WHO NEEDS PARIS?

A woman returns to the scene of a disastrous love affair in Meyerson’s Paris-set romance.

In 1977, Kate Miller works in documentary production in Los Angeles, living comfortably in her own house with her loving dog. When her longtime collaborator, Patrice Carrière, asks her to work a shoot at the American Film Festival in Deauville, Kate is reluctant to move to Paris; “I’d been to Paris once before, and once had been more than enough.” The narrative is split between 1977 and 1964—it’s in the earlier timeline that the reader learns that Kate once lived in Paris, moving there with her close friend, Susan, to study after college. When Susan suddenly runs off to London to pursue a love affair, Kate is left behind to study alone at the Sorbonne, and she soon meets François Granier. Kate and François’ love affair is all-consuming; Kate must confront its fallout when she returns to Paris over a decade later. The author’s use of two concurrent timelines is masterful, pacing the story in an exciting way that hooks the reader, enabling them to understand Kate’s reluctance to return to a city she was once desperate to discover. Equally fascinating are the historical details about Paris and Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s, with references to women’s marches and bodily autonomy and abortion rights. Meyerson crafts a narrative in which romance, though life-changing, is not the only order of the day; the true journey is the one Kate embarks upon for herself. City of Lights enthusiasts will appreciate the many vivid settings around Paris.

A satisfying story of love, redemption and finding oneself for fiction-loving Francophiles.