The Girl Who Reads on the Metro

Hardcover

Published July 6, 2019 by Flatiron Books.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-31542-7

(2 reviews)

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 métro 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 …

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 métro 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 Métro 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.

1 edition

Stephanie Jane reviewed The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury

Pleasant, but underwhelming

3 stars

The Girl Who Reads On The Metro is a cute little novel which is being marketed towards 'fans of The Little Paris Bookshop and The Elegance of the Hedgehog'. Personally, I'd substitute Waiting For Monsieur Bellivier for the second of those two. I liked losing myself in this story and could certainly empathise with both Juliette and Soliman's desire to hide in books rather than facing up to the real world. I loved the idea of the passeurs who give out books to strangers based on their perceived need for a specific tome. Even BookCrossing gets a mention leading to characters discussing the journeys books make from reader to reader.- one of the big benefits of paper books over digital editions.

I often felt that I wanted this novel to take bigger risks. Like its main character, Juliette, I felt the narrative seemed too reserved and nervous for the themes …

The Girl Who Reads On The Metro is a cute little novel which is being marketed towards 'fans of The Little Paris Bookshop and The Elegance of the Hedgehog'. Personally, I'd substitute Waiting For Monsieur Bellivier for the second of those two. I liked losing myself in this story and could certainly empathise with both Juliette and Soliman's desire to hide in books rather than facing up to the real world. I loved the idea of the passeurs who give out books to strangers based on their perceived need for a specific tome. Even BookCrossing gets a mention leading to characters discussing the journeys books make from reader to reader.- one of the big benefits of paper books over digital editions.

I often felt that I wanted this novel to take bigger risks. Like its main character, Juliette, I felt the narrative seemed too reserved and nervous for the themes it tried to explore. Feret-Fleury's characters are displaced persons either mentally because they do not feel as though they fit within their environments, or physically because they are exiled from their home nation. Communication failures lead to isolation which, despite frequent assurances to the contrary during the story, can't always be solved by starting to read a book. Well, not for everyone anyway!

For me, The Girl Who Reads On The Metro was a nice diversion for a rainy afternoon, but I felt this novel could have been so stronger if its ideas were more fully developed. Hints of magical realism could have been given full rein and side characters such as Chloe and the Woman with the Recipe Book allowed to really blossom. I liked the story but ended up feeling underwhelmed!

cocolaco

rated it

Oct. 25, 2021

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