One of my all-time favorite books is Michelle Gable’s debut novel, A Paris Apartment. I loved that story; if memory serves me correctly, I read it in three evenings. So naturally I was excited when Gable’s second novel, I’ll See You in Paris, was released. I purposely waited a while to read it as I was afraid that if it wasn’t as good as the first one, I would be horribly disappointed. I’m glad I waited. I’ll See you in Paris is not as good and at times was a difficult read.

Like A Paris Apartment, I’ll See in Paris has dualing timelines with the narrative weaving between 2001 and 1973. One of the biggest issues I have with this book is that the 1973 sections felt more like 1930s or ‘40s. It just seemed like the timeframe was off.

The story has four main heroines. First there is Annie. She’s gotten herself engaged to a young man she barely knows who has joined the Army and is headed off to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11. Her mother, Laurel, is less-than enthusiastic about this development. Laurel is our second heroine.

Laurel and Annie are about to leave for the English countryside to settle some business that Annie doesn’t really understand, but the reads figure it out pretty quickly. Right before their departure, Annie discovers a book her mother seems to be interested in, yet the only thing Laurel reads is legal briefs.

Then the story shifts to our third heroine, Pru Valentine. She is in desperate need of employment and answers a want ad. There in the English countryside, Pru becomes a companion/assistant to an eccentric woman in her early nineties, our fourth heroine, who has a penchant for running around waving a gun and not wearing a blouse.

This would seem too far-fetched if the woman wasn’t the real-life Gladys Deacon Spencer-Churchill. There is a mystery surrounding Gladys. Is she the Duchess of Marlboro who disappeared forty years earlier? It was that mystery that kept me reading, and the one that I didn’t figure out so easily. Gladys felt like a caricature to me.

The main theme of the novel seems to be people are probably not who you think they are. And that is certainly true for the protagonists in this tale.

Although reading this review, it doesn’t sound like I cared for this work. I admit, again that I was disappointed that it was an excellent as A Paris Apartment. I’ll See You in Paris receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. ( )

An enjoyable read with lots of wit and humour.The plot was a bit implausible though there is a true story behind it all. The characters were believable and mostly well-rounded. I found sorting some of them out a little confusing at times. ( )

I loved this book, and will look out for anything else by Gable. Reading the author's note at the back and realising that many of the events and characters were based on the real life former Duchess of Marlborough made me appreciate the novel even more.

This is a great example of women's fiction which, yes, has a romance (or even romances) at its heart, but is also about so much more. I'll see you in Paris has elements of the mystery and family saga genres, as well as Bildungsroman and even comedy, and Gable does it all so well.

I did think the depiction of Banbury a little twee/cliched, but this didn't mar my enjoyment of the novel.

I received a digital copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Early chapters of this promising book yield too many coincidences: the books Annie just happens to see her mother holding in the middle of the night when they just happen to both be awake which turns out to be a story about the village where they are flying to - and where Annie just happens to take the book to a pub to read and a guy just happens to know the author and Lady
Marlborough.

Annie then tells a bunch of useless dumb lies while her mother holds tight to her own mysteries - and the point being...?

Dropping the Diet Coke had me wishing the book had already ended.

Plot picked up a bit when Gus and Win get rolling.

But the filth! Why wasn't there a ton of diseases?

Worse still, none of the characters was that believable or appealing. ( )

A straightforward biography of Gladys Deacon, the Duchess of Marlborough, would have been more interesting. I thought the same about Marthe de Florian, the subject of the author's previous book, A Paris Apartment. I did not like the back-and-forth timelines, and could not become interested in the characters. I can't be enthusiastic about this book, as most other reviewers are here. I didn't like it and I didn't finish it. ( )