Lost in Paris
Page 29
Since Andres died so young, their love will live on perfect and true in its incompleteness.
And then there’s Tom, the stoic soldier who stood valiantly by her side all those years, loving her in his quiet way and unquestioningly guarding her secret.
Over the past five months, so much has changed. Emma made me a partner in Heart to Heart Tours. I’m in charge of growing the French division of the company. We’ll be adding more tours in Paris, such as Haunts of the French Impressionists and the Les Misérables Book Tour. In the meantime, Les Années Folles is quite popular.
Andres’s final manuscript, which we named Pour l’Amour d’Ivy, will hit the shelves around the holidays. The cover is gorgeous. The publisher commissioned a painting of 1920s Paris with a flapper and a dapper-looking man strolling through Jardin du Luxembourg. It’s already garnering rave reviews from the few lucky critics who have gotten their hands on advance copies, and some are even calling it Andres’s magnum opus.
A portion of the advance will go to the Armand Foundation, and we’re using another portion to pay off the inheritance tax on the apartment. With that, the money we got from the sale of Gram’s house, and the excess on the annuity, we’re going to be more than okay.
In fact, we were even able to present a sizable check to a watchdog organization for international human rights. We made the donation in Andres’s and Ivy’s honor. It seemed the best way to pay tribute to him for giving his life to the resistance, and to Ivy for her lifelong dedication to human rights work.
Since Aiden visits often, I’ve started renting my own little place, freeing up the square la Bruyère apartment for Marla. She remains sober and single, though she and Darius are “talking.” She says she’s happy with her job at Heart to Heart and wants to devote herself to… herself—at least for now. If you ask me, it’s only a matter of time until she and Darius finally find their own happy ever after.
In the meantime, Marla and I continue to work on our own relationship. The fact that we have one is a far cry from where we were when she landed on my doorstep that cold New Year’s Eve.
Sure, we still have our ups and downs like most mothers and daughters, but the one thing on which we will always agree is that getting lost in Paris our first day here was the start not only of finding ourselves, but of finding our way to each other.
Acknowledgments
To my fabulous agent, Ann Leslie Tuttle. Thank you for believing in me and knowing “Paris was a good idea” even before the story was fully formed. To my editor, Maggie Loughran. Thank you for getting my sense of humor. Your keen eye and sage advice elevated this story to its full potential. Without you, this book wouldn’t be what it is today. To Lauren McKenna, thank you for loving Hannah and Marla’s story; I hope I did you proud. Many thanks to the entire team at Simon & Schuster, especially Rachel Brenner, Anne Jaconette, Jennifer Bergstrom, and Aimée Bell.
To Jay, Brendan, Isaiah, Larry, Jim T., Barbara, Wiladean, Juanita, Lynn, Anne, Alex, and Sharon—family is everything.
To Kathy Garbera, Mimi Wells, Lenora Worth, Eve Gaddy, Janet Justiss, Denise Daniels, Cindy Rutledge, Renee Halverson, and Kathleen O’Brien for your unwavering support and everlasting friendship. And to Callie Bowman for the good old days of the ongoing story, when we would pass the notebooks back and forth and dream.
Elizabeth Thompson
This reading group guide for Lost in Paris includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
Introduction
When a deed to an apartment in Paris turns up in an old attic trunk, an estranged mother and daughter must reunite to uncover the secret life of a family matriarch—perfect for fans of The Little Paris Bookshop and The Beekeeper’s Daughter.
Hannah Bond has always been a bookworm, which is why she fled Florida—and her unstable alcoholic mother—for a quiet life leading Jane Austen–themed tours through the British countryside. But on New Year’s Eve, everything comes crashing down when she arrives back at her London flat to find her mother, Marla, waiting for her.
Marla’s brought three things with her: the deed to an apartment in Paris, an old key, and newspaper clippings about the death of a famous writer named Andres Armand. Hannah, wary of her mother’s motives, reluctantly agrees to accompany her to Paris where, against all odds, they discover Great-Grandma Ivy’s apartment frozen in 1940 and covered in dust.
Topics & Questions for Discussion
1. Each chapter consists of Hannah’s modern-day point of view and Ivy’s diary entries written in the 1920s and ’30s, alternating between the present and the past. Why do you think the author chose to structure the novel this way?
