I really enjoyed this book and felt like I really got to know the main characters and understand their quirks. I did however find it difficult to keep track sometimes - of both the minor characters, where they were and when this was happening on the time line. The setting of the back woods is so well described, I felt I could image it. I'm also not sure what ending I was expecting but I did find it unclear at the end - I don't know if this was done purposefully so that the reader is left to interpret? Overall I loved it - the people, the settings and the stories. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my arc.

An enchanting book filled with flash backs and memories. A slow start while you try to get to grips with the characters but once you do you are totally gripped. A love triangle between Elle, her husband Peter and childhood friend Jonas. Beautifully descripted making you feel like you are there. Totally absorbing.

I really enjoyed this book, Elle's story spans over decades of her childhood growing up in New York and her time in the country at The Paper Palace- a family summer home, Elle must decide between her childhood love and her husband. A tender book, with a series of tragic events. I would recommend this book, the descriptions of the ponds and beaches in the summer will transport the reader into this part of the world.

The Paper Palace opens with a morning after, as our protagonist Elle ponders the decisions of the night before. Elle and her family are vacationing at their usual bolthole in the Cape, a place Elle has been visiting and has treasured, since childhood. It was here that she first met Jonas, a lifelong friend and the source of Elle’s internal conflict. Elle is happily married with three children, and yet finds herself desperately drawn to her old friend. The Paper Palace jumps between Elle’s past and present to explore how she has reached this point.

The Paper Palace proves to be a wonderful and immersive setting for the story. We’re introduced to the Cape Cod backdrop in the opening chapter, and it’s clear very early on that it is a significant protagonist-- as important as any of the characters. Cowley-Heller’s descriptions of the vast pond, the creaky cabins, the main house, and the surrounding woodlands are eloquent and memorable.

Cowley-Heller’s characterisation was also very strong. Elle, at the core of the story, is complex and intriguing to follow, and the supporting roles are all equally fleshed out; I particularly loved any scenes with Elle’s mother, Wallace.

Overall, The Paper Palace was gripping and complicated, and asked fascinating questions about family, trust, relationships, dignity, and regret.

Many thanks to Viking and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Paper Palace is a story of summer, secrets, love and lies: in the course of a singular day on Cape Cod, one woman must make a life-changing decision that has been brewing for decades. When the novel opens, it is 6:30 am, present day. Elle Bishop, a fifty-something happily married mother of three, wakes at dawn and heads down to the pond for her morning swim. She is staying at her mother’s summer camp, nicknamed “The Paper Palace”, on a fresh-water kettle pond in the backwoods of Cape Cod. As Elle plunges naked into the bracing water, she thinks about what she has done the night before: how, in the middle of her mother’s dinner party, she and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had frantic, breath-taking sex for the first time while their spouses chatted away inside. Over the next 24 hours Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with Jonas, if only they hadn’t had to carry the shame of a tragic event from their youth.

The story takes place over a single day and across fifty years and is set against the summer backwoods and beaches of Cape Cod. Twenty-four hours in the life of Elle Bishop, and the mosaic of her life right up until the moment she steps out the back door into the night: a childhood navigating her parents’ divorce; a cast of mostly awful stepparents and stepsiblings; the curious boy, Jonas, who comes into her young life like a birdsong; her wonderful British husband; three beautiful children. But, also: abuse, loss, trauma, and long-held secrets – a single act in her childhood that changed the course of everything, that can never be undone; the pebble she dropped in the pond. With its transporting setting and propulsive pace, the story draws on the sweet promise of young love, as well as the heartbreaking damage incurred by too many dark secrets. It's a compulsively readable story about the tensions between the romantic childhood ideals we grow up with, and the family responsibilities that carry us into adulthood. Must our life choices remain irrevocable if the conditions are changed? A captivating, emotional and highly recommended read.

🌟B O O K R E V I E W🌟

The Paper Palace- Miranda Cowley- Heller

‘𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅’

This story follows the 24 hours after Elle Bishop has had a passionate encounter with Jonas, a man who is not her husband, which happens in her childhood home ‘The Paper Palace’. She is taking risks, her husband and children are there too.
She is thinking of a life after and has a decision to make about her future. There is also second thread to the story of flashbacks to her childhood and how she met Jonas and the events that shaped their lives.

Wow! This was such a powerful and emotive story. You can feel the lust and anxiety and passion in Elle and Jonas. She is walking on egg shells waiting to be found out by her mother, husband or kids. The guilt is searing and she thinks it is obvious to all including Gina, Jonas’ wife, what they are doing.

‘𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑮𝒊𝒏𝒂. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆.’

Going back to her past we see how her childhood has shaped her, experiencing her mother’s failed relationships, the serial abuse and tragedy and asks the question :
Does this inform the sort of relationships that we have as adults?

