262. Paris for One

Rating:  ☆☆☆

Recommended by:

Author:   Jojo Moyes

Genre:  Fiction, Short Stories, Romance

106 pages, published February 5, 2015

Reading Format:  Audio Book

 

Summary

The main story in this collection by JoJo Moyes is an account of 26 year old, introverted Nell, who lives in the UK and has never been to Paris.  After planning a romantic weekend to Paree with her new boyfriend, she is bitterly disappointed when he fails to show and she is stuck in the City of Light by herself.  However, when Nell meets the mysterious Fabien, things begin to turn around.

 

Quotes 

“Nell looks at the label and comes to. “Oh, I’d never wear it. I like to buy things on a cost-per-wear basis. This dress would probably work out at like…thirty pounds a wear. No. I couldn’t.” “You don’t ever do something just because it makes you feel good?” The assistant shrugs. “Mademoiselle, you need to spend more time in Paris.”

 

“She is in Paris, in Parisian clothes, getting ready to go out with a Frenchman she picked up in an art gallery!  She pulls her hair back into a loose knot, puts on her lipstick, sits down on the bed and laughs.”

 

“Are you still with this man?

On no, She sniffed. I realized pretty quickly I couldn’t marry a man without a bookshelf.

No bookshelf?

In his house. Not even a little one in his loo for the Reader’s Digest.

Many people in this country don’t read books.

He didn’t have one book. Not even a true crime. Or a Jeffrey Archer. I mean, what does that tell you about someone’s character?”

 

“Because she knew already that this would be the thing that would end them. And that in the deepest part of her, she had known it from the beginning, like someone stubbornly ignoring a weed growing until it blocked out the light.”

 

My Take

Since starting my reading quest, I’ve read a lot of Jojo Moyes (After You, One Plus One, The Girl You Left Behind, Silver Bay) and have, for the most part, thoroughly enjoyed her books.  While Paris for One is more a trifle than her other books, it was still fun to spend time with it.  Perfect for a quick escape.