It's been a rather exciting week here at Coffee, Books and Cake towers as I attended an author event at the wonderful White Rose Books in Thirsk. The event was a conversation between Milly Johnson and Lucy Diamond, and the authors spoke about their books, writing process and being big in Sweden. I will tell more when I post a review of their books. (I'm currently reading the Milly Johnson and am absorbed already!). The best news though, is that there will be a Sister Book to 'I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day' My day was officially made!

Read my Review of I Wish it Could be Christmas Every Day

Today we go from Milly to Molly. My review is all about nostalgia, and reading a book at a different part of one's life.

The Plot

It only takes a weekend to change your life.

One Friday afternoon Molly Clearwater walks out of her job smarting from her boss' taunts that she is just a 'stupid secretary'. Twenty-One, a country girl who has lived her life mainly through the pages of books, she feels nothing exciting has ever happened to her, or ever will.

On impulse she boards the Eurostar to Paris, emerging into a bewitching world of leafy boulevards, luscious foods, crazy traffic and smouldering Frenchmen. Within hours she's racing along beside the Seine on the back of a scooter, infiltrating a conference in a Cleopatra wig, caught up in a roller blade chase, and sharing with a complete stranger her deepest darkest secret.

The weekend turns into a dizzying carousel-ride of passion, excitement and self-discovery. By Sunday night, Molly is a new person.

My Thoughts

Nostalgia is a wonderful and strange beast. One night I found myself googling a book with the moniker 'Paris, Cleopatra Wig' and the internet delivered. A book I had adored in my early 30's. I was fascinated to see how it would read now some 20 years later - in some aspects good.

There used to be a real spate of books (Lucy Sullivan gets married, I'm looking at you!), where a young female moves to London, lives in a flat with her wacky friends, meets a handsome guy before falling for the person she obviously should have fallen for in the first place. This book does that through Molly Clearwater who works in marketing for the most horrific, egotistical boss.

A trip to Paris looms where he is convinced Molly will fall for his sleazy charms and sleep with him. (Think black satin bed sheets and a lot of Draco Noir). But coming to her senses, Molly resigns and decides to go to Paris anyway. This feels a little outdated as one would hope workplaces are more well-equipped to deal with blatant sexual harassment.

As Molly flees to Paris, Sisman captures the vibrancy of this wonderful city - the walks, the landmarks, the achingly cool inhabitants and like us, the reader, Molly falls in love with the city. I cannot tell you how much I wanted a return visit to Paris again!

The love story is sweet but alarm bells ring about Fabrice and it is here that the book takes us in a surprising direction. We come to realise the book is not about romance after all, but about finding oneself. In Molly's case rediscovering her father and resolving to live life instead of just reading about it.

I will say this does feel slightly 'of it's time', but reading it again made me feel like I had met up with an old friend I had not seen for ages and who I once had a raucous weekend with. And that brings a smile to myself still.

My To Be Read Pile post is currently underway. It's taking so long because I have so many books on said pile. Gaaaaaah!