2. Early on, Hannah refers to her relationship with Marla as a “dysfunctional mother-daughter reality show.” During which points in the novel do we best see examples of their roles being reversed?
3. The story focuses heavily on the relationships between women. Discuss the differences and similarities between Marla and Hannah’s relationship and Ivy and Helen’s friendship.
4. In the apartment, Hannah and Marla discover mysterious clues about Ivy’s life, including a diary detailing evenings of drinking and dancing with Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, and other iconic expats. Why do you think Ivy hid her life in Paris from her granddaughter and great-granddaughter?
5. Can you pinpoint the moment after arriving in Paris when Marla and Hannah begin to mend their relationship?
6. As Hannah talks through her new Paris tour while walking along the Seine with her mother, Marla stops her and says, “Maybe it’s not so much what you say, Hannah, but how you say it.” Can you find other instances when Marla feels this way toward Hannah? Why do you think this comment hits Hannah so hard?
7. In her diary, Ivy discusses the volatile relationship between Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Discuss Zelda’s decision to give up ballet and her belief that Scott stole her work. How do you think the Fitzgeralds’ relationship compares to the other relationships in the book?
8. Hannah’s potential love interests, Aiden and Gabriel, are secondary to the story’s main plot. How do they still drive the plot forward and affect Hannah’s character development?
9. Marla and Hannah remember Granny Ivy as “stern and matronly.” In what ways do you think the war and Andres’ death affected and changed her? Do you think she kept the Paris apartment as a way to honor his memory?
10. Gabriel says that the Paris apartment is “a city treasure” and that “everyone wants to own a piece of history. Some are willing to pay extra to obtain it.” If you were in Marla’s and Hannah’s shoes, would you keep the apartment or sell it at a high price?
11. Toward the end of the book, Marla unites Hannah and her birth father. Why do you think the author thought this was important to the plot and to Hannah’s overall story?
12. Why do you think Hannah agrees to give her mother the Paris apartment? Discuss what you think the apartment and gesture mean to Marla.
13. By the end of the novel, Hannah and Marla have gained an apartment in Paris and newfound family. What else—tangible or intangible—have they gained?
Enhance Your Book Club
1. Plan your own moveable feast! Make a picnic based on the meal that Aiden prepares for Hannah’s tour: French onion soup, crispy baguette with foie gras, and crème brûlée. Or improvise, making the menu your own.
2. Marla shows Hannah a “French phrase-a-day calendar.” Create your own set of French phrases and practice speaking them with your group.
3. While in Paris, Hannah visits the Rodin Museum, the Eiffel Tower, Shakespeare and Company bookstore, and the Seine. Assign each member of your book club one of these famous locations and ask each to research a few facts so your group can create its own “virtual” Paris tour.
4.
Ivy was a fashion designer in the 1920s. Research fashion icons of the era, including Zelda Fitzgerald and Coco Chanel, and share some of the key trends of the time.
5. Hannah questions, “Why didn’t we ask for more details about her life when she was alive?” Reach out to your eldest family matriarch and ask her a set of questions about her past.
More in Fiction
Still Alice
Then She Was Gone
Who Do You Love
When Life Gives You Lululemons
The Storyteller
Beautiful Disaster
About the Author
ELIZABETH THOMPSON is a lifelong Francophile with a degree in journalism, and Lost in Paris is her first novel. She currently resides in Tennessee with her husband and their Pembroke Welsh corgi, Luna.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:
SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Elizabeth-Thompson
SimonandSchuster.com
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by Nancy Robards Thompson
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First Gallery Books trade paperback edition April 2021
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Interior design by Davina Mock-Maniscalco
Cover design by Laura Klynstra
Cover photography by Getty Images
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Thompson, Elizabeth, author.
Title: Lost in Paris / Elizabeth Thompson.
Description: First Gallery Books trade paperback edition. | New York : Gallery Books, 2021. | Identifiers: LCCN 2020015678 (print) | LCCN 2020015679 (ebook) | ISBN 9781982149086 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781982149093 (ebook)
Classification: LCC PS3620.H684 L67 2021 (print) | LCC PS3620.H684 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020015678
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020015679
ISBN 978-1-9821-4908-6
ISBN 978-1-9821-4909-3 (ebook)