Jean Perdu owns a bookshop barge on the River Seine in Paris which he runs as a literary apothecary, prescribing books for customers, and on occasion refusing to sell ones he thinks are wrong for them. His eccentricities seem to extend to his home life, an apartment devoid of life and a locked room which houses the ghosts of his past. He may be perceptive when it comes to the needs of others, but struggles to heal his own heartbreak. A new neighbour, Catherine, is experiencing her own relationship breakdown, arriving without any furniture, and in need of comfort. She is nonetheless headstrong and encourages Perdu to engage, and ultimately to face the past he has been hiding from for the past twenty years. A couple of months earlier, Max Jordan, author of a viral book, moved in to the building, relieved that his fans haven’t found him, he spends his days trying to avoid being recognised as he battles with the struggle of what to write next. Soon he is embarking on a voyage to Provence in the book barge with Perdu, one seeking to find something that has long been lost, the other trying to find their future.
We catch glimpses of Perdu in his younger, more care-free days through the insertion of journal papers written by Manon, his former love. We see how he became the man he is and how his life could have been different. We never meet Manon in-person in the novel and so this is our main source of understanding of her as a person, outside of Perdu’s deep affection for her. Whatever our views on how their relationship played out, it would be hard not to feel the devastation of its ending, and the half life Perdu lived for so long as a result. His burgeoning relationship with Catherine is thoughtfully written, with both vulnerability and independence being shown. Intimacy with someone new is not something either of them have had to deal with for a long time and George writes the scenario realistically, with all the frustrations and misunderstandings of human interaction. There is also a maturity to their relationship, an understanding that they’ve lived full lives and therefore have unresolved feelings and baggage, and are able to give each other variously the space and support they need to work through them.
This is a book about love, grief, and finding yourself. It’s also a love letter to books. Perdu understands the power of reading, and although his journey is deeply personal, he also hopes to discover the author of a book that touched his life profoundly, whose author writes under a pseudonym and whose true identity is unknown. For those looking for some literary healing too, the book closes with a list of books (an ‘emergency pharmacy’) for those in need, as well as some recipes for anyone whose tastebuds were tingling from the rich descriptions of food and drink throughout.
This is a lovely read, with a host of eccentric yet well-rounded characters. It deals with serious and sad topics but manages to retain an overall sense of lightness. It had sat on my bookshelf waiting to be read for quite some time and I finally picked it up in need of something light hearted and cheerful. It wasn’t exactly that, but it was beautiful, whimsical yet philosophical. I loved it.
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