A totally romantic, engaging story about an intelligent young woman who finds her true self when she goes to Paris. Stella's colorful, erratic mother dies and leave her some money, with the stipulation that she use it for a ticket to Paris. Stella, in many ways the opposite of her mother, has built a staid, secure, if somewhat dull life as a copyeditor in a publishing house in New York. She's reluctant to leave, but does, and her life begins to change in many wonderful ways. The people, the fashion, the food -- hand this one to fans of Emily in Paris! It's lots of fun, and Stella is a great character. I look forward to recommending this title.

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl was beautiful! I’ve previously enjoyed Garlic and Sapphires as well as Save Me the Plums and was excited to try her fiction. I will give the warning that a child is molested in this book which I was caught off guard by.

Stella is a New Yorker with a glamorous self centered mother who upon her death wants Stella to go to Paris. In Paris Stella learns about food, love, and finds herself along the way.

I thought this book was beautifully done and enjoyed the descriptions of Paris and the food throughout. There was also a mystery of a female painter to uncover which was so fun!

Thanks once again to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance reader copy in exchange for a review. This will appear on Goodreads.
I’ll start as always by stating that this is not my first Reichs books and have enjoyed her other works. I love lush descriptions of food and locations and this books hits those notes.
Other reviewers will warn you of the trigger chapter 2. Some might say it is unnecessary for it to be so detailed. I found the event necessary to pain the mother as callous and self centered. This chapter will bother many.
I am grappling with deciding what this book is truly about. A woman with a complicated relationship with her now-dead mother is sent to Paris with no explanation. So it could be about working out why her mother did that. It could be about finding masterpiece muse Vivienne Muerent’s, who too was a fine artist, artwork, story, and why she wasn’t written into history. It could be about a father and sons strained ralationship due to the loss of a beloved mother and wife. It could be about famous fashion, about Paris itself, about fine dining, about a famous bookstore and it’s ‘tumbleweeds’, or finding a never-known relative, because all of these are richly described.
My sole problem with this book is that it’s about all of these things, which makes the narrative herky jerky, turning on its heels abruptly so each of the narratives are moved forward, leaving none behind.
Things I loved - the descriptions of Paris, the food, the genealogy hunts, the artwork and fashion.
Things that made it cumbersome - the addition of the strained relationship of Jules and his son and all of that background. I also found the discovery of Django abrupt and forced and rather unbelievable. We are getting late into the book and need to add one more narrative to get to the ending.
I liked it more than 3* but not quite a 4*, but since I can’t give it a 3.75, I’ll round up.

Having recently read The Paris Bookseller, a novel that tells the story of Sylvia Beach and Shakespeare and Company, I was especially interested to read Ruth Reichl's novel about George Whitman's second generation of that famed bookstore. This is the story of Stella who leads a humdrum life in New York as a copy editor, and who is socially frozen because of her emotionally unhealthy childhood. Her mother, who was anything but giving in any way, bequeathed Stella money to spend time in Paris, and that became a complete turning point for her. Perhaps due to serendipity she encountered people who opened her eyes to new experiences and ways to interact with the world. Her quest to locate the story and works of Victorine, the model for Manet's "Olympia," and her search for her unknown father, are made possible because of her tenacity and relationships. Reichl's background as restaurant critic, Gourmet editor in chief, and cookbook author is obvious throughout in her descriptions of Parisian cuisine and Stella's sensual response to tastes and textures of food. The glimpse into the real Shakespeare and Company store, its owner George Whitman, the Tumbleweeds, and the visiting authors like Ginsberg and Baldwin, was intriguing enough to motivate me to track down a documentary about them.

The perfect book if you love fashion, art, travel and french cuisine, it felt like a coming of age book and i think it being set in the 1980s makes this book much more charming, the characters are likeable and it was interesting to have a plot about finding a lost painting

I have enjoyed every book written by Ruth Reichl, and this one was no exception. I was excited to see another work of fiction - I absolutely loved Delicious!
Wonderful story, great descriptions of places and food. If you love food or travel, especially combined, this might be the book for you.

I absolutely loved this book so much! This will be on my must read, pre-order list for customers for 2024! I loved the story of found family and all the beautiful details! The characters and the story have stuck with me and that is the best compliment I can give a book!

Loved reading this book as I’m going to Europe next year and it got me in the mood! I don’t usually like historical books but this one was light and fun.

I have read and enjoyed all of Ruth Reichl’s memoirs, so I was eager to read an advance copy of her upcoming novel, The Paris Novel, due to be published in April 2024. In truth, though, this little novel . . . was just not for me. It is written with Ruth Reichl’s signature “jaunty” voice, but while that voice lends itself beautifully to her memoirs, it didn’t work as well in this novel. I found the story to be rather simplistic, contrived, and predictable. I enjoyed the descriptions of meals and food preparation, as well as the beautiful Paris setting, but there were just too many convenient coincidences for me to take the book seriously. There is also a lot of famous-people-name-dropping, which seemed especially contrived to me in this context.

The most interesting part of the book for me was actually the Afterward, when Ruth Reichl talks about how her novel came to be, and how many of the characters, places, and restaurants in the book were based on her own life experiences in Paris. Based on the Afterward, I think these stories would have made a much better memoir than the resulting novel!

I am quite sure there will be a huge audience for this book when it is released. It definitely provides charm and escapism – but not a lot of bite.

[I do feel I need to mention the child molestation/sexual assault which occurs in the early chapters of the book. It was surprising and disturbing – and seems not to really belong with the rest of the story. I understand the purpose - to set up Stella’s horrific childhood - but it just seemed to be overdone/excessively dramatic given the lighter nature of the rest of the story. It was . . . odd and jarring.]

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 30, 2024.

3 stars

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl was wonderful! Such well developed characters and vivid descriptions. The food, art, and fashion scene of 1980's Paris is everything! I loved Stella's coming of age story. You can tell it was well researched and was a pleasure to read!

Thanks to Net Galley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my review. I’ve enjoyed Ruth Reichl’s other books and this novel was enjoyable and easy to read too. The book featured great stories and descriptions of Paris, food, fashion, and family - what’s not to like?

I sincerely appreciate the author's other books, she is a great writer and story teller. However, I just could not relate to this (fiction) book. I would much rather read Reichl's actual experiences. By reading other's reviews, I can see that I am definitely in the minority in this opinion, and would hate to have a review reflect negatively on such an icon as Reichl, so I will refrain from expression myself on any of my usual sites. Best of luck to her!

This was pure, transporting fun. I loved visiting Paris vicariously, love the foodie focus, enjoyed this thoroughly! I like to think Ruth Reichl had a blast too.

I absolutely adore Ruth Reichl and have followed her writing for years. Tender at the Bone was an incredible memoir that stuck with me for a long time.

But this one, I just couldn't get into. Stella is a boring character, and despite being surrounded by interesting side characters, their quirks and characteristics really only highlighted how not-interesting she was. The mystery surrounding her mother's drive to get her to visit Paris was not enough to hold me through to the end.

I loved-loved-loved the descriptions of food and the meals she ate, especially her first dinner with Jules while wearing The Dress. Reichl truly has an amazing way with turning phrases around flavors, aromas, and textures. I found myself sometimes skipping to meal scenes just to revel in how delicious they sounded.

But this was, unfortunately, a book I just couldn't get my teeth into, and I abandoned it at around 60%.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC!

I am a fan of the author's previous writing and have enjoyed all of her work. This is beyond my expectations and my favorite book I have read this year ! The author engages the reader from the beginning into the world of the main character Stella and leads you through a culinary , fashion and art tour of Paris . The expertise of the detail of the French Cathedrals, the art world and the sublime descriptions of the fabulous food leave you in utter bliss. It was the best novel about Paris that I have ever read. I was so enchanted by the book that I read it cover to cover in one sitting. I found myself stopping to research all the places the author wrote of in Paris and learned some amazing history. The Manet history is outstanding and a important part of the story of our Paris journey. As a reader I am utterly in awe and very appreciative of the extensive research of this book by the author.

Note: In the beginning the author included some background of the main character that is disturbing . Just skip over it and continue on the wonderful journey this book takes you on. Its a small part of the book and important to the main character and her personality. It is part of who she is our Stella and why she needed this Paris journey to find her true self. Stella is a savvy intelligent engaging character who takes this journey to free herself from her past to be the person she never imagained she would be.

A favorite read of 2023 and I cannot wait for her next body of work. Well done to the author. Thank you to the publisher, Net Galley and the author for the consideration to review. My review opinions are my own.

The spoilers you will not read here as this has to be savored by each reader on their own.

Such a good story! I was able to relate to the MC in frugality and cautious living, but watching her let her hair down and make some frivolous, impulsive choices, truly shows how Stella is learning a little more about living. I enjoyed this!

This was a delightful book to read. I have read Ruth Reichl's memoirs, she is a fantastic writer, especially when it comes to food, and it works well in this novel too. Stella is living her life in NY as a drone, trying to be the opposite of her vibrant but unloving mother. When her mother dies, she leaves Stella a ticket to Paris where her adventures begin. It feels like Dorothy waking up in Oz and the movie switching from black and white to Technicolor. The cast of characters Stella meets in Paris in the 1980s is wonderful - a mix of real life and fictional. The food scenes are mouth watering, as are the arts and scenery. I couldn't put the book down.

This book was simply a delight!

I loved the descriptions of Paris, the art, fashion and the food!

If you are looking for a book that will take you on a journey in Paris, with engaging characters and descriptions of Paris that make you feel as if you are there, then this book is for you!

Oh dear. My absolute favorite memoir author, so honest when she's writing about her life, such sensuality in her descriptions of food, so knowledgeable about the thing that made her famous. But this, her second foray into fiction, is not her best work.

I love any and all things Paris, so this book was a no brainer for me. Stella goes through somewhat of a mid life crisis after her estranged mother dies and leaves her a one way plane ticket to Paris. She opens her heart to new experiences, people, and more. I loved getting to follow her journey and live vicariously through her during her time in Paris!

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this wonderful book.