The Lost Carousel of Provence: A Novel by Juliet Blackwell

The Lost Carousel of Provence: A Novel. Juliet Blackwell. Penguin Publishing Group. September 2018. 384 pp. ISBN#:  9780451490636.

Cady Drake has spent her whole life yearning so badly for a family, someone to show her love and to affirm that she was a good, deserving person.  Tossed from foster homes to group homes for years, Cady’s dream is never fulfilled.  However, the need to survive taught her strength and gave her focus on skills that have made her a photographer who is always in demand, albeit not a famous one.  Her fascination is for pictures of carousels from anywhere in the world.  A need to escape the aftermath of a personal tragedy and the wise, tough and loving advice of a good friend leads Cady to accept a plan from a publisher to photograph as many carousels as possible in Paris, France.  Readers will learn about the various types of carousels in Paris as well as the major artists who sculpted the brilliant and loving figures that gave so many children, teens and adults childlike pleasure for centuries.

The narrative voices switch from contemporary France to the 1940s France when a young carver female gets hired by Gustave Bayol, an actual famous carousel creator. Yes, she learns the trade, starting on the bottom cleaning brushes, etc. and graduating to carving the inside of the animals on the actual carousels made for very rich patrons. But she also falls in love and is saved by a refined patron who is as lonely as Maelle, the budding artist.

Back in the countryside outside of Paris, Cady winds up staying in a home with a very grumpy old man, Fabrice, whose family has a story that will leave the reader rapidly flipping the pages through various aspects of both a mystery and several romances. Cady will eventually be told the answer about the photograph of a beautiful woman and a love letter hidden inside a carousel rabbit. She will get the chance to restore an abandoned and semi-destroyed carousel and perhaps find some romance at the same time.  An unusual ending allows the reader to imagine the end of this superb story, instead of finding instant closure. 

This magnificent novel is about the essence of evolving relationships, be they familial, friendly, or romantic.  Realizations and explorations galore will assault the reader’s mind and heart so that this provokes some very special thinking and feeling. That in itself makes this story a gem! 

Enjoy a grand, exciting, mesmerizing and yet peaceful read! Highly recommend The Lost Carousel of Provence!

The Paris Key - A Novel by Juliet Blackwell.

The Paris Key: A Novel.  Juliet Blackwell. Penguin Group (USA). September 2014. 384 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451473691.

Genevieve Martin learned the art of the locksmith as a child from her Uncle Dave who lived in a lovely little village in Paris, France.  She lost her mother, Angela, at a very young age and has never fully recovered from that devastating loss.  Now she knows she’s at a dead end in life and now decides to get a divorce from her husband.  For the time being she has come to Paris after being notified of the death of her Uncle Dave. He has left her his locksmith shop; and while there will be many difficulties getting a permit to work in France and obtain a locksmith license, she arrives in Paris to see what happens.  Her husband has been unfaithful to her, just once as he says, but that is enough to energize her to make the changes she knows are pivotal for her own survival.

Her arrival in Paris is not a quiet one.  Her Uncle’s home is dirty and old-looking, more like an antique shop than a modern hardware store for locks.  But what is even more astonishing, delightful and even rather overwhelming is the immediate and constant flow of Parisian neighbors, friends and acquaintances of her Uncle.  They know of her love for her Uncle and are determined to help her settle in and learn to love their beloved city.  By the time you are done with this novel, you will want to travel to the City of Lights and experience all you read about in these pages so carefully, sincerely and dramatically presented.  It’s a place to fall in love with and here Genevieve begins her new life.

The story is told in the third person and fluctuates with not only Genevieve’s story but also that of her mother, Angela.  There’s an added mystery that involves Uncle Dave, a Basque artist, a Parisian baker, underground tunnels that were used in WWII by the Resistance to hide Jews and other political characters escaping imprisonment and death by the Nazis and ghosts of the past from long, long ago.

The Paris Key… is a unique story that is a different type of romance, mystery and coming of age tale.  It’s even better than a travel guide because it carries the essence of friendship, food, drink, story, and history that one can only convey through Parisian residents. Delightful and highly recommended!