets and memories begin to emerge. The thoughtful Linden reflects on his relationship with each family member, the closeness he had with his now deceased aunt, how he has never felt able to be who he is amidst his family. Against all the odds, the family begins to slowly come back together whilst Paris disintegrates.

This is a gloriously thought provoking, profound and moving read of the wisdom of trees, marriage, the pain, hurt, loss, fears, the burdens carried within families and hope. The location of Paris serves as a huge central character, where the irrefutable power of nature reigns supreme as it exercises its ability to wreak unbound devastation. This is erudite and insightful storytelling with character studies that feel extraordinarily authentic and full of depth which I loved and appreciated. The novel certainly has its flaws but its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. Highly recommended. Many thanks to St Martin's Press for an ARC.