A Paris Apartment: A Novel

A labyrinth of yearning, primed with passion and unrequited love; evoked not only for the finely draw characters, but for the author herself! Yes, this was quite the best book I've ever read. How is it possible for an author to write a character so well drawn that the reader, instantly, falls head over heels in love? I'll leave it to you to work out which protagonist I mean. From the start: April, surging into the apartment, filled with the relics and flavors of the past, to the unremittingly exquisite revelation of "Mart", towards the gritty awkwardness of personal relationships, until the revelation that, perhaps, there is more to perfection than the incarnation of its ideal...a thought to savor in the darkest hour, but not one to allow you to cave on humanitarian responsibility...this book never lets you down. A story beautifully told, with all the smarts of a modern fairytale, and all the facts to realize why we hold fairytales so dear. Please don't miss this novel, even if it's the only one you read this year.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Being an avid antiques lover certainly added to my enjoyment and the story is truly fascinating -- very unusual, a little hard to believe, but quite the story. I can't imagine opening an apartment door to all those treasures! I liked the character development, though I wished for more for some of the characters. I feel like it all came together a little too quickly in the end. And I didn't like the way it ended. The ending did not go with the story to me. It just suddenly ended and I feel like many things were left hanging and not pulled together. Maybe it was on purpose and there is a sequel in the works. If that is the case, I will give it 5 stars!

Synopsis April Vogt, a Sotheby’s Furniture specialist is struggling to cope with her husband’s confession about his onetime infidelity and is trying to figure out how it will affect their marriage. When her boss sends her to Paris to catalogue an apartment that has been locked up for seventy years and is full of antiques, she does not care about the dust and cobwebs she finds. Instead she sees it as an opportunity to escape, to get away from her life in New York. Once in France she discovers there is more to the apartment than treasures and valuable antiques. She gets intrigued by the Boldini painting of Marthe de Florian, the latter being the original owner of the apartment. When Marthe de Florian’s diaries are found April finds herself fascinated with this enigmatic woman and has a sudden urge to discover her story. As April digs deeper into Marthe’s life, she is compelled to take a closer look at issues in her own. Review The plot is made up out of two timelines. One is set in the past which tells the story of Marthe de Florian through April’s reading of the diaries. The other set in the present and follows April’s life.The plot telling the colourful story of Marthe is the strong part of the book and is fascinating. The characters are interesting and well described. You can understand what motivates them and they show real emotions such as anger, despair, love, vulnerability and jealousy. The part of the story telling April’s life is not as captivating. In fact it was hard to understand what really motivated her. You see that April is fascinated by Marthe’s apartment and her diaries but you don’t really feel it; at least not in the beginning. As the story develops the characters grow and start to become more complex and you realise they are more damaged by events in their past than at first thought. Towards the end it’s easier to relate to the characters, April in particular. They become a little less arrogant and self interested than they were in the beginning. The book has a strong ending. The two storylines are nicely concluded together. Overall this is an interesting read. Anybody looking for a good historical fiction, with strong characters and a bit of intrigue or a one nicely set in Paris, will enjoy this book. I give it 3.8 stars.

A good story based on a real-life incident. The Paris Apartment is referring to an actual apartment that was "discovered" in 2010. It had been closed up since 1940, and dates back to the Belle Epoch period of Parisienne history. Other authors have written fictional accounts of this same apartment and its original owner, Marthe deFlolrian. This author, Michelle Gable, wrote her fictional account of this historical event. It is a well written, interesting, account of an incredible era, an incredible woman, and here incredible, numerous, and valuable works of art, furnishings, and collectible items. The story surrounding Marthe deFlorian is the author's creation. The true story of Marthe DeFlorian has yet to be told.

The Paris Apartment: A Novel is by Michelle Gable. It is based on the apartment found in 2010. This apartment had been shut up in 1940 and never reopened fir seventy years. It was found to belong to Marian de Florian. The story that Michelle tells about Marthe is quite interesting. April needed to get out of New York and cataloging this apartment gave her the excuse she needed. Her husband had been in Singapore on business, gotten drunk, and had a one-night stand with a colleague. The next morning, he called April, his wife, and told her about it. Whatever his reason, it devastated her. This trip to France was welcomed. It would give her time to think about what he had done. As she is cataloging, she reads Marthe’s diaries and gets drawn into her life. Will Marthe’s life help April figure out her own?

bonne

I saw this book in a list of Paris reads by Everyday Parisian blog post. So glad I was able to get a copy of this book as it just brilliantly written.

I have just read A Paris Apartment, The Paris Apartment (by Bowen), and the Velvet Hours. These three are all about a Paris Apartment that went untouched from 1945 to 2015ish. The three are different but intriguing takes on the same Paris apartment setting. If you google 'Paris Apartment Abandoned for 70 years' you can find news reports about the actual rediscovery. The Paris Apartment (by Foley) is also good, but does not use the same setting.

Really enjoyed this author, will follow for more

Spannend und unterhaltsam.