Books & Java

Moonlight Over Paris

by Jennifer Robson

Synopsis:

It’s the spring of 1924, and Lady Helena Montagu-Douglas-Parr has just arrived in France. On the mend after a near-fatal illness, she is ready to embrace the restless, heady allure of the City of Lights. Her parents have given her one year to live with her eccentric aunt in Paris and Helena means to make the most of her time. She’s quickly drawn into the world of the Lost Generation and its circle of American expatriates, and with their encouragement, she finds the courage to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.

One of those expats is Sam Howard, a journalist working for the Chicago Tribune. Irascible, plain-spoken, and scarred by his experiences during the war, Sam is simply the most fascinating man she has ever met. He’s also entirely unsuitable.

As Paris is born anew, rising phoenix-like from the ashes of the Great War, Helena realizes that she, too, is changing. The good girl she once was, so dutiful and obedient, so aware of her place in the world, is gone forever. Yet now that she has shed her old self, who will she become, and where, and with whom, does she belong…?

My Review:

This is the third Jennifer Robson book I have read in the last year. I LOVED IT!! A fantastically romantic story. Lady Helena Montagu-Douglas-Parr recovers from a near-death bout with illness. Once she recovers, she decides she wants to go to France to study art. In France she befriends a group of artists that allow her to really come into her own. Among those friends is the American Sam Howard. She is immediately smitten as is he but their relationship becomes distant and complicated. While in Paris, Helena is able to meet the influencers of the time like Hemingway (and even Hadley), Gertrude Stein, the Fitzgeralds to name a few. A fantastic and elegant story filled with all of the wonderful things about the Paris of pre WWII. Loved it and would highly recommend it to those who love historical fiction.