Friday, November 01, 2019

All The Flowers In Paris - Sarah Jio

Caroline wakes up in a Paris hospital with no memory of her accident or what went on in her life before, and we meet Celine struggling to survive during the war with a young daughter and father to protect.  I have been on a bit of a run with WWII stories, so I may have been a bit jaded when I read this novel.  Normally I like Sarah Jio novels but I wasn't as drawn into this one as others.

I always get a bit frustrated at stories like this.  One where the thirty something living in a huge Paris apartment, seems to have unlimited funds, isn't worried about paying rent or bills or worrying about a job.  She also seems to have no other family or friends that might be concerned about her.  I couldn't quite believe elements about Celines life either.  I wasn't sure how many florists would have survived in the war, who was out growing flowers?  I am sure that rations would not have had a relatively poor family eating pastries at breakfast, when only a 1/3 of a loaf was rationed for the week.  Having lettuce and tomatoes when it was snowing outside or going to a cafe for a salad just didn't seem realistic to me.  It was just these small things that made me lose a bit of interest in the story.  3/5

1 comment:

John Bellen said...

You're right; it doesn't sound realistic to me, either.