Elizabeth Thompson's Lost In Paris

Are you interested in reading a book about family, secrets and has historical elements? In Lost In Paris by Elizabeth Thompson, Hannah Bond works as a Jane Austen tour guide in London. After her great-grandmother Ivy passes away, her mother, who lives in Florida, discovers a deed to a Paris apartment. Hannah and her mom have never been close, but the deed leads them on a trip to Paris, giving them a new chance at their relationship. After inheriting the apartment, they make many discoveries about their late grandmother's secret life and try to fix their past issues.

One thing I liked about this book was that it switched between present and past times. In the story, Hannah finds Ivy’s diary in the apartment. In between each chapter are pages of her diary entry. The switch in time gave the reader a deeper understanding of Ivy’s secret life. And this was one of my favorite parts of the book. Another thing I liked was the descriptions in the book. The author depicts Paris and other locations in a very detailed way. Places like cafes, restaurants and the apartment were very descriptive making the setting easy to imagine.

There were a few things I did not like about the book though. First, the beginning of the book felt really slow while the ending felt rushed. A majority of the first sections were spent building up to their trip to Paris and describing Hannah’s life in London. Also, once the characters reach Paris, the author spends a lot of time explaining background information. While some of this information was necessary to understand the plot, I think the extensive detail was not needed and could have been faster paced. This made the first part of the book feel dragged out and made it hard to continue reading. In the end, however, everything happened too quickly. The end had many important moments and discoveries that were rushed. The characters were suddenly making new discoveries and resolving many problems. It felt like the author was trying to conclude everything in just two chapters.

So while the book had an overall interesting plot and great descriptions on setting, I did not like the pacing of this book. If you’re looking for your next read, I would recommend this book to any one who doesn't mind a slower start and rushed ending.

- Niveditha