Title: Le Divorce Author: Diane Johnson type of book: Adult Contemporary Fiction / Literature call number: Fic

This book is strong in character, story, language, setting.

Summary:
This essentially coming of age novel about Francophile American expatriates in Paris, written in the spirit of works by Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Ernest Hemingway, takes the reader on a journey of social satire and manners.

Isabel Walker, a young film-school dropout who travels to Paris to support her stepsister Roxy (who is going through a divorce after her French husband left her for another woman), learns much about France, America, her family, but most importantly herself. She learns that the social customs, history, and complex sexuality of modern Europe is both very different and sometimes similar when filtered through a nation's culture or an individual's gender.

I would recommend this book!

Why?
This novel is often humorous and enlightening. Those liking travel fiction, or the works of the authors listed above, should read this book. The Old Europe's (the Persands) clashes with the New World (Isabel and Roxy) keeps the reader wanting to know how everything will end. Each character, no matter how many pages she or he receives, is fully developed with distinct personalities and opinions about life. The action and intrigue about a family heirloom painting, more sexual affairs, and a crime of passion towards the end of novel only adds to the complexity and richness of this book.

Other suggested reading:

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Employee Initials: KS Review Date: November 2003

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