The Paris Novel

By: Ruth Reichl

Narrated by: Kiiri Sandy

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “mouthwatering” (The New York Times) adventure through the food, art, and fashion scenes of 1980s Paris—from the bestselling author of Save Me the Plums and Delicious!

“An enchanting and irresistible feast . . . As with a perfect meal in the world’s most magical city, I never wanted this sublime novel to end.”—Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of Good Company

Stella reached for an oyster, tipped her head, and tossed it back. It was cool and slippery, the flavor so briny it was like diving into the ocean. Oysters, she thought. Where have they been all my life?

When her estranged mother dies, Stella is left with an unusual inheritance: a one-way plane ticket and a note reading “Go to Paris.” Stella is hardly cut out for adventure; a traumatic childhood has kept her confined to the strict routines of her comfort zone. But when her boss encourages her to take time off, Stella resigns herself to honoring her mother’s last wishes.

Alone in a foreign city, Stella falls into old habits, living cautiously and frugally. Then she stumbles across a vintage store, where she tries on a fabulous Dior dress. The shopkeeper insists that this dress was meant for Stella and for the first time in her life Stella does something impulsive. She buys the dress—and embarks on an adventure.

Her first stop: the iconic brasserie Les Deux Magots, where Stella tastes her first oysters and then meets an octogenarian art collector who decides to take her under his wing. As Jules introduces Stella to a veritable who’s who of the Paris literary, art, and culinary worlds, she begins to understand what it might mean to live a larger life.

As weeks—and many decadent meals—go by, Stella ends up living as a “tumbleweed” at famed bookstore Shakespeare & Company, uncovers a hundred-year-old mystery in a Manet painting, and discovers a passion for food that may be connected to her past. A feast for the senses, this novel is a testament to living deliciously, taking chances, and finding your true home.

©2024 Ruth Reichl (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Reichl['s] . . . writing reads like a dish you want to savor, slowly chewing each perfectly chosen word as she describes the distinct experience of eating ortolan for the first time or sipping a red wine that tastes like ‘liquid rubies.’”—Eater, “The Best Food Books to Read This Spring”

“A delicious feast for the senses, taking the reader on an enchanting journey through the city of love, and following Stella’s adventure into a bolder, more beautiful life.”—Oprah Daily, “The Most Anticipated Books of 2024”

“[E]nticing . . . Reichl keeps the wine—and mouthwatering prose—flowing. . . . When a waiter drops an extra dessert on the table, better not send it back to the kitchen.”—The New York Times

Magical, but read the actual book do not listen

This story is magical as all Ruth Reichl books are. But the woman reading it is not magical. I doubt she knows anything about Paris. Her voices are horrible and completely take away from the story. Do yourself a favor and buy the book, and sit down and read it.

Enchanting Book

A friend from the Paris Cafe Writing Workshop I had attended for many years texted me and said she was reading The Paris Novel and knew I would like it. I had met George Whitman at Shakespeare and Company in Paris and he invited me to stay in his Writers Room at the bookstore. He changed my life. I loved reading about George in this book. Another writer in the Workshop was writing about Victorine whom she had discovered in Manets painting when she was a college student. We went to the museum in Colombe in search of pictures which Victorine had supposedly painted. The curator there told us of a self portrait that had recently been discovered and we went back to Paris and went to an exhibit where it was being shown at the Carousel de Louvre. I loved reading this novel and remembering those wonderful experiences. It is a lovely book.

Didn’t want it to end…

Have you ever read a book and felt it was written expressly for you? This book speaks to so many things I have felt passion for in my life: Paris and France—I can feel myself walking with Stella in the Place de Voges or crossing the Pont Neuf and seeing Paris through her eyes; I can feel myself at Deux Magots sipping the same Chablis, closing my eyes and swimming in the ocean brine of an ice cold oyster. I can feel the awe Stella feels upon trying on a beautiful dress in a small Paris dress shop and seeing yourself in the mirror and not believing it is really you.

