Goodbye, Paris by Anstey Harris

Goodbye, Paris by Anstey Harris is my Book of the Month (BOTM) pick for August. As part of my reading challenge for myself I am to read my BOTM each month. While I did read my pick this month, other months I have not been as successful. That aside…

What drew me to this book, from among the choices available, is the idea that this young women, Grace, is having an affair with a married man and waiting for him to leave his wife. I could just see all the possibilities in my head and I knew this was not going to turn out well. Therefore, before I even started reading I wanted to shake some sense into her. So needless to say, I hooked before I even opened the book to read the first page.

Well, I was right, things were not what they seemed in Grace’s world. When her lover, David, becomes the media darling for saving a pregnant women’s life in Paris, their years of careful secrecy are laid open for the world to see. The fallout of this event forces Grace to look at her life in a new light and she is shattered.

The man she thought she knew so well does not really exist. She has put him on a pedestal and now that pedestal has fallen over and left her only the broken truth. It is a fortunate thing for Grace that she has a couple of allies on her side. With their help she will have to remake her business, herself and her life.

This is a wonderful debut novel for the author. She obviously wrote this story with a lot of empathy. She made a character that you could not help but like even though there were times you want to shake her to make her see the truth of the situation she has created for herself. It is obvious to everyone, except Grace, that “DISASTER” is written all over this affair.

The plot moved along nicely and there were surprises along the way to keep me interested. The only negative for me was the ending. I think she recovered from the affair much faster than is possible. I do not want to give anything away here, but I will say that Grace needed longer to mourn her loses.

This would make a great beach read. I also recommend this as a book club choice. There are lots of topics that would make for great discussion.