‘𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍, 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌.’

The loss of Anna, how she meets Peter and the building of this house of cards that will inevitably fall was brilliantly done. We find out how the tragedy spread its threads out like a web entangling everything that comes after and leads to the day where Elle and Jonas give in to their passion.
Elle looks back on her life and all the choices she has made, building her life on them and now she has to make a choice between a husband she doesn’t deserve and a man she knows she can’t have.
We find out what happens to Elle as a teenager, what binds her to Jonas and the secrets they share. There is a quiet power to the narrative, it is detailed, intimate and in places startlingly stark. It is so tense I really could not look away from this one, entrancing, heart rending, and it really made me catch my breath.

This is a beautiful, intense, heart rending love story. It really touched me, the hurt of loving someone that long but not being with them, it is painfully beautiful.

✩✩✩✩✩

Our protagonist Elle has an illicit sexual encounter- the following 24 hours we get an insight in to her rationale, thoughts and her conscience- Elle is married. I loved the psychological aspect of this, the what ifs? A brilliant read.

The Paper Palace is the name given to a run down group of holiday cabins in Cape Cod. Built by her grandfather, Elle has spent the summer there since she was a little child. Now, in middle age, she is there once again with her husband, kids and mother. The book covers events over a 24 hour period, starting from when Elle and Jonas, her old friend and first love, rashly sneak out to have sex during a gathering. The resulting dilemma for Elle is interwoven with flashbacks to her childhood and early years of marriage, uncovering tragedy, abuse and a terrible secret that she and Jonas have shared for years.
The Paper Palace is a wonderful book and a faultless debut, the writing is so beautiful that you feel you are in Back Woods, next to a decaying cabin, taking a swim in a water lily strewn pond. The characters are strongly written. Even if you don’t agree with what Elle does you can empathise with her. Miranda Crowley Heller writes older people particularly well and with great fondness. I was totally absorbed in the story and didn’t want it to end. I look forward to more from this writer. Thank you to #netgalley and #riverheadbooks for allowing me to review this ARC

**TRIGGER WARNING** A TRAUMATIC STRING OF SEXUAL ABUSE/RAPE

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

It's a perfect July morning, and Ellie, a fifty year old happily married mother of three awakens at "The Paper Palace" - the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning it's different: last night Ellie and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, while their spouses chatted away together inside. Now, over the next twenty four hours, Ellie will have to decide between the life she has made with her beloved husband Peter or the life she's always imagines with Jonas.

The Paper Palace is the name of the summer resort that Ellie's family have been visiting for years. The story is told in a dual timeline: the present day and and back in time from Ellie's childhood. It's descriptively written but also gut churning at the same time. The pace is slow to begin with and I did struggle to get into it, but as soon as the secrets and lies started to reveal themselves, I was hooked. This is not an easy book toread and it might upset some readers due to some of the contents.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #PenguinGeneralUK and the author #MirandaCowleyHeller formy ARC of #ThePaperPalace in exchange for an honest review.

The Paper Palace was beautifully written and the author has an excellent command of language. There was a lot of moving between the past and the present and some scenes from Elle's childhood were a little uncomfortable to read. The setting is excellent and the whole story unfolds over 24 hours. There are a lot of layers to this story that will keep readers intrigued and wanting to keep turning the pages. There are some very uncomfortable scenes in this book including child abuse, rape, and very strong language and I think a trigger warning should be included. It's hard to review the book, parts of it I enjoyed and parts left a sour taste in my mouth. I don't think I would have read it had it come with content warnings.

I tried to get in to the story but I couldn't like the characters and their self absorption. The moving between different time periods annoyed me. Not for me but sure it will appeal to a different audience than myself.

I was so looking forward to this one, after seeing such high review ratings.
Firstly, the writing is breathtaking. It is so well written, I feel harsh giving it 3 stars.
But for me, the plot didn't hold up to much scrutiny. It was too much of a slow burn for me and I have a strong need for an eventful story, that consumes me and keeps me engaged. I didn't care for the characters and the decisions they made.
There were so many sex scenes, I felt like I was reading Fifty Shades at times. They just felt like scene fillers to me and I eventually got pretty fed up of them.
The arrangement of the timelines was sometimes difficult to follow on the audiobook, but that just might be something I have difficulty with.

