Failing Paris Book

I wondered how others would review this book - would they understand or care about Sabine and her week-long "odyssey" in Paris? After reading several books in a row about ex-patriots traveling, eating and living in France, this one is totally and without a doubt not about the beauty and delight found in the City of Light. We are so used to stories about some amazingly fabulous transformative experiences people have had with their coming of age in Paris. This is not one of them.

This is another story about coming of age. Sabine comes to Paris with all of her past and her history with her. She cannot escape her dysfunctional family and its imprint simply because she picks up and moves elsewhere. Instead she has to confront it and move through it in ways only she knows how. And she knows she does not want to repeat her mother's past - although she is promiscuous and somewhat careening during this week - she knows she does not want to become her mother. Cashing in her return ticket, terminating the pregnancy (what does she really have to go home to anyway) and making herself a promise to meet Abe in Italy are all life affirming moves in a new direction.

I found it haunting and hard to put down. I liked the writing style, the internal world she experienced is not easy to write down and Dunn captured my attention anyway. I kept thinking of this as an indie film - yes it would be bleak and not all tidily wrapped up with a happy ending. But a week in a life rarely, if ever, is.