ABOUT THE BOOK
In the vein of Amelie and The Little Paris Bookshop, a modern fairytale about a French woman whose life is turned upside down when she meets a reclusive bookseller and his young daughter.
Juliette leads a perfectly ordinary life in Paris, working a slow office job, dating a string of not-quite-right men, and fighting off melancholy. The only bright spots in her day are her metro rides across the city and the stories she dreams up about the strangers reading books across from her: the old lady, the math student, the amateur ornithologist, the woman in love, the girl who always tears up at page 247.
One morning, avoiding the office for as long as she can, Juliette finds herself on a new block, in front of a rusty gate wedged open with a book. Unable to resist, Juliette walks through, into the bizarre and enchanting lives of Soliman and his young daughter, Zaide. Before she realizes entirely what is happening, Juliette agrees to become a passeur, Soliman’s name for the booksellers he hires to take stacks of used books out of his store and into the world, using their imagination and intuition to match books with readers. Suddenly, Juliette’s daydreaming becomes her reality, and when Soliman asks her to move in to their store to take care of Zaide while he goes away, she has to decide if she is ready to throw herself headfirst into this new life.
Big-hearted, funny, and gloriously zany, The Girl Who Reads on the Metro is a delayed coming-of-age story about a young woman who dares to change her life, and a celebration of the power of books to unite us all.
PUBLISHED BY FLATIRON BOOKS
MY REVIEW
As a bookworm, I was instantly drawn to this book as I knew I’d be able to relate to the main character, Juliette, and I wasn’t wrong! This was the perfect escape read on a dreary afternoon and just reinforced my love of books and the power of good they can do for all!
She is a girl after my own heart! She reads to escape the world!! And she is also a people watcher so spends her commutes on the metro reading, and watching those around her. Noticing their different quirks and habits and creating back stories to who she thinks they are!
When she discovers a little bookshop in the neighbourhood she is immediately intrigued, especially by the little girl Zaide who invites her in. She lives there with her father, Soliman, who is an absent minded professor kind of character! He just loves books and wants to share them with people far and wide!
So he recruits Juliette to help him with his mission of finding the right people for different books and what follows is a story of hope and finding your own happy. The character of Zaide is also wonderful as she is never afraid to challenge Juliette out of her comfort zone and sets her on the way to a completely new life after some devastating news puts things into perspective.
A really enjoyable and uplifting story!
★★★★
Books and Me! 