The Little French Bistro (Nina George)

 

I wanted to like this book....but I really didn't. There were too many characters. Too many characters were cheating on their spouse. I wanted to find hope in the main character finding herself after a sad and meaningless marriage but mostly I found it depressing. The description of the places in France were compelling and almost seemed like a character itself. That was lovely. However, overall, it just wasn't for me. 

The writing was beautiful. Interspersed all through it were little phrases that did touch me...like p. 99 I have never even noticed that I am alive said by the main character as she works through finding herself after leaving a marriage where she was never really loved or treated well.

Goodreads says:

From the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop, an extraordinary novel about self-discovery and new beginnings.

Marianne is stuck in a loveless, unhappy marriage. After forty-one years, she has reached her limit, and one evening in Paris she decides to take action. Following a dramatic moment on the banks of the Seine, Marianne leaves her life behind and sets out for the coast of Brittany, also known as the end of the world.

Here she meets a cast of colorful and unforgettable locals who surprise her with their warm welcome, and the natural ease they all seem to have, taking pleasure in life's small moments. And, as the parts of herself she had long forgotten return to her in this new world, Marianne learns it s never too late to begin the search for what life should have been all along.

With all the buoyant charm that made The Little Paris Bookshop a beloved bestseller, The Little French Bistro is a tale of second chances and a delightful embrace of the joys of life in France.