I have to begin with a confession - I hate long books and this is a very long book, BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yup I loved this long book. The author did a wonderful job of sustaining my interest from beginning to end. He taught me history, made Paris even more interesting and he did it with a saga of well chosen characters who I cared about.
It was a story of families more than individuals as the story line covered centuries and included all the really significant historical dates of the Parisian story.
The families at first seem so disconnected, but the logic of the paths becomes more and more apparent and we are reminded that our lives are not lived in isolation, but rather in a mix with others who have been placed in our geographic and business paths.
If I have one criticism to voice it is my argument with the current need to be non-linear. While there is a movement through time that tells the story well there are chapters that leap backwards in time by centuries and I am not convinced that they are better told in this time warp than they would have been in sequence, but I know it is a popular convention.
Otherwise the mix of aristocrat, working man, communist, monarchist, artist, bourgeois, and brothel works really well. The authors intent to trace the history of the city is well told when we have the primary families in so many levels of society so that we see the various currents that play out.
But rather than telling the political intrigues and details of the monarchy, revolution, wars...we see how these major events affect the lives of so many in different ways.
I highly recommend the book