The paper Palace is a skilfully told and well written story, filled with captivating characters and complex relationships, in a vivid and impressionable setting. The narrative centres on Elle, a woman in her 50’s, who is married with three children. She is holidaying with her family and friends on cape cod and the story unfolds over a 24 hour period. During the course of the book we are taken back through Elle’s life from being a child, this helps to gain a deeper understanding of her as we learn of the events that have shaped who she is. Reading about Elle’s childhood was heart wrenching and I feel the need to point out some trigger warnings of child abuse, rape and strong language. I found some scenes uncomfortable to read but that is the reality of such experiences and I thought it was well written.
I found I was gripped from the start, I liked the plot, a short 24 hour period but going back in the past to gain more insight. It was quite a read and I would highly recommend this thought provoking novel. It is one that will stay with me.

As the story flips back and forth from the present to Elle’s childhood, I gained a deeper understanding of her whole being, to the point where I feel almost washed out by her experiences. An intense and creative mix of characters crafted with immense power of human emotions in a vivid, evocative setting which all my senses shared.

This is a real gem of a book, totally immersive, finely drawn with strong characters and recurrent themes. It is also shocking in parts with child abuse and rape featuring in flashbacks as the story unfolds of a family holidaying on Cape Cod. Secrets and lies have twisted fates and lost innocence has changed the outcome of lives through decades. The story is skilfully told and there are many layers that will keep you thinking after the end.

With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

This novel falls into my favourite category, a good story well told. The Paper Palace of the title is the ironic name for a long-standing ramshackle family summer retreat on Cape Cod, and the story is mostly set here over the course of a woman’s half-century. It’s a tale steeped in summer, which expertly explores the ramifications of our choices in life and love.

As they do every summer, Elle, her husband of 20 years Peter, their three children and her mother retreat to the Cape for the summer, along with the other families with houses there. Amongst these is Lucas, her childhood friend, also with a family of his own. A long-deferred pent-up sexual encounter between Elle and Lucas sets the scene for an agonising decision by Elle about her future, with the back story of how she came to be married to Peter rather than Lucas slowly revealed during the course of the book.

The author lifts the lid on dysfunctional families, on what people will do in order to survive, and on the enduring consequences of every decision we make. Much of the emotional impact of this tale is quite harrowing, but all too real and imaginable, even for those of us lucky enough not to have lived through similar situations of fragmented families, illness or abuse. And in amongst the sorrow and trauma, the author is excellent at conveying how people can compartmentalise this and still find contentment and even happiness.

The complexity of a life is extremely well conveyed, in a novel that is not a difficult or depressing read despite the darkness at its heart. The characters and relationships feel very real, satisfyingly and realistically complex, and there is no neat happy ending but nevertheless, the promise of hope. This is a grown-up, well-constructed read.

This is a beautifully written debut story about love, secrets and choices made by the characters. I loved the writing style and found it easy to follow the storyline. Definitely recommend this.

The Paper Palace is going to be a 'love it or hate it' for a lot of people. For me there are two main reasons why it wasn't  'love it'. Let me start with what I liked about it though. Luscious language paints the gorgeous backdrop of Cape Cod for most of the story and that at least was enjoyable. That and I liked the concept of  a 24 hour period running parallel to the MC's past catching up to that day.

So why didn't I love it? The first eason is that I just couldn't look past the pacing being so off. For me the first half was just dreadfully slow to the point that I put the book down for a couple of months before reluctantly picking it up again.

The second ireason is the vulgarity and explicitly of some very uncomfortable details. I honestly wish publishers would start putting trigger warnings on their books. This book had almost every trigger warning i could think of, I am not going to list them all, but if you are sensitive like me then you might want to avoid reading this book. Otherwise it was alright. 2.5 stars.

“The Paper Palace” is probably my favorite novel in 2021, all 400 pages of it, right next to Yaa Gyasi’s “Transient Kingdom”, two very different types of novels admittedly. It broke the spell for me in being bored by almost all novels I started this year. This was the book I had been waiting for this summer, I loved Cowley Heller’s exquisite writing, a debut which is hard to believe, very fluid yet literary in tone, multi layered and boy what a captivating story about family, love, secrets, swimming, traditions, shame and courage, I am sad it is finished now .
Elle Bishop is spending her summer with her family in the “The Paper Palace”, a slightly decaying set of cabins in the Back Woods of Cape Cod which has been in her family’s possession as long as she can remember and where she has spent all her summers. Something irreversible has happened last night during this year’s summer party which is the opening of the novel. Meandering through 50 years of Elle’s life and leading up to the day where she has to face her past and comes to the crossroad of her life, the novel held me captive to the last page, recapturing her childhood and family history, her first love to Jonas, her perfectly happy marriage to Peter, her formidable mother Wallace and the dreadful incident that nearly destroyed her life. I had to reread the ending twice…. …. Enough, no more details , publishing July 8th in the US by Riverhead, in the UK by Viking, go buy a copy, I guarantee you a great page turner .

This is the kind or read you just can't put down. Once I started it, it had to be finished. The characters are so vivid and the read so charming.