Guest Review: One Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan

One charming bookshop, two unlikely friends, and a summer in Paris that will change their lives forever…

Grace can’t believe it when her husband of twenty-five years announces he doesn’t want to join her on their anniversary trip to Paris – instead, he wants a divorce. Reeling from the shock, Grace makes the bold decision to go on this holiday of a lifetime alone.

Audrey leaves behind heartache of her own when she arrives in Paris. A job in a bookshop is her ticket to freedom, but with no knowledge of the French language, her summer adventure seems doomed to fail. Until she meets Grace, and everything changes…

Living in neighbouring apartments above the bookshop, Grace and Audrey form an unlikely friendship. They came to Paris to find themselves, but finding each other might be the best thing that's ever happened to them.

Review: I always look forward to reading a new novel by Sarah Morgan. They invariably have such great settings. When I found that this story takes place in Paris, my imagination went immediately to romance, music, amazing food and wonderful scenery. That’s what I found, encasing a beautiful story of a most unlikely friendship and enduring love.

The story revolves around two strong women from very different backgrounds. Grace finds after twenty-five years of marriage that her husband no longer wants to be with her. Instead of accompanying her on their anniversary trip to Paris, he wants a divorce. Eighteen-year-old Audrey has been living a lie for most of her life, hiding the fact that her mother is an alcoholic and that she herself is dyslexic, and wants to escape to a new life. The two women find themselves brought together when Grace takes her carefully planned trip to Paris on her own and Audrey travels there to work for the summer. They end up neighbours in apartments above a bookshop where Audrey has been employed despite her complete ignorance of the French language and difficulties in reading. Thus begins an amazing friendship that you know will last longer than just that summer. They help and support each other in ways that they could not have imagined, and each discovers new possibilities for the future along the way.

I loved this book right from the start and would put it up there with my favourite Sarah Morgan novels. The two main characters were believable and also likeable; they might have been anyone you could meet in your day to day life. Each has been dealt a blow, but has the determination to carry on nonetheless. I admired them both. I found myself laughing and crying along with them as they struggled to find their way through the various situations they found themselves in in this foreign place. They were acquaintances brought together by chance who became the firmest of friends, sharing their deepest, darkest secrets and healing in the process. I think this heart-warming tale set in such a wonderful location will make a lovely summery read, but with tissues at the ready.

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