The Joys of My Life by Alys Clare

From the back of the book I read: "Adroitly weaving medieval history into a rousing and mystical tale", and I was interested.  Elsewhere on the cover it mentioned Chartres, the Ile d'Oléron and Richard the Lionheart and that finished the process of capturing my imagination.

This was yet another cover with a black background - there seem so many at the moment.  A robed figure, maybe a monk, a labyrinth, maybe the one at Chartres.

It became obvious after a while that the book was one of a series with a number of references to things that had happened to the characters in the past.  It wasn't a major problem because the book stands relatively well on its own but I'm not sure how you'd feel going back to read earlier books.  In fact it is the twelfth and final book in the Hawkenlye Mystery series and it finishes with a fair amount of tidying up of loose ends.

The story started at the siege of Châlus Castle, not far from Limoges, where Richard the Lionheart was fatally wounded.  From there we are taken to Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine who wants a chapel built in honour of her son, Richard, we are introduced to the main characters, and the mystery unfolds.  In all honesty there wasn't much of a mystery so you could hardly describe the book as full of suspense.  The magical or mystical elements were over-played for my taste.

Nor did the characters really come to life for me.  They all seemed too good to be true - or evil.  Even the hero, Josse d'Aquin, didn't feel like a real person, and I the love of his life, Joanna, left me with no impression of her character at all.  I found Helewise the abbess more interesting because through her we saw how the Christian church was changing at that time and how the crusades against Catharism were starting.

It was fun, though, to trace the journeys made by the characters through France, and to visualise the cathedral being built at Chartres. It was a light, easy, and undemanding read.

The Joys of My Life is available at Amazon.co.uk or at Amazon.com

Single to Paris by Alexander Fullerton

What I hadn't realise when I started this novel was that it's the last part of a series of four.  However, although it's very obvious, it doesn't really matter.  In outline, it tells of a Special Operations Executive, Rosie Ewing, who is sent to France in August 1945 to try to rescue two agents being held by the Gestapo in Paris.

The book was written in 2001, but I wouldn't have been in the least surprised to hear it was in the 1950s.  In one way that's probably a good point, after all the book is set in Paris just as the Second World War is ending, but there's something about the style that seems to me to be dated.  Added to that, very few sentences are complete.  It reads like someone's thought processes in places, almost a stream of consciousness.

If you're looking for something with the atmosphere of Paris, Single to Paris will give you that, even though at times it sounds like a GPS system telling you, "Now turn right into boulevard St Michel..."

Coming Down the Seine by Robert Gibbings

My copy is second hand, published in 1953, and very battered, so I decided against a scan of the cover and settled for the title page with the image by Robert Gibbings himself.  The book is beautifully illustrated throughout with his own wood engravings.

I wasn't at all sure what to expect of this book, I'll freely admit that I was completely swayed by the title.

The title is of course misleading to a large extent.  Never judge judge a book by its cover - or its title.  But it does have some bearing on the subject matter and besides, the book is a total delight once you stop expecting a travelogue.  It is almost like a stream of consciousness, the thoughts meandering through the author's mind as he follows the Seine from its source to the sea (with occasional massive detours).  Added to the captivating narrative, you can enjoy the illustrations created by the author himself.  A book that can be read over and over again.

Coming Down the Seine is still available at Amazon.co.uk and at Amazon.com.

Paris in the Fifties by Stanley Karnow

This book is neither about Paris nor set in the fifties, for the most part.  I rarely consider giving up on a book, but in the first few chapters, I was sorely tempted.  It seemed to be nothing but a recital of all the celebrities and intellectuals that Stanley Karnow had met during his time as a foreign correspondent in Paris.

I'm really glad I didn't put it down though, because it improved immeasurably after those first chapters.  Most of the paragraphs have a theme, such as the history of the guillotine, Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam, Algeria, and as a whole gives an interesting and readable view of France and French culture.

Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner.

From the back cover:

In this dazzling evocation of late nineteenth century Paris, we follow Victor as his investigation takes him all over the city.  But what will he do when the deaths begin to multiply and he is caught in a race against time?
'A charming journey through the life and intellectual times of an era'  ~ Le Monde

This book is the work of two authors, two sisters who are booksellers, bouquinistes, on the banks of the Seine in Paris.  I find the translation a little awkward, even dated in places.  Whether this is a deliberate attempt to conjure up the era I don't know, but I found it a false note.  "Two stiffs in the same day" neither sounds like 1889 nor the present day.

It is very much set in Paris, and if you recognise the street names and the areas mentioned, it will conjure up an image satisfactorily.  For anyone who doesn't know Paris, I would say it's less successful. It's rather better at the era than the geographical setting.  All the same, it's interesting to read about the time when the Eiffel Tower was brand new, so for that alone it's worth a read.  Less so for the murder-mystery element which I didn't find especially compelling.

Chocolat by Joanne harris

I first read this book in 1999 I think, when it was first published, and well before the film. I thought it an excellent book, light and a quick read, very entertaining but not great literature. You don't find chocolatiers in very many small French villages, but it nevertheless paints a good picture of life in rural France. It's such a shame that the film didn't keep more closely to the book.

I do wonder if I would find it as good if it hadn't been the first of Joanne Harris' books set in France. I have come to tire of her more recent books.