Book Review | Paris Mon Amour

The first time I caused terrible harm to the people I love it was an accident. The second is the reason I’m here.

When Alexandra discovers that her husband Philippe is having an affair, she can’t believe he’d risk losing the love that has transformed both their lives.

Still in shock, Alexandra finds herself powerfully attracted to a much younger man. Jean-Luc Malavoine is twenty-three, intense and magnetic. He’s also the son of Philippe’s best friend.

With every increasingly passionate liaison, Alexandra is pulled deeper into a situation that threatens everyone she holds dear.

Beautifully told through the boulevards and arrondissements of the City of Light, Paris Mon Amour is a sensual novel about inescapable desire and devastating betrayals. It is the story of one woman and two men, and what happens when there is no way out.

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A French maxim I adopted without question was that a woman needs to preserve a sense of mystery. But it’s a short hop from mystery to secrets and an even shorter one from there to betrayal.

When we meet Alexandra she is at the end of her story and begins to recount to us how she came to be at this point. What starts with the discovery of her husband Philippe having an affair, turns into a story of love and redemption, as she herself embarks on an extramarital relationship, whilst dealing with uncertain and evolving family dynamics.

Paris Mon Amour is beautifully written. It is effortless in absorbing you onto the streets of Paris and into the Parisian lifestyle. I think even if you haven’t been to the city before, you will feel as if you have been transported there through the detailed descriptions, not just of the city itself but of the emotions that being there evokes in the writer.

This book is not just about an affair; it actually deals with a lot of serious subjects through all the different relationship dynamics. These subjects are dealt with spectacularly, because even though you can feel the emotion through the writing, it isn’t overly dramatised or made a spectacle of. These are situations that you feel immersed in because they are written in such a realistic way.

I’ve always wondered what it must be like to be in someone else’s head, how it would feel to be a good person with a clear conscience, who’s never mean or bitter, who’s never caused anyone any pain. There can’t be many people like that, can there?

There was only one little thing that held me back in this novel, it is told as if Alexandra is talking to a therapist. Now at the beginning of the book and as the story progresses I can appreciate the reason for it, as it fits with the themes in the book. However for me personally at points I found it a little disruptive, I was so engrossed in the story to then find myself pulled out a little.

Despite that little niggle I honestly couldn’t recommend this book enough. It is a very honest look at infidelity and how it’s effects on all the parties involved. This is a magnificent story.