As a lifelong “foodie,” I found reading the restaurant scenes are almost unbearably pleasureful (or painful?!)—the descriptions of the gourmet meals can only be described as “food porn!” The spot-on descriptions of the dishes make you want to jump on the next flight for Paris.

Art takes center stage here as well. Brancussi’s “Bird in flight” has been my all-time favorite sculpture and there it was making a surprise appearance in the book. The Jeu de Paume museum and the museum D’Orsay in Paris, two of my favorites, are also mentioned.

I grew up in the Marin Shakespeare Festival, playing bit parts and spending my summers there and so while reading about the famous Shakespeare & Co bookstore in Paris, again, it made me want to jump on the next plane out and become a “tumbleweed” and live there among the shelves.

One cannot help but root for the main character, Stella, but all the supporting cast of characters are so exquisitely drawn that you feel as if they are family by the end of the book.

The theme of fatherhood also runs throughout the book— absent fathers, father figures, terrible men who definitely are NOT father figures, and eventually [spoiler alert] a real father all make appearances.

I appreciated the juxtaposition of Stella as a 7-year-old and as the later adult informed by her childhood traumas, as well as the contrast to George’s daughter, Lucie, who is like a female Gavroche from Les Misérables (only she doesn’t get shot, thankfully!) She adds some lightness and humor and is just so darn cute! I love it when authors portray seven-year-olds as wise little creatures instead of just typical stereotypes of childhood. (And I felt Stella‘s awe as she listened to the seven-year-old rattle off her rapid-fire French, speaking her native tongue so effortlessly, the same language I have been struggling to become fluent in for decades!)

In short, everybody in the book does what they love with such passion and skill in a world that seems more and more mediocre every day. These characters really take the time to enjoy life, to SEE life, and use ALL their senses, in fact, to just BE alive. It was inspiring and life-changing. Thank you for writing it… just for me! 🤣

Bottom line (TLDR):
All in all, I cannot say if I can recommend this book to everyone, because as I first mentioned, I believe it was written expressly for me! But if you, too, grew up with a missing father, have lived in New York City ever, have traveled a lot to Paris, and love, art, literature, fine dining, cooking, baking, fledgling writers, poetry, and Shakespeare… Well then… You might just love it as much as I did! 🥰

PS I had an extra audible Credit so I actually didn’t “read” the book, but “listened“ to it, and the narrator did an EXCELLENT job. There were complicated French phrases, English accents, male and female voices, and she interpreted each of the different “voices” in the book with aplomb. Quite well done! 👏👏👏

The vive in this book is incredible

I loved it so much including the suthors afterword
I did want this book to end
I wated jules to be a real person so bad. I loved him so much

Thank you Ms Reichl for this beautiful book which i will cherish for ever

A lovely novel

My first novel in years, I was stuck on non fiction forever, I loved every minute of it. It contained everything I enjoy - art, fashion, food, humanity - rich and engaging. I enjoyed the one year I lived in Paris, I look forward to visiting again. I am going to have to look for Olympia oysters for my husband. Thank you!

Love the sensuous description of Paris, fashion & good! Well written and well read!

Keep them coming Ruth! You are fun to read & get all my appetites super charged!

Amazing story, great narration

Not tracking with the reviews that are negative about the narrator. This book was excellent and I loved the narrator.

Good story, not so good reader

The story was entertaining. Takes you to Paris’ many delightful neighborhoods.. The food and wine descriptions transport you to wonderful French restaurants in Paris and around France. The discussions about art, writers and the Shakespeare Company were entertaining and enlightening. But the reader is too breathy and frequently injects unnecessary anxiety into the text with her tone. I wish she read more naturally how people actually speak.

Delightful,!

Ruth Reichl brought me there, to Paris, to the dress shops, to the restaurants, to the markets. The characters became important to me, The story became an intricate web. I love this type of book!

Really well done

The audiobook is so well done. The narrator pronounces French words correctly, and I think that makes the story so much more real and romantic. I enjoyed this story— descriptions of food and fashion and France, what’s not to like!