Unfortunately I couldn't finish this book and just didn't enjoy what I read. There was a great idea of a wonderful story, with fantastic description and style. I found the frequent references to child sexual abuse in a throw away fashion to suggest it was of the time to be too jarring and uncomfortable to read. I didn't find that the main storyline or characters provided enough interest to overcome this and stopped about halfway through.

With its steamy and tense opening, I was gripped initially by this book but found the protagonist Elle’s irritable tone grated on me – much like if I was in a funk myself and irritated myself with it! For me the descriptions of the Cape set this read apart and kept me reading. This book encapsulates the old adage of “you don’t know what’s happening beneath the surface” as well as always striving for something different and not being happy with your lot.

I’d heard lots of buzz about The Paper Palace and it was justified. Elle’s life, the secrets she’s kept for decades, and the complicated family she loves are depicted in 2 alternating timelines: the 24 hours before and after she sleeps with her childhood best friend, the keeper of her secrets, and the decades before.

I don’t normally enjoy novels with such a heavy focus on infidelity, however this is really Elle’s story, from girlhood to motherhood, from first love to married love and everything in between.

There’s a vast array of characters, which was occasionally confusing as most are family in some way, and not all are fully developed. However the writing is gorgeous, and I always wanted to read more. I’m giving it 5 stars, but it’s really 4.5!

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Penguin UK/Viking, and the author Miranda Cowley Heller.
Well, wow. I didn't want this book to end. It is one of the most incredibly written, involving, and engaging stories I have read for a long time. It is told so vividly that you can't help but get completely swept up in the story, incredibly invested in the characters and the heartbreak.
Miranda Cowley Heller is an astounding storyteller and I look forward to reading more of her work. 5 stars without a doubt.

THE PAPER PALACE
5⭐

I read an early copy of this one via @netgalley
And absolutely loved it!! 🙌

Crawdads meets Mary Beth Keane's multi-generational fiction, this epic tale follows the narrator over twenty four hours as she wrestles with the events of the previous evening when she had a passionate encounter while in the earshot of her husband and mother!

This one tumbles back into the past, and brings to life the narrator's life from childhood, to point where this event takes place.

Vivid and all encompassing, the incredibly poetic and descriptive prose transports you to dusty paths through pine glades, unspoiled clear water lakes, family breakfasts of eggs and bacon eaten while gently squabling. The family cabin dusty, sun bleached and frayed, with memories captured in the shadows and cracks.

And it's a multi-generational story packed full of characters, the pattern the long line of strong women holding the power, and making choices in their love lives, and in the process creating an exquisite tapestry.

The narrator is in her fifties with fully grown children, and we follow her as she works through making a decision between the safety of her husband, and the risky dark delight of her lover. Poignant moments have been etched forever on my heart, and I felt utterly bewitched by the Cape Cod settings!
I thought the narrator's husband and lover were both incredible characters, and didn't know how this one was going to play out!!

Highly recommend this uplifting feminist tale about family, love, passion, the positive impact of a powerful mother daughter relationship, and a call to always follow your heart 🙌❤️

The Paper Palace seems to be one everyone either loves or doesn’t really enjoy. Me? I’m a little ambivalent.

I am normally a huge fan of multiple timelines, but for some reason I just couldn’t get into it for this one. The first 40% took me so long to read, I just wasn’t really feeling it, I felt like I was reading for ages but only gaining like 5% each time. It was frustrating, especially because I did want to know what was happening, but I also didn’t really want to pick it up 🙈 but then, one night I read quite a bit and that’s when it picked up for me! It was odd, for such a multiple narrative fan, I got hooked more when it was just her childhood I was reading.

So I did enjoy it, it just took me a while to get there, which is great, but at the same time, I do prefer it when I know from the start I’m going to love it! It was just a little bit too much of slow burn of a story for me!

The book of the summer.
Do yourself a favour and go and get this book and read it. It is everything you look for in a book of this genre, engaging, well written, and utterly absorbing.

A beautifully written book - with a strong sense of place and some wonderful descriptive settings.
An author to watch out for. My only criticism, the novel switched between very time points from the main character's life, sometimes I wanted to know more and it felt like the author stopped a little too soon..

The setting for this novel is almost like a character in itself. It has such a strong sense of place - much like Where the Crawdads Sing. If you loved the atmosphere of that novel I think you would like this too. Yes its a darker and deals with confronting issues of abuse, but the writing is so beautiful and atmospheric. The novel is about love, the decisions we make and how they effect our future. It is not a novel to dip into, due to the flitting around of time zones, you need to give it a good chunk of time and then you will be hooked. It would make a great book club book, due to the dilemma, the characters and their decisions.

This is a book of so much depth, full of so much back story and even more complications. I loved the settings, the locations especially at the lake were beautiful. It it’s quite a heavy book at times and explores some very emotive subjects. These were written with sensitivity and oh quite a ‘straight to the point’ tone where I didn’t see it coming I re-read parts to make sure I understood. I am still trying to figure out the ending (even after re-reading the first chapter). This book was such a surprise, I was expecting a romance and got so much more.

I chose to request this book as the accompanying blurb suggested something different from today's narrative lines. To be fair it is definitely that and yet there is something about it I just didn't get.

It feels like someone gave a kitten four or five balls of wool and left it to do its damnedest in mixing together. plot, narrative and characterisation. There are elements of the writing - its use of language, imagery and tension and the pace of the narrative which proves it has literary skill. However, the content and characterisation leave me wanting more. There is not one character that is truly likeable. There is not one character who really ever places others ahead of themselves.

The subject matter varies from sexual licentiousness, through incest, through rape. Death in all its forms filled many of the narrative lines. The author has woven the shocking in among the banal and the whole is just dysfunctional.

It is hard to say you like a book like this. I can applaud its literary style and I think it's content will stay with me longer than perhaps i would like but I find myself unable to rate it highly and that perhaps is a shame.

I'd heard fantastic things about The Paper Palace, and now that I've finished reading it, I can understand why. It is a beautiful book and one that I continue to think about.

The sensory details in the writing made me feel like I was there with the main character, living out her life, swimming in the pond, eating food with her family, contemplating her decisions.

I'm not going to go into much detail, as I think this is a book that each reader should let unravel.

However, I will add that I believe this book reminds us we are human. Flawed, vulnerable, and not only open to being hurt but capable of hurting others. We operate in a world of glorious imperfection.

This one just wasn't for me I'm afraid, I struggled to keep up with the jumping around of timelines and didn't really engage with the characters.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Not since The Notebook, has a story moved me quite as much as this beautiful tale of unrequited love.

Told from Elle's point of view, we move from past to present, as she is forced to confront the horror of the secret she shares with childhood best friend, Jonas.

Every year, Elle and her family head to The Paper Palace, a place in the woods where she can breathe, and swim and feel at ease. But this year something momentous occurs that makes Elle rethink her whole life, and consider what she must do for her future.

Married to Peter and raising three children, she is mostly content. But there is Jonas. Her first love. Her person.

Can she tear her family apart to finally be with the person who truly sees her?

A love story for sure, filled with regret, and passion, and what ifs. But more than that. It's subtle, and nuanced. The past reveals family shame and cruel disappointments. The writing is sublime, and as much as I raced through to read on about Jonas and Elle, I was also sad to turn the last page. I found this to be a moving and powerful story and absolutely adored it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC, in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I know I’m in the minority here, but this really wasn’t the book for me. I hate giving up and not finishing a book, but after dreading picking it up each time, I eventually threw in the towel at 40%.

The only thing I did like was Heller’s atmospheric description of the setting; other than that I felt like I was wading through treacle and found it a chore to read. The synopsis is totally misleading; I was expecting something totally different to what was served up.

None of the characters are likeable, or have any redeeming features, so I didn’t care what happened to them anyway.

I also found it crude; some parts actually turned my stomach, particularly where the children were involved. Was there any need for it to be so detailed? Maybe it was a shock tactic? I’m not really sure, but it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.

One I couldn’t finish, sadly.

This was very enjoyable with a complex storyline, I thought was excellent, but had to concentrate to keep up with it. Overall I’d recommend it.

I just went to read this one, as I've been looking forward to it on my tbr... but even though I downloaded it, it says "this license expired on July 31, 2021." What a shame!!

What happens when a woman loves two, very different men?
I read this, knowing it couldn’t possibly have a happy ending, the story was too tangled and true to real life.
A beautifully painted picture of life in the Paper Palace, and other places, through the years.
Miranda Cowley Heller is a great storyteller, and I enjoyed it hugely.

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Elle visits Cape Cod with her family every summer, and has done since she was a child. It’s where she met Jonas.
After many years of friendship, Elle and Jonas sleep with each other. Just meters away from their partners.

The story spans over 24 hours, whilst taking us back to the past and allowing us to watch the development of the relationships between each main character.

Elle must decide whether she wants to be with Jonas or whether she wants to stay with her husband Peter.

Miranda Cowley Heller has a fantastic way of developing a character to the point you feel you truly know them.

It’s a slow paced, character driven novel with beautiful descriptions that make you feel fully immersed from the beginning.

The book explores numerous difficult themes and I don’t think it will be for everyone.
However, if you love romance filled with lies, secrets and betrayal, complex family dynamics, and beautiful descriptions of friendship and love then it may just be for you!

I really enjoyed this book. It’s heartbreaking and encouraging at the same time.

I really enjoyed the narrative style; going back in time to re-live memories and letting that correlate with the present.

Jonas sounds like a dream; Peter a pragmatist. What a dilemma!