My Rating: 4 stars
I didn't realize when I started reading Nina George's The Little French Bistro that I would enjoy it as much as I did. The book was relatively short (Goodreads shows it at 336 pages but the proof copy I received was actually a little under 300 pages), yet it was rich in charm. I found it easy to get into the book from the start and truly enjoyed getting to know all of the delightful characters in a picturesque setting that was a "feel-good" read pretty much all the way through.
The story starts off with a 60-year-old woman named Marianne who has been stuck in a loveless marriage for 41 years and has finally decided that, for once in her life, she would do what she wants to do rather than what others dictate that she do. On a trip to France, she decides to jump into the Seine river in the hopes of ending her life – a decision that she bravely and unhesitatingly makes because it made her feel free and happy and useful for the first time in her adult life. However, it was not meant to be, as she is saved by a homeless man who happened to be nearby and sent to the hospital to recover. When she is reunited with her husband Lothar at the hospital, he not only doesn't show an ounce of concern for her well-being, he actually berates her for being stupid and ruining his vacation. He then decides to return home to Germany by himself and, as a "punishment" of sorts, he leaves Marianne behind to make the trip back with a psychologist. During her stay at the hospital, Marianne comes across a beautifully painted tile of a place called Kerdruc, which she later finds out is a picturesque little port village in Brittany, on France's western coast. Inexplicably attracted to the beauty of the town depicted in the tile and still wanting to end her own life, Marianne escapes from the hospital and sets off for Kerdruc with barely anything to her name. Once there, Marianne is surprised and overwhelmed by the warm welcome she receives from the locals, a colorful cast of characters who quickly embrace her into their world and without knowing it, help Marianne get her life back. While at first it might seem like the story should be sad and maybe even depressing due to Marianne's suicide attempts and the unhappy life that she led for so many years, it actually ends up being far from that. Everything that Marianne experiences in Kerdruc as well as the people she meets there turned the story into a heartwarming, uplifting story of hope and second chances.
I loved the writing in this book and the way the author used just the right amount of descriptiveness to make us feel as though we were there in Kerdruc alongside Marianne. The way the little town was described made me want to visit there someday (though admittedly I know so little about France's geography that I have no clue whether that town actually exists or not). Aside from the setting though, what really drew me into the story were the characters – not just Marianne, but also the wonderful "supporting" characters who each had side stories of their own, yet did not detract from the main story involving Marianne. I loved reading about each of the characters and even though all of them go through their fair share of issues, it is their attitude of finding happiness in life's small moments and the spirit of living life to the fullest regardless of whatever setbacks may come their way that made them so endearing to me. My favorite characters were Emile and Pascale Goichon – an elderly couple living in a house in the forest surrounded by dozens of stray cats and dogs. Emile suffers from the early stages of Parkinson's while Pascale has dementia and at times can barely remember who her husband is, yet the love this couple has for each other spans 50 years and they would go to the ends of the earth for each other if given the chance. I enjoyed reading about this sweet elderly couple, along with all the other characters I got to meet along the way – from the lovesick chef Jean-Remy to uptight bistro owner Madame Ecollier to young waitress Laurine, the painter Yann Game, also Paul, Simon, Colette, Marie-Claude – too many characters to name, all with flawed personalities but yet endearing and likeable.
We don't see a whole lot of books nowadays where the central characters are older generation folks in a sort of reverse coming-of-age story, which I felt was the most unique aspect of this book. Most of the characters were in their 50s and 60s, with a few who were older and only two (it could have been three?) characters who were "young" enough to be the older characters sons or daughters (the younger characters' exact ages weren't given in the story but I'm assuming they were in their 30s or 40s?). Even though I'm relatively young in comparisons to majority of the characters in the book, that did not stop me from appreciating the message that the story attempts to deliver: namely that it is never too late to follow your dreams and find true love.
Received ARC from Random House via Penguin First-to-Read program.
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