Maud
Roberts is a student at an art school for Young ladies in Paris and she has
moneyproblems. Paris is quite expensive and her family in England does not have
a lot of money either, so it may be that Maud will not survive another winter
in Paris.
Then she has the opportunity to work as a companion for the Morel
family. Sylvie Morel is addicted to opium and her brother Christian wants
somebody to keep an eye on her and keep her company.
It seems
Maud’s luck has turned, she has a roof over her head, three good meals a day an
pleasant employers.
But then it
all changes and it seems Maud is in deep trouble.
When I
travel somewhere I always like it to have a book with me that is set in the
same place. So when I went to Paris a couple of weeks ago, I put The Paris
Winter in my bag so I could read it on the Thalys. I had hoped for a few
pleasant hours with this book, but I was surprised at how much better it was
than I ever thought!
First of
all the historical background is excellent. The characters are written well and
in the way fiction is mixed with historical facts Imogen Robertson shows she is
a very good writer.
Paris is
always interesting, but the period 1909-1910 is even more so. The flood of
Paris in January 1910 gives the story momentum and a dramatic focus.
Paris comes
to live in this book, from the houses of the poor in Montmartre to the grand
boulevards with the shops for the rich.
The art-background
is also done well, with little technical details that give it a lot of
credibility and make it very interesting. Real events and people in this aspect
of the book give it an extra dimension.
The twist
in the story, the moment things change for Maud was unexpected. I knew something
was going to happen of course, but the how and the what were a real surprise
and very well done. The way the story progresses is lively and exciting and
make it impossible to put the book down.
A nice and
original touch I thought were the descriptions of paintings between the
chapters, that give extra clues that you cannot immediately understand.
The Paris
Winter is an excellent historical novel with credible characters and a well
thought out plot that even brings some gothic horror to it at certain points.
What more could you want in a book?
Read here what LARK wrote about this excellent book, it was because of her review I bought it immediately :-)
Published in 2013
I'm so glad you liked this book! And how cool that you got to read it while you were in Paris. This is an author I definitely want to read again. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, reading this while I sat in the Tuileries was absolutely cool! And I enjoyed it very much, it was a really good book, so thank you again for reviewing it first :-)
DeleteKind